Democrats Have a State Senate Primary in Concord

As can sometimes happen on the last day of candidate filings, things get a bit interesting. And on Friday, that's exactly what happened.

The most significant filing was a second candidate emerging to run for the open District 15 state Senate seat, which represents Concord, Henniker, Hopkinton, and Warner.

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Dan Feltes, an attorney with New Hampshire Legal Assistance, filed to run as a Democrat for the seat, facing off against Concord School Board member Kass Ardinger, the handpicked replacement of Sylvia Larsen, the outgoing state Senator.

Feltes said he was “all in,” and intended to win, hoping to give the voters of the district a true progressive voice in the seat who would focus on helping working families.

The winner of the primary faces off against Republican Lydia Dube Harman.

Other filings

A number of people waited to the last minute to jump into contests on Friday.

After flirting with a possible run for state Senate, state Rep. Katherine Rogers will again run for the District 28/Wards 8, 9, and 10 floterial seat.

“The more I thought about all of the reasons to run for the NH State Senate I kept coming back to the simple truth – my work in the NH House is unfinished,” Rogers said in a statement. “I am proud to be part of creating a new team of fellow democrats called the Fair Deal Caucus. Our membership is nearly 90 strong. Our mission is to give a fair hearing to any and all sources of revenue needed to meet our state’s obligations and to assist working families. Our caucus will fight for the development of good paying and self-sustaining jobs and equitable treatment of working men and women.”

Also filing to run was Paula Bradley, a Democrat, who is running unopposed for the District 18/Ward 9 seat.

A single Republican – Barbara Mitera, a security officer at Concord Hospital – has filed to run for one of three seats in the District 10/Ward 5/Hopkinton floterial district.

More gathering signatures

A few more candidates have filed “declarations of intent” to collect signatures to gain ballot access either as major party candidates or independents.

Among them is John Shea of Nelson who has filed to run for governor. Shea is no stranger to politics. He ran for Executive Council three times and lost. But, eventually, he won the District 2 seat in the 2006, the year the “blue tsunami” swept over New Hampshire.

Brian Chabot of Nashua, a technical manager, has also filed to run for the 2nd Congressional District seat as a Libertarian.

Christopher Booth, who lost a bid for mayor last year and a U.S. Senate race in 2010, has filed to run in the District 28/Wards 8, 9, and 10 floterial seat. 

Follow all the Patch campaign stories and post in our Elections section.