Diary of a Down-Ballot Race

July 20, 3:36 pm. Republican State Senator Nancy Stiles sits in her favorite Portsmouth coffee shop, wearing a summer dress and a necklace of big yellow beads. After serving three terms in Concord representing District 24, she’s decided to step down: time to give someone else a turn. Within weeks of Stiles’ retirement, a quartet of eager Republicans stepped in the race to replace her.

Stiles looks up over a half-eaten piece of cake and makes a wish. “I’m hoping the campaign doesn’t get overly nasty,” she sighs.

Then, a prediction: “But I think it’s going to, unfortunately.”

***

Stiles’ words — and what’s played out since — says a lot about the state of politics in New Hampshire in 2016. 

In a year when campaign spending seems to have no limits and the tone of the presidential race can only be out-uglied by the tone of voters disparaging them, this little legislative district on the Seacoast is a kind of political petri dish.

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https://www.nhpr.org/post/diary-down-ballot-race-primary-day-looming-things-get-testy-district-24