Salisbury moderator John Herbert wears his special tie for the New Hampshire primary election on Tuesday, Sept. 13, 2016. "It's getting a little old, a little ragged," he said.
Salisbury moderator John Herbert wears his special tie for the New Hampshire primary election on Tuesday, Sept. 13, 2016. "It's getting a little old, a little ragged," he said. Credit: ELODIE REED / Monitor staff

Follow along here throughout the day as Monitor reporters share the sights and sounds from the polls:

 

Voter choice: ‘I literally prayed’

Voter Shirley Theis made up her mind during the drive to the polls in Candia.

“I literally prayed in the car,” said Theis, who ultimately voted for Manchester Mayor Ted Gatsas in the Republican gubernatorial primary.

She had had considered other candidates in the four-way race, including Executive Councilor Chris Sununu. But Theis decided against him after seeing several commercials on television attacking the Newfields Republican. “I didn’t know what was true and what was a lie,” she said.

Voters at the polls today will pick a gubernatorial candidate from a crowded field on both sides. Three Democrats are vying for the nomination, including Executive Councilor Colin Van Ostern, businessman Mark Connolly and former Portsmouth mayor Steve Marchand.

On the Republican side is Gatsas, Sununu, state Sen. Jeanie Forrester and state Rep. Frank Edelblut.

ALLIE MORRIS

More from the polls:

Top-tier races not feeling the love in Bow, Weare

In Boscawen, come to vote, stay for lunch

Name recognition

As Republican candidate for governor Jeanie Forrester stumped in front of the Hooksett Middle School this morning, a few voters approached her to let her know she had their vote.

A few others didn’t know who she was. As the Meredith state senator left the school building, a husband and wife on their way to the polls passed her in the hallway.

“Who is that?” the woman asked her husband.

Many of the gubernatorial candidates are still unknown to New Hampshire residents, according to a University of New Hampshire Survey Center poll conducted a few weeks ago. That poll found the three Democratic candidates all struggling with low name ID.

The poll also showed Republicans Chris Sununu and Ted Gatsas with the highest name recognition; owing in part to Sununu’s well-known family name and Gatsas being the mayor of New Hampshire’s largest city.

ELLA NILSEN

‘Knock on wood’

Democratic candidate for governor Colin Van Ostern briefly stopped at Manchester’s Ward 6 polling place this afternoon to chat with supporters and greet voters.

The executive councilor from Concord was sporting his own “I Voted” sticker; he cast his ballot in the Capital City earlier in the morning before taking his son Peter to school.

When Van Ostern introduced himself to a husband and wife walking into the Manchester polling place, they remarked they already knew who he was and said he was the only candidate who knocked on their door during the primary season.

Another supporter remarked that after the primary was over, Van Ostern could focus on the general election.

“I’m a superstitious person, so I’m going to knock on wood,” Van Ostern responded, rapping his knuckles on a wooden barrier in front of him.

ELLA NILSEN

Among the signs dotting the roads in Hooksett were a few with some strategically placed white-out.

They belonged to Hooksett resident Don Winterton, who until last week was running for N.H. state Senate in District 16. Winterton was disqualified for the position by the secretary of state’s office, after he told WMUR he had only been living in New Hampshire since 2011.

But it appears Winterton hasn’t given up yet. Winterton updated his signs to reflect that, blocking out the word “senate” on his sign and replacing it with a handwritten “Rep.”

“Any name can be written in,” said secretary of state’s office elections assistant Paula Penney. Penney said candidates for state representative must live in New Hampshire for at least two years before an election.

District 16 includes Bow, Candia, Dunbarton, Hooksett and Manchester Wards 1, 2 and 12.

For more:

Amid questions, Republican Winterton withdraws from Senate District 16 race

Winterton claimed domicile in Florida for ‘tax purposes’

From around the polls: