Ayotte holding narrow lead over Lamontagne
posted at 9:30 am on September 15, 2010 by Ed Morrissey
The final primary night may last a little while longer, at least in New Hampshire, where the Republican nomination has resulted in a photo finish. With over 85% of the precincts counted, Attorney General Kelly Ayotte has taken a lead of less than a thousand votes over Ovide Lamontagne. The final result may be so close that it will take a recount to confirm:
Five hours after polls closed in New Hampshire, former state Attorney General Kelly Ayotte was clinging to a 1-point lead over surging local tea party favorite Ovide Lamontagne early Wednesday morning in the Granite State’s Republican Senate primary.
As of 1:45 a.m., Ayotte led 38.4 percent to Lamontagne’s 37.3 percent with 81 percent of precincts reporting, according to the Associated Press.
Should she hold on to her slim margin, Ayotte — the pick of the national Republican establishment — would become the favorite in the general election contest against Democratic Rep. Paul W. Hodes in the race to replace retiring Sen. Judd Gregg.
Politico’s tracking has 85.4% of the precincts counted and a narrower lead for Ayotte, 38.2% to 37.4%, as of 7:35 this morning. The Union Leader shows the vote totals giving Ayotte slightly less than a thousand-vote margin, which in a race where a little over 100,000 votes were probably cast, might not be significant enough for Lamontagne to accept at face value. Assuming the lead doesn’t change again — Lamontangne led for most of the evening — I’d guess that we may not lock in the GOP nominee for another few days.
The rest of the New Hampshire results are more solid. Frank Guinta ended up on top of a crowded field to challenge Carol Shea-Porter for her House seat in NH-01. Guinta edged businessman Rich Ashooh, who made sure to pledge his support to Guinta before the evening was over. Sean Mahoney, the self-funding conservative, dropped to third in the race. In NH-02, former Rep. Charlie Bass won another close race against Jennifer Horn for the GOP nomination. He will face Obama delegate and Democratic Party activist Annie Kuster for Paul Hodes’ vacant seat.
Hopefully, when the counting resumes this morning, we will see a clear-cut winner in the Senate primary as well. However, New Hampshire and other late-primary states might want to rethink their scheduling if this drags out for another week or so. September primaries leave everyone with a short timeframe for actual debate on the issues, and no time for a recount and/or challenge if needed.
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go get’em…
cmsinaz on May 23, 2013 at 8:05 PM
Boom.
peski on May 23, 2013 at 8:05 PM
hillary needs to come back as well….
cmsinaz on May 23, 2013 at 8:06 PM
I wonder if these whistleblowers are included.
PJM EXCLUSIVE: Ex-Diplomats Report New Benghazi Whistleblowers with Info Devastating to Clinton and Obama
INC on May 23, 2013 at 8:08 PM
via politico
is he really that clueless????
cmsinaz on May 23, 2013 at 8:10 PM
I don’t know the details of a transcribed interview. Will they be under oath?
Curtiss on May 23, 2013 at 8:11 PM
Arrogant and narcissistic. He may think he’s completely untouchable because for his entire political life, he’s pretty much done whatever he wanted to do and gotten away with it.
INC on May 23, 2013 at 8:12 PM
tru dat
cmsinaz on May 23, 2013 at 8:12 PM
So we’re coming up to hit about two full weeks of scandals?
Still more revelations every day as the stable doors burst open on this Augean Administration.
INC on May 23, 2013 at 8:14 PM
Nothing wrong with pandering to your ever decreasing base I guess.
HotAirLib on May 23, 2013 at 8:16 PM
i’m just gonna say it: Darell Issa is sexy!
GhoulAid on May 23, 2013 at 8:17 PM
Keeping up pressure is a fitting tribute for Memorial Day.
ajacksonian on May 23, 2013 at 8:17 PM
I have no confidence that Issa has what it takes to get to the truth of any of these scandals.
blue13326 on May 23, 2013 at 8:19 PM
You are correct for once.
VegasRick on May 23, 2013 at 8:22 PM
Fiat justitia et ruant coeli
Let justice be done, though the heavens fall.
INC on May 23, 2013 at 8:28 PM
Note to ERIKA JOHNSEN: the “womp” is missing.r Please pick up the blue courtesy phone in the lobby.
