It went down to the last precinct reporting, but when all the votes were in, Democratic challenger Maggie Hassan had taken the U.S. Senate seat from incumbent Republican Kelly Ayotte.
New Hampshire’s U.S. Senate seat remained up in the air Wednesday morning, with a razor-thin margin between Ayotte and Hassan.
Even with 98 percent of precincts reporting by mid-morning on Wednesday, the race remained too close to call, or even speculate, with only about 600 votes separating the two.
The push and pull between the candidates continued on Wednesday morning, as with most votes in and the gap still nail-bitingly small, Hassan delivered a victory speech, while Ayotte refused to concede until the last votes were counted.
“This morning, there are only a few small towns left outstanding and I hope these remaining votes are quickly recorded. When they are, we are confident that our margins are large enough that we will maintain a lead,” wrote Hassan in a press release Wednesday morning. “It is clear that we have won, and I am proud to stand here as the next United States Senator from New Hampshire.”
However, Kelly for New Hampshire spokeswoman Liz Johnson said that Ayotte would be waiting for the official results.
“This has been a closely contested race from the beginning and we look forward to results being announced by the Secretary of State, and ensuring that every vote is counted in this race that has received an historic level of interest,” wrote Johnson in a press release.
Ayotte is well within the 20 percent margin required for a candidate to request a recount, which she has until Monday to do.
Both candidates had their supporters at the polls across the Monadnock region on Tuesday.
“Maggie Hassan has always been for the working families of New Hampshire,” said Marc Provencher of Jaffrey, who was out campaigning at the polls on Tuesday.
Across the region, Hassan held strong in the historically blue Peterborough, where she snapped up over 60 percent of the vote, and also carried the day in Wilton, Sharon, Dublin, Jaffrey and Greenfield, though by more narrow margins.
Ayotte, on the other hand, rode the surge of Republican votes across the rest of the region, performing strongly in towns like New Ipswich, where she handily won more than double Hassan’s votes in a 1,860-781 race. Rindge, another town which has a strong conservative base also did well for Ayotte, where she took about 57 percent of the vote.
At the start of the election, New Hampshire’s U.S. Senate seat was considered a race to watch, a possible key to the Democrats’ chance of taking control of the U.S. Senate.
Campaigner Mary Jo Childs traveled from Vermont to campaign for Maggie Hassan in Peterborough, saying she saw the race as pivitol not only to New Hampshire, but the country.
“I am one of several out-of-state residents who is here because we are very concerned about the outcome of the Senate race. We need some balance,” said Childs.
However, the importance of the Ayotte-Hassan race to the national stage diminished as the results rolled in and it became clear that the Rupublicans had recaptured control of the Senate. The party now holds 51 seats while Democrats hold 47.
Ashley Saari can be reached at 924-7172 ext. 244 or asaari@ledgertranscript.com. She’s on Twitter @AshleySaariMLT.