Special election preview: Hampstead and Kingston voters head to the polls to fill vacant House seat
Voters in Hampstead and Kingston head to the polls Tuesday for a special election to fill the state House seat vacated by the resignation of Republican Ann Howe.
In January, Howe publicly complained about being caught up in the feud between former Speaker Bill O'Brien, who she backed, and Speaker Shawn Jasper. “I’m trying to do the best job for my constituents – it’s just another layer of baloney that I have to deal with,” she told AP’s Kathleen Ronayne. On February 5, Howe resigned citing “increased demands” in her “personal and professional life.”
Republican Dennis Green, from Hampstead, will face off against Carol Croteau, a Democrat from Kingston, in the special election.
In presenting his qualifications, Green points to his 25 years of management experience in the automobile industry. “I know the struggles our small businesses face from overreaching and unfair government regulation,” he writes. “I am a firm believer in limited government involvement in our daily lives and I undoubtedly support our nation’s Constitution and Bill of Rights – especially the 2nd amendment.”
Croteau serves on the Kingston Municipal Budget Committee and is an alternate member of the town Planning Board. As a parent of a bullied child in high school, she was instrumental in the passage of the state’s anti-bullying law. In recognition of her efforts, she was awarded the NEA-NH Champion of Human & Civil Rights Award and the Freedman Award for Activism and Advocacy.
Crocteau has raised $4,200 for her race. Her total includes 88 individual donations of $100 or less. Her largest contribution was $500 from the Rockingham County Democratic Committee. Green reports having raised $2,050 for his campaign. His largest contribution was $1,000 from Bill O’Brien’s House Republican Victory PAC.
The New Hampshire chapter of the Koch-funded Americans for Prosperity is working to help elect Green. The group claims their volunteers made almost 2,000 voter turnout calls last night. They’re manning the phones again tonight and will be canvassing in Hampstead and Kingston this weekend.
Anything can happen in a special election, which typically features a very small turnout, but Rockingham District 13 is overwhelmingly Republican. In 2012, Mitt Romney outpolled Barack Obama by a 58% to 41% margin among the district’s voters. Rockingham District 13 has a Partisan Voting Index (PVI) of R+11, which compares the district’s presidential voting results with the other districts in the state.