ExpressoBold on May 23, 2013 at 8:33 PM
HAL, Sing daisy for us.
Can’t handle your messiah failing huh?
The next few weeks should be fun, well for us not you. You’ll soon be curled up in the fetal potition sucking your thumb.
Tissue?
D-fusit on May 23, 2013 at 8:51 PM
Hillary will be back on her deathbed before she goes back to Congress. She wants to be President. She timed her last appearance (not under oath) so that it was just before her victory lap as the best SecState ever. She’s not going to willingly go back to Congress and have to answer the questions that the ARB should have asked if it were conducted by men of integrity instead of Mullen and Pickering.
Happy Nomad on May 23, 2013 at 8:52 PM
Well, we’ll see how that works out for the rat-eared traitor. Fewer and fewer supporters everyday as the scandals take their toll. It is only a matter of time before Bo denies that he knows this filthy corrupt bastard (literally).
Happy Nomad on May 23, 2013 at 8:55 PM
ZOMG!!11!! HAL has become a Republican! Thank goodness! I was in fear for your almost-immortal soul. (You still owe time to Satan, for your years of apostasy).
Um, what was that…? HAL attempted sarcasm? Well, butter my butt, and call me a biscuit! And they told me libbabies don’t have a sense of humor! Good, HAL, good. In a few years, you might be eligible to apply for human race membership.
Your Libbiebers are going down in flames, HAL. Enjoy the weenie roast.
creekspecter on May 23, 2013 at 9:36 PM
Nobody is in jail yet. One vacation, and one 3 week early retirement.
I like the line,, but results would be good.
IRS agents in a supermax general population.
wolly4321 on May 23, 2013 at 9:53 PM
We’ve hit a point in this country where political gamesmanship should not be considered. Even if the poll were not favorable, this is the hill to die on–because if someone does not reign in this out-of-control administration, there will be no more hills. When one party ruthlessly and brazenly abuses the power of the public offices it controls to punish its political enemies, what follows–barring some sort of intervention and house cleaning–is tyranny.
It is truly terrifying how far along that path we have slipped. I shudder to think what will happen if the Republicans let these egregious wrongs–these assaults against everything America stands for–go. It’s heartening that 59% of Americans get that. (Of course, it would be great if the percentage were higher, but I’m willing, all things considered, to see that in a glass-a-bit-past-half-full kind of way.)
And when I consider how I would react if this were a Republican administration rather than a Democrat one, I feel exactly the same way. I would want the guilty parties identified, removed from office, and suitably punished. Either we are a people that believes in the rule of law, or we are a people willing to be subject to the capricious desires of whoever happens to hold the most power.
May God help us, and may justice be done–no matter what polls say.
butterflies and puppies on May 23, 2013 at 10:10 PM
I fixed it for you. I know that this is what you really meant.
blink on May 23, 2013 at 10:13 PM
Yeah? And what’s the ‘expiration date’ going to be on that “promise”?
GarandFan on May 23, 2013 at 10:24 PM
The backdrop for all this corruption is a media, an educational system, and an entertainment industry that all act as propagandists for one political party and one political ideology.
Imagine a theatre filled with an audience who have diverse political views. Yet the sound engineer, the lighting engineer, the actors, the musicians, the stage hands, the ushers, and the candy vendors all act in unison to promote one point of view.
This is the America that we live in today, and the GOP are to blame for sitting on their hands and allowing this situation to metastasize for the past 40 years, based on the idiot logic of “hey, we’re still winning our fair share of elections, so let’s stay above the fray”.
When the next Civil War begins, it can also be ended in one day. Just bomb the hell out of every college campus faculty lounge, every Hollywood studio, and the HQ of every MSM outlet, and then watch America slowly go back to normal.
Cut all three heads off of the snake.
ardenenoch on May 23, 2013 at 11:46 PM
Considering how dreadfully FEW were involved in last years elections I’m glad our remaining representatives are still taking their jobs seriously.
If more don’t start getting involved NOW I couldn’t blame them for letting these matters drop.
Let them eat cake, right?
DannoJyd on May 24, 2013 at 1:05 AM
Sorry–should be “rein in.” I’m going to blame it on a combination of tiredness, distraction, and the unsettling specter of a power-mad monarch looming over the future of this country. ;)
butterflies and puppies on May 24, 2013 at 1:37 AM