Hassan, Simpson Sweep New Hampshire Elections
This past Tuesday, New Hampshire voters re-elected Democrat Governor Maggie Hassan, wife of Principal Tom Hassan, and elected Democrat Alexis Simpson, wife of religion instructor Thomas Simpson, as state representative.
Republicans took control of the House and Senate after this year’s midterm elections. Thirty-six seats were up for re-election this year, but eleven Republican incumbents and ten Democratic incumbents ran in noncompetitive races.
Prior to the election, the senate contained 53 Democrats, 45 Republicans and two independents who tended to side with the Democrats. Now, however, the Senate sits at 43 democrats, 52 republicans and two independent members, totalling a net gain of seven seats for republicans and a net loss of seven seats for democrats.
The House, before the midterm elections, contained 233 Republicans and 199 Democrats, but now the House is comprised of 178 Democrats, 243 Republicans and 14 seats that are still undecided.
Although Republicans took control of the senate and gained full control of the House, this past Tuesday, the state of New Hampshire generally voted with the Democrats. In addition to Hassan and Simpson, New Hampshire re-elected Democrat Jeanne Shaheen to the Senate, prevailing over Republican Scott Brown.
Hassan explained her platform and its focus in comparison to her previous run.
"My campaign was focused on continuing to listen to the people and businesses of New Hampshire and bringing together Democrats, Independents and Republicans to solve problems and keep our state moving forward," she said.
Hassan explained New Hampshire’s progress and future trajectory. "Our state is moving in the right direction because we have shown time and again that we can bring people together to solve problems, and I want to continue working across party lines to support job-creation at innovative businesses, expand opportunity for middle class families and build a brighter economic future for New Hampshire," she said.
The Exeter community, mainly the Democratic Club (Dem Club), actively participated in these campaigns through phone banks, handing out flyers and even "Dem Club 5’s," during which they placed promotional materials at the houses of New Hampshire residents. The main goal of these activities was to remind and encourage potential voters to get out to the polls and vote.
"We did so much work for the elections," Dem Club member Cesar Zamudio said. "About 6 weeks before the elections, we started phone banking in Gilman House which was a lot of fun and that was to get out the vote."
Each week prior to elections, Dem Club made about 700-1000 calls supporting Hassan and Simpson.
"On Tuesday morning at 5 a.m., a large group of us went out to the town's neighborhoods and left slips in people's doors to remind them to vote and their nearest polling place," Zamudio continued.
Dem Club co-head Joe Platte commented especially on how big of a success 5’s were. "Dem Club 5’s was a huge success. We had about 50 kids and 10 faculty and by 6:30 a.m. all of the houses that needed it in Exeter had literature," he said, referring to pamphlets and hand-outs.
Dem Club’s efforts did not go unnoticed—Hassan addressed her gratefulness for their work as well as other New Hampshire citizens’.
"I'm incredibly grateful for the support of the Dem Club and all of the remarkable volunteers across the state who worked tirelessly to ensure that we keep New Hampshire moving in the right direction," she said. "We were successful because of the work of so many people who knocked doors, made phone calls and talked to their friends and neighbors about how much was at stake in this election."
"We were successful because of the work of so many people who knocked doors, made phone calls and talked to their friends and neighbors about how much was at stake in this election."
Finally, on Tuesday night, an anxious Dem Club gathered in Exeter Inn where they later celebrated their victories in New Hampshire.
Dem Club co-head Hannah Fuller remarked on the election beyond the scope of New Hampshire. "It was a disappointing election for Democrats across the country, but here in New Hampshire and Exeter, we saw many victories that we are incredibly excited about."
Fuller, however, focused on the impact the Exonian community may have had on the New Hampshire election. "New Hampshire had one of the biggest voter turnouts, and getting people to vote is one of the biggest goals of our work, and it shows that when people get to the poll Democrats win!"
Townley Chisholm, co-advisor of Republican Club, remarked on the results of the election and where he thinks the country is heading. "American dissatisfaction with government seems pretty deep; voters appear to have chosen Republican candidates as the lesser evil in a bunch of races," he said.
Regardless of his political standpoint, Chisholm supported the re-election of Jeanne Shaheen into the Senate over Scott Brown. "I saw far too many Scott Brown ads targeted to my computer and was so unimpressed by them that I voted for Jeanne Shaheen," he said.
Republican students viewed the election results as a victory. "I was happy with the [election results] because the GOP took control of the Senate and added to their majority in the House. This didn’t surprise me because of the Obama administration’s failed policies. It is expected that the American people want to block his executive actions," upper Maddie Toole said.
Overall, the New Hampshire midterm election was considered a success for many members of the Exeter community. Hassan re-expressed her appreciation with high hopes for the future. "I am proud of the work that all of us—Democrats, Republicans and Independents—have done together over the past two years, and I will keep working as hard as I can every single day to make progress for all the people of New Hampshire."