Bragdon Defeats Dwyer Handily for Senate District 11

Merrimack's Dan Dwyer put up a good fight against Senate President Peter Bragdon, R-Milford, in the primary race for Senate District 11, but in the end, didn't have enough to pull out a win.

Dwyer, a Town Councilor in Merrimack, threw his name into the mix when it became clear that a new Senate district was forming, separating Bedford and Merrimack after many years of sharing a district and moving Merrimack in with Amherst, Milford and Wilton.

Dwyer, who pledged to fight for Merrimack's right to ditch its "gated community" status, with tolls on every ramp off the Everett Turnpike, won his hometown, but not by the margin he thought he'd need in order to pull off a victory.

Early on Tuesday, he said as he figured it, he'd need at least 66 percent of the vote in Merrimack, but ended the night with only about 60 percent – he won 1,271 to 900.

It was to be a tough battle in Amherst, Milford and Wilton as Bragdon, the Senate President, has already been representing those three communities for year.

Wide margin wins for Bragdon proved to be the clincher for him.

"When I left Merrimack, I wasn't sure what to expect for the rest of the night," Bragdon said. "Obviously Dan did well in his hometown of Merrimack and I did well in the towns I've been representing in the last several years."

Dwyer said the tough part of losing was letting down the people that worked so hard to help him run his campaign.

"They just helped so much and worked so hard, so that's the tough part," Dwyer said. "I had a great team of people working with me and I just think we expected to be stronger in Merrimack."

Bragdon defeated Dwyer overall 2,965 to 1,853. Town-by-town results are below.

Check back in the morning for more reaction from Dwyer and Bragdon.