After 13 terms in the State House, Republican incumbent legislator Elizabeth Hager was ousted by four newcomers who banded together during the campaign.

Hager said she sees the loss as a victory by the more conservative wing of the Republican Party over moderates. But, she said, she does not envision the primary winners prevailing in the general election. "Clearly, the people who are now in control of the Republican Party don't want people like me in it," Hager said. "They worked very hard, so I congratulate them for doing that. I just wonder where it gets them in the long run."

Of 1,668 votes cast in Merrimack County's District 12, which includes Concord's Wards 5, 6 and 7, Hager received 297. Among her opponents, John Kalb earned 395 votes, Pamela Ean 351, Garrett Ean 313 and Travis Ingram 312.

Kalb, 27, is executive director of New England Citizens for Right to Work, an advocacy group that describes its mission as protecting workers from being forced to join a union. Pamela Ean, 55, and Garrett Ean, 19, are a mother-and-son team. Pamela Ean is a teacher at Merrimack Valley High School, a former police officer and chairwoman of the Concord City Republicans. Garrett Ean is studying criminology at the University of South Florida. (If elected, he plans to return for legislative sessions.) Ingram, 19, studies accounting at NHTI. Although they have all volunteered on campaigns, none has ever held elected office.

The four victors all campaigned together. Kalb, who organized the effort, paid for literature that supported the four candidates and opposed Hager. Kalb said the major difference between the four winners and Hager was their platforms against new taxes and in favor of lower spending. The four of them, he said, oppose new broad-based taxes and large spending increases. "We all oppose an income tax. Liz Hager sponsored an income tax," Kalb said.

Kalb attributes their success to their work going door-to-door and sending mailings. "The voters agreed with us that the state spends too much and we need to really cut taxes and work to get back to being a really good place to raise a family and do business," he said.

Pamela Ean said the group would meet at her house on weekends, then go door-to-door together and do literature drops. Between the four of them, "we literally got to every single Republican household in the three wards," she said. "We're very likeminded in our views. . . . It was just banding together and getting out there."

Hager, 63, the executive director of United Way of Merrimack County, was first sworn in as a legislator in 1973. She served on the Concord City Council for nine years and was mayor in 1988-89. She took part in two of the state's constitutional conventions and sponsored the state's equal rights amendment, which became law 30 years ago. She has served on the House Finance Committee and is chairwoman of the Legislature's disaster relief fund and the Enrolled Bills Committee. Recently, she worked on establishing ethics and lobbyist guidelines.

Hager describes herself as a moderate who is "proudly pro-choice, proudly pro-government." She sponsored a bill in 1999 that would have established an income tax to pay for education. She says her major interest was in "good government and efficient, well-run state government."

Hager described her opponents as Republicans who are "right-wing, anti-government and want to control social issues."

Hager said she's saddened by the low turnout, with the winner getting 395 votes. "I think a lot of people that have been associated with the Republican Party for years are no longer Republicans," she said.

She believes many of those who agree with her have left the party. "I think the people most surprised I lost would be Democrats and independents," Hager said.

Hager said that for now, she plans to focus on her full-time job with United Way. She has not decided whether she will return to public service in the future.

Hager said the primary results do not bode well for Republicans in the general election.

"I just was barely making it in the general myself with all the years working at it," she said. "I don't think they have a chance." The four winners will face Democrats Jessie Osborne, Harold Rice, Mary Jane Wallner and Rick Watrous.

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