Concord Election Turnout Lowest In 10 Years Despite Competition

CONCORD, NH — City elections in Concord have historically been pretty sleepy events in recent years.

Turnout tends to run 15 to 16 percent citywide — with single-digit turnout numbers in some of the city’s more transient wards. Even when there have been competitive races — like 2013, the year of the Bearcat, when 28 people ran for city council and mayor after the city approved the purchase of an armored vehicle for the police department by a single vote, turnout was only 15.4 percent.

The 2019 municipal election had the highest voter turnout during the past decade, 16.2 percent. That election had a challenger against Mayor Jim Bouley and a competitive three-way at large city council race. But there were also three district school board seats, two of which received challenges in the wake of the Primo “Howie” Leung teacher-student rape scandal and one other open seat. One incumbent was ousted during that election.

Turnout on Tuesday was 14.3 percent — artificially high, due to the decennial purging of more than 8,000 inactive voters from the city voter rolls after the 2020 Census. Using 2020’s registration numbers, turnout was closer to 11.1 percent, with a like-like comparison to past years. But who should quibble over a few percentage points? At 14.3 percent, 2021 was the lowest turnout election during the past 19 elections that all voters in Concord had the chance to participate in. Turnout for presidential cycles though can run anywhere from 73 to 76 percent.

Low turnout for city elections and town meetings, too, in the spring, in other communities, is not unusual in New Hampshire.

While there are spikes in activity, often over big-ticket items in places with town meetings, or the Manchester mayoral race, which is a paid gig and a powerful position that can be used to vault a person into a gubernatorial or Congressional race, most community elections resemble a middle-school popularity contest.

Some will say, the lack of participation is due to the city being run properly. But the way people critique or complain about things in public and private moments, that theory does not bear fruit. The lack of participation often brings up a chicken versus egg argument — do city residents not vote because few candidates run or would competent candidates, who raise and spend money and actually campaign, lead to higher turnout?

There Was An Election On Tuesday?

At the polls, it was a lonely place; lonelier, actually, than past city elections.

A spot-check of the city’s 10 polling locations between lunchtime and early evening on Tuesday found four spots without candidates or others holding support signs. One would not know there was even an election with the exception of the city’s orange “vote here” standing horses outside polling locations.

That number dropped to three after Erle Pierce, an unopposed city councilor from Ward 2, showed after 4 p.m. to hold his sign outside the Barn at Bull Meadow. After thanking a voter for coming out — there was a stream of half a dozen across 20 minutes, the voter joked to Pierce, “I voted for the other guy.”

Turnout, at the close of the election, was 8.2 percent in the ward.

At Ward 1, Brent Todd, the incumbent, was holding his sign since 7 a.m., greeting voters. Tom Croteau, a District A (Wards 1, 2, 3, and 4) charter commission candidate and former educator, was standing nearby, along with a firefighter holding a sign promoting Bouley and Amanda Grady Sexton and Fred Keach, two at large candidates who were both unopposed. Todd easily won re-election by a five-to-one margin against William Barton, who did not mount much of an effort, after barely winning re-election in 2019 against Kevin Miller by 26 votes. Croteau would win one of two charter commission seats, topping the ticket against four other candidates. Tracey Lesser came in second in the District A charter commission race.

About 11.4 percent of registered voters cast ballots in Ward 1.

Jennifer Kretovic, the Ward 3 councilor, also ran unopposed this year. But she was at the polls, as always, this time, with a computer desk setup, working while greeting voters. As voters left, she handed out a card, inviting them to sign up for her email newsletter. Later, Kretovic’s husband brought her food and they joined Croteau’s wife, who was also holding a sign.

Ward 3 had the second-highest turnout in the city on Tuesday — 17.4 percent. That number is actually deceptive since the ward also has to lowest number of registered voters — 1,860. Half the people who live in the ward reside in two prisons and they cannot vote.

Gail Matson, the incumbent in Ward 8, who has been repeatedly challenged by Dennis Soucy, got a pass this year, easily besting the blanks for another two-year term. Despite not having an opponent, she and a friend from Massachusetts were at the polls, thanking voters for coming out.

About 8.6 percent of them did.

