Republican Wins Special Election in New Hampshire

When results of yesterday’s special election to fill the vacant District 9 seat in the state House of Representatives were announced last night, former U.S. Rep. Jeb Bradley let out a whoop, grabbed the hand of Republican Party candidate David Boutin and held it up in victory.

Boutin coasted to victory last night in the Republican dominated town of Hooksett. In a race that drew the interest of party leaders on both sides, Boutin beat Democratic candidate David Paquette, 670 to 388.

A special election was held in Hooksett to fill a vacant house seat, and a Republican ran away with the victory. While this won’t change anything here in New Hampshire, could be be an early sign of voter discontent in New Hampshire? Jeb Bradley, who lost to Carol Shea-Porter in last year’s US Rep. race thinks so.

Bradley wouldn’t say whether he thought the vote was a referendum on the majority party until after last night’s votes were tallied, but once the results were clear, so was he.

“The message Hooksett sent New Hampshire is that we’re on the road to the income tax,” he said last night. “And Dave Boutin is a symbol against the income tax and the sales tax.”

I’m trying not to read too much into this, but I hope it is a sign that the people of New Hampshire realize the mistake they made last November and are ready to fix it.

I’m still trying to find the poll numbers of liberal Gov. John Lynch, I can’t find them.