Despite some of the most negative campaigning in New Hampshire history, voters in the nation’s first primary election they turned out in record numbers to cast their ballots.
This year, it was the GOP’s turn to battle it out for front-runner status. The final tally, however, showed no clear-cut winner, with commentator Pat Buchanan garnering 27 percent of the vote; Senator Bob Dole (R-Kan.), 26 percent; and former Tennessee Gov. Lamar Alexander, 23 percent.
New Hampshirites have shouldered the responsibility of holding the first primary with grace over the years, but this year’s race, according to some county officials there, was a test of their mettle, while some took it all in stride.
Carroll County Commissioner and NACo Board Member Marjorie Webster is characteristic of many of the voters who were undecided up until the last moment. “I’ve never been so indecisive,” she said, lamenting that there were too many candidates and that they weren’t talking about the issues. “I’ve never seen a group of Republicans work so hard to get a Democratic president elected.” Webster declined to have her final choice printed.
As he did four years ago, George Maglaras, chairman of the Strafford County Board of Commissioners, campaigned on behalf of President Clinton. With no opposition, the rallies and speeches were like a homecoming for Maglaras, who said he visited with Clinton aides, George Stephanopoulos and Bruce Lindsey, to talk about old times.
Shortly before the primary, Maglaras organized a rally for Clinton in a local gymnasium attended by 3,500 supporters. He also coordinated a campaign visit by First Lady Hillary Rodham Clinton to the University of New Hampshire, which is located in Strafford County.
On primary day, Maglaras went to vote at his local wardhouse (elections are run by cities and towns in New Hampshire). “I hung out there, talked to people and went around to other precincts,” he said.
Unopposed, except for a few write-ins, the president won 99 percent of the vote in Strafford.
Cheshire County Commissioner Robert Beauregard wasn’t surprised at how closely the top three Republican candidates placed. “In New Hampshire, I’m never surprised at anything.” The state has a lot of independent thinkers, he said.
Just days before the primary, Beauregard had a surprise of his own when he had to quickly shift his support to Lamar Alexander after his first-choice candidate, Phil Gramm, pulled out of the race.
Dole supporter Stuart Trachy, chairman of the Merrimack County Board of Commissioners, first got involved in the campaign last summer. That’s when he and fellow commissioner Kenneth McDonnell threw their support behind a run by Dole in a private meeting with the senator and New Hampshire Senator Judd Gregg (R).
On election day, Trachy opened up his business office to campaign workers who borrowed his telephones to call and get out the vote for Dole. That evening, he monitored the results on TV with his wife, a Richard Lugar supporter.
Trachy was “disappointed, but not surprised” at Dole’s second-place finish. Now, he just wants to settle back into his routine. “I’m glad it’s over. Now things can return to a sense of normalcy.”
Being the first in the nation to hold a primary election is a distinction New Hampshirites prize, not only for the prestige of being first, but for the money it generates.
This year’s race generated $35 million for the state — $2 million alone in room and meal taxes, according to Belknap County Commissioner Wesley J. Colby, who served on the State Leadership Team for Lamar Alexander.
New Hampshire has no income or sales taxes and relies heavily on property taxes, explained Webster. “That’s why we’ve fought so hard to be first in the nation.”
Being in the middle of the first primary battleground can be taxing, though.
Webster says she won’t miss the phone calls from polltakers, who, one evening, called her home four times in 35 minutes. “They have a job to do,” she said. “That’s part of it.”
“You’ve got to have a pretty tough skin,” added Beauregard, who complained about the unusual amount of negative campaigning. “I just plain resent it.”
“It seemed to get into negative issues real quick,” continued Colby. In past elections, he added, “it was more issues-oriented and less personal.” There used to be more of what he described as “retail politics,” where candidates would take the time to meet the voters and spend time in their homes. But because some states have moved up their primary dates, he said, “they didn’t have the time to spend here.”
The biggest change in this year’s race was television, said Trachy, who has participated in political campaigns since 1972. “There’s talk about there not being as much person-to-person contact, but I think there were just more commercials,” he said.
Clinton-supporter Maglaras didn’t think this year’s candidates slung any more mud than usual. “Everyone says this was the nastiest ever, but people’s memories tend to fade,” he said. “I’m just waiting for November now.”
(County News Senior Staff Writers Mary Ann Barton and Susan D. Grubb contributed to this report.)
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