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Democrat Chuck Grassie secured re-election to the New Hampshire state House in resounding trend on Tuesday, defeating Republican David Walker 56-44 three-and-a-half months after their preliminary faceoff in November resulted in a precise tie. The victory shrinks the GOP’s margin within the chamber to only 201-198—the narrowest hole between the events in state historical past—and places Democrats one step nearer to flipping the Home subsequent yr, if not sooner. (One safely blue seat is vacant.)
However this election virtually didn’t happen in any respect. New Hampshire has historically held particular elections to resolve tied legislative contests, and after November’s impasse, Republicans signaled their intent to observe precedent. However on the day lawmakers convened in December to deal with the matter, the GOP’s official Twitter account shot off a tweet congratulating “Rep. David Walker,” revealing the get together’s plan to make use of its majority to easily seat Walker because the winner of the race for Strafford County District 8.
The untimely celebration and attepted power-grab might have backfired, as a handful of Republicans joined with Democrats to vote down a GOP proposal to dispense with the deliberate particular. That set the stage for Tuesday’s election, which ensured Walker gained’t be including “Rep.” earlier than his identify any time quickly. The outcome additionally represented a considerable overperformance for Democrats: Whereas Joe Biden carried the district (identified domestically as Rochester Ward 4) by about 5 factors, Grassie’s 12-point win means, with rounding, that he ran 7 factors forward of the president—a welcome signal for Democrats, particularly since turnout was greater than 50% of November’s.
And extra particular elections are all however assured, for the reason that big 400-member Home at all times sees turnover between election years. That raises the tantalizing chance that Democrats may flip two GOP-held seats and take a numerical majority earlier than 2024. Which may or won’t lead to a brand new vote for speaker (a submit at present held by Republicans) since get together loyalty on this notoriously swingy state is rarely absolute. However both approach, Tuesday’s final result reveals Democrats are well-positioned to make additional positive factors and take again the Home within the close to future.
P.S. Every day Kos readers performed an enormous position in making this occur. You generously gavemore than $26,000 through an astonishing 2,200-plus donations to Grassie’s marketing campaign—a sum that went an enormous approach in a race the place simply over a thousand votes had been forged. As we’ve lengthy argued, small-dollar grassroots donations can have a big impact in legislative races, and on Tuesday evening, they most definitely did!
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