Union Leader newspaper reports:
Primaries pivoted on "issues like Right to Work"

In his weekly State House Dome column for the New Hampshire Union Leader, Dave Solomon reports on the 2018 State Primary:

"…Seventeen ousted incumbents is not a huge number in a 400-member House. Several of the primary losers were first- or second-term reps, but some veterans were squeezed out.

Among Republicans, Carolyn Gargasz of Hollis, serving her ninth term, finished fourth in a four-person race with the top two headed for the fall election. Patricia Dowling, an eight-termer from Derry, was one of three Derry incumbents who didn't make the cut, along with first-termers Brenda Willis and Richard Tripp.

On the Democratic side, Roger Berube, now in his 12th term out of Somersworth, lost to transgender rights advocate Geri Cannon. Dick Patten, in his fourth term serving Concord Ward 8, was ousted by Safiya Wazir, a 27-year-old refugee from Afghanistan.

What this all means is anyone's guess.

Some conservatives like Greg Moore, with Americans for Prosperity, see a trend.

"The Republican representatives who lost their seats were beaten by more conservative challengers, who specifically used their incumbents' records on issues like Right to Work, paid family medical leave and Medicaid expansion, where these representatives were out of step with the conservative base," he said. "None of the incumbents who lost would be described as conservative. Among the Democrats who lost, most were more moderate than their party's base."

Zandra Rice Hawkins, executive director with Granite State Progress, sees less of a pattern.

"On the Republican side, it was a mixed record. There were a lot of situations that were unique to each district. In Derry, a few Right to Work opponents lost and others were the top vote-getters," she said. "As for the Democrats, it appears that those with more name recognition and ground game won. This was a trend up and down the ballot. There were also a lot of new candidates who ran strong campaigns this year, in particular those recruited and trained by the NH Young Democrats."

Read more at the New Hampshire Union Leader:

Dave Solomon's State House Dome: Hoisted on his own petard