N.H. voters go to polls as primary season wanes

CONCORD, N.H. — A toss-up congressional district featuring 17 candidates, including Sen. Bernie Sanders’ son, topped the ballot Tuesday in a New Hampshire primary that provided one of the final measures of the country’s mood before November’s midterm election.

Accustomed to going first in the presidential primary, New Hampshire voters are among the last to nominate candidates for November, with Rhode Island and New York holding the nation’s last primaries later this week.

Democrat Carol Shea-Porter’s decision to step down after four nonconsecutive terms resulted in a swarm of candidates seeking to replace her in the intriguing 1st Congressional District, which roughly covers the eastern half of the state. The district was once reliably Republican but has flipped in each of the past four cycles. In 2016, it returned Shea-Porter to Congress but backed President Donald Trump.

Executive Councilor Chris Pappas won an 11-way race for the Democratic nomination. He beat Maura Sullivan, a former official in President Barack Obama’s administration, and Levi Sanders, son of the Vermont senator and former presidential hopeful.

Pappas, who is openly gay, is a former state lawmaker who is serving his third term on the governor’s Executive Council and runs a family restaurant in Manchester. He gained the backing of the state’s two Democratic U.S. senators, and touted his strong financial support from New Hampshire residents.

Eddie Edwards, former enforcement chief for the state liquor commission, won the GOP nomination, beating State Sen. Andy Sanborn. If elected, Edwards would be the state’s first black congressman.

Edwards, who received the backing of Trump attorney Rudy Giuliani, sought to make the race about character and integrity. Sanborn, a fourterm senator from Bedford, has acknowledged making a sexual “joke” to a Statehouse intern in 2013 but said a recent investigation into the matter was politically motivated.

Republican Gov. Chris Sununu faced no primary challenge as he seeks a second term, and will face former state Sen. Molly Kelly in November.

Seven Republicans competed for a chance to face Democratic U.S. Rep. Annie Kuster in the 2nd Congressional District.

Secretary of State William Gardner predicted that 180,000 ballots will be cast, roughly split among Democrats and Republicans. That amounts to about 19 percent of registered voters and would be a record for Democratic ballots cast in a midterm primary.