While it was a typical November weather day on Tuesday, at Ward 10, it was a bit chilly as Joe Shoemaker stood outside of the polls, mounting a last-minute write-in effort to unseat Zandra Rice Hawkins, the incumbent. Each stood apart from the other while both appeared to have supporters coming in to vote. Shoemaker said he and others were tired of national and state issues being brought before the city council when it should be tending to roads, public safety, and other bread and butter local issues. He did not specifically mention Rice Hawkins’ proposal to change the name of Columbus Day but when asked if he was insulted by the idea because he might be an Italo, he said, “No.” Rice Hawkins, clearly concerned she was being sandbagged, said she wished Shoemaker had signed up to run so there could have been a conversation about the issues. Robert Washburn, who was unsuccessful in gaining an at large charter commission seat this year, and long-time city political watcher, Charlie Russell, both swung by the polling location to chat with the candidates. In the end, Rice Hawkins easily won with more than 75 percent of the vote.

Ward 10, which typically has the highest turnout in the city, was third this year, at around 16.5 percent.

At Ward 4, Karen McNamara, who was seated after winning a special election in July, was outside of the polls holding her sign with another firefighter backing Bouley, Grady Sexton, and Keach as well as Croteau making a last-minute pitch to voters.

About 13.9 percent of the registered voters in the ward cast ballots.

In Ward 6, 9.9 percent of voters cast ballots while in Ward 7, 16.4 percent cast ballots. Ward 9 had a turnout of slightly more than 8 percent.

High Turnout In Ward 5

At Ward 5, throughout the day, there were a lot of people standing outside of the polls offering support to a myriad of candidates, including two running for an open ward council seat: Stacey Brown and Mark Coen.

Robert Cotton, a new school board candidate who lives in the ward and won after one of the four candidates dropped out, was also there. Pamela Walsh, one of the only school board candidates to spend money on mail to voters, was also standing at the polls with a supporter. Barbara Higgins, a long-time board member, also won re-election.

Betty Hoadley, a former teacher and school board member, who topped the ticket of five candidates running for three at large charter commission seats, was also seated at the polls.

At around lunchtime, nearly 500 people had voted, showing a strong turnout for the day, driven by a number of candidates who live in the ward who were running and were working to get out their voters.

Brown said she wished she would have had more time to campaign because she grew into the process and had time late in the race to look at more issues than the climate, tree canopy, and bike trails that she mentioned early on. Coen said the solid numbers showed city races really needed to have competition while he thought he brought up relevant local issues, not global issues, during the race. When the votes were counted, Brown easily beat Coen by an almost two-to-one margin.

William Ardinger, who came in second in the at large charter commission race and also lives in Ward 5, received the most votes there, too. Clint Cogswell, the third seat winner, came in second in the ward.

In the end, 28.8 percent of voters in Ward 5 voted, the highest in the city.

Updated 2021 Election Finances

Last week, the last city council and mayoral financial paperwork filings were due and all but two candidates, Barton and Keach, submitted paperwork.

Some reports were more complete than others. Most candidates spent only $5 on their races, the filing fee.

Brown raised and spent the most money of any candidate in 2021 — about $2,100 raised, including a $1,000 donation to her effort, while spending more than $1,500. Also, late in the race, she purchased a voter file from the New Hampshire Democratic Party, which helped her with identifying voters.

Coen spent $258, which included $8 for a website that he posted in early October after the first filing.

Paula McLaughlin, who ran unopposed for the open Ward 6 seat, spent $1,175 on stamps, postcards, and labels.

Taylor Hall, who received 22 percent of the vote in his bid against Bouley for mayor, spent $209.68 on his race, mostly on Facebook ads. Bouley spent $5. Hall mentioned apathy and the lack of money spent on the 2019 race as two of his reasons for running. That year, both Bouley and Linda Rae Banfill spent $5 each on their races with Banfill receiving 20 percent of the vote.

Another financial filing is due on Nov. 16.

A Cacophony Of Issues In Concord

While the turnout for the 2021 election in Concord was the lowest during the past decade, the results in Ward 5 appear to prove the theory that competent, active candidates, who raise and spend money to get out the vote, will increase voter turnout.

But there are other issues facing the city's political systems when it comes to odd-year campaigns.

Allan Herschlag, a former Ward 2 city councilor who blogs for Patch and ran a number of times before getting elected, said he was puzzled by the lack of interest in city elections — particularly when voters in municipal elections have significantly more impact than they can ever have in a statewide or national contest.

“When who you vote for has a direct impact on how your taxes and other city funding is spent," he said. "It has a direct impact on safety, recreation, roads, and all the other services you pay for and the city provides.”

