REFURBISHED GRANITE:

The New Hampshire Poll (American Research Group, Inc., September 22, 2002)

Results from the September 2002 Quarterly New Hampshire Poll are now available.

John Sununu leads Jeanne Shaheen 47% to 38% for the US Senate, Craig Benson leads Mark Fernald 55% to 30% for governor, Jeb Bradley leads Martha Fuller Clark 40% to 33% in the First Congressional District, and Charles Bass lead Katrina Swett 51% to 33% in the Second Congressional District.

This is good enough news in itself, because this was thought to be one of the most vulnerable Republican Senate seats and the governorship will mark a GOP pick-up, but here are the really staggering numbers, It's certified: Benson won by 4,340 votes (TOM FAHEY, Union Leader):

[Secretary of State William] Gardner said the final statewide count showed the total number of ballots cast at the polls and through the absentee process was 234,902, exactly 37 percent of the 633,230 state voters registered in 2001. The previous record for votes in both primaries was 210,000, set in 1992, when 119,000 GOP ballots were cast, he said.

Republicans broke the GOP primary record with 162,221 regular and absentee ballots. Democrats cast a total of 72,681 ballots.

That's a good bit more than a 2-1 margin of GOP to Democrat voters, despite a competitive Democratic gubernatorial primary. The numbers may be artificially inflated--there's anecdotal evidence of Democrats crossing over to vote against Bob Smith out of loathing--but it can't be too significant. After a couple disgraceful terms of Jeanne Shaheen and the humiliating loss of NH by George Bush, Sr. on 1992, the Granite State appears to be tending back towards solidly Republican. Posted by Orrin Judd at September 22, 2002 8:07 AM