Grady Sexton called the people in the community “a very educated electorate” who were “decisive” and voted consistently. They often, too, vote the same ways, with specific trends that can be tracked across years, especially with candidates who have served for a while. The voters also know, for the most part, when there were competitive races, so they could get out.

Herschlag said no one should get too excited by what happened in Ward 5 as far as turnout since it was only a 7 percent increase from 2019 or about 60 votes. It helped that Brown appeared to be “an aggressive campaigner, ensuring her message was received by those who voted in the previous election and as many others as time and funding allowed,” he said. While admitting he was not privy to how Coen campaigned, running every four years at large was different than a ward councilor or mayoral race, which is every two years.

“Does this matter?,” Herschlag asked. “I don’t know.”

Russell, too said, when comparing 2019 and 2021, the average vote was a pretty big drop-off while Ward 5 was a single-digit increase. He agreed that it was GOTV, "get out the vote," and pointed to the Internet and social media — the “high-tech phone trees of the past,” as factors in turnout, too.

“Some people who went door-to-door told me voters didn’t even know there was an election despite the Monitor, Concord TV, and Patch doing an excellent job covering it and candidates,” he said.

Competitive races though, Grady Sexton said, are often driven by specific issues. She also pointed to the 2013 election cycle, which had a flurry of candidates, many who were angry about the purchase of the Bearcat.

“When people are upset with particular votes, they want to see change,” she said. “You will see them come out.”

The Rundlett Middle School project is a potential fury issue on the horizon since it would require a big shift in terms of property taxes that the council has no role in, she said. Estimates for the project were in the $68 million to $90 million range before the post-COVID-19 economic collapse and hyperinflation the construction field is seeing now, leading to speculation that a new building could easily be in the $100 million to $120 million cost range.

“It’s a big deal,” Grady Sexton said. “It’s an enormous expenditure, especially post-pandemic, that is a tax increase that we cannot pass onto the public without pricing people — our seniors and young people, young families, out of this community.”

Despite running unopposed, Grady Sexton was happy to see voters giving her solid support across most city wards. She said her focus on constituent service and soliciting feedback made residents feel appreciated.

“People feel that the city council is doing a good job and the things that they care about are being taken care of — taxes, public safety, traffic, trash being picked up, making sure you live in a livable city,” she said. “It’s the very basics. (The councilors) know who they are there for; these are their neighbors. They know who they are.”

But, she added, “people are feeling they are getting stretched; they feel their taxes are too high.” There are going to be problems, she said, if the school district continues to raise taxes in large amounts.

Russell also mentioned the pay is too low for positions like school board or city council especially when comparing the time commitment.

Councilors and school members get $1,000 stipends whereas, in Nashua, an alderman receives $5,000 and in Manchester, it is $4,000. In Manchester, too, two-thirds of the races were competitive. There, and in Portsmouth, Russell added, “I saw plenty of signs and contested races.” In Manchester, “even some long-time incumbents lost … why there and not here?”

With all of the board of education meetings and subcommittee meetings, it is a big commitment of time. This, and the Leung situation, too, contributed to past turnover.

“Major changes are needed,” he said.

Russell said he hoped the charter commission would like at increasing the pay and maybe even an expanded board.

Herschlag said one idea to get more people involved could be to expand the number of residents who serve on city boards and committees. The city, he said, has numerous openings that often stay vacant for years.

“Is it truly a lack of interest from the populace?,” he asked. “Is it that few in the city are aware of these opportunities to participate and volunteer? Can it be that those who already serve on various city boards and committees are there because they have already aligned themselves with those who appointed them, our elected officials? Is it because if you have a different view on what services or how those services should be provided, it is difficult if not impossible to get a toe hold on a city board or committee to be able to express those views?”

Running for city council, right out of the gate, without the opportunity to participate in some other level of the city government does not prepare residents, without prior experience, looking to share ideas, he said.

“The learning curve to compete with an incumbent is not only steep, but it is difficult to access and amass even a small portion of the information a city councilor as an insider can have available to them,” Herschlag added. “If we truly want more people to participate in our elections, in volunteering, in serving on city boards and committees and running for public office, let’s provide them all with a level playing field to compete from.”

Russell also said citizen-generated reviews or advisory groups were needed to keep watch on and take positions on issues, to get the word out.

“How to make democracy work? Get involved,” he said.

Got a news tip? Send it to tony.schinella@patch.com. View videos on Tony Schinella's YouTube.com channel or Rumble.com channel. Follow the New Hampshire Patch Politics Twitter account @NHPatchPolitics for all our campaign coverage.