While celebrities like former Patriots player Rob Gronkowski and boxer Floyd Mayweather made appearances in southern New Hampshire on Tuesday urging residents to vote, the candidates themselves circulated the state, shaking hands, taking pictures and offering final messages as people streamed into the polls.
The Monitor caught up several people on the ballot running in big races across the state as they made their last attempts to capture votes.
Outside Manchester’s Webster School on Tuesday morning, blue signs bobbed over a crowd of supporters, and when Chris Pappas walked out around 8:30 a.m. after casting his ballot, their voices rose.
“Pappas! Pappas! Pappas!” The chant continued as he made his way over to shake hands with his supporters. His husband, Vann Bentley, stood by his side.
Democratic candidate Pappas, who’s running for the U.S. Senate, said today is about more than any one race and that the country has spent too long focused on President Donald Trump and his grievances.
“He’s dividing our country, and people know we can do a lot better than that,” Pappas said. “So today should be about how we restore the purpose of American democracy and get back to working on the issues that people care about.”
On the local tax cap question, Pappas said he voted no.
“This is something that’s being pushed down from Concord and in addition to that higher bills are being pushed down,” Pappas said. “We need cooperation at all levels of government to invest in the future of education and public safety and infrastructure.”
His opponent, John Sununu, worked the crowd outside the Bedford High School gymnasium, taking time to greet young children with their parents.
Sununu said his message remains the same one he’s carried all campaign: he wants to be an independent voice for the people of New Hampshire.
“My focus is gonna be doing the right thing for the state every single day,” Sununu said. “I’m not worried about reelection. I don’t have to make anyone in Washington happy, and I’m certainly not a career politician, and I think that’s what Washington needs right now.”
He said his campaign has stayed focused on jobs, the economy, and bringing down the cost of living, and that he plans to keep it that way.
“I know how to get things done, and I think right now, that’s what we need in politics,” he said.
Fellow Republican Lily Tang Williams cast her ballot at Weare Middle School this morning alongside her husband, joining a steady stream of voters in what appeared to be a strong turnout.
This is the second time she’s faced off against Democrat Maggie Goodlander, now the incumbent, for a seat in the U.S. House of Representatives.
Williams arrived in a T-shirt that read “American Patriot” with her name emblazoned across it, and she wore it proudly. The shirt’s message echoes the focus of her campaign.
Near the entrance, a group of supporters held her signs high. Williams moved among them, shaking hands and urging every person she met to go inside and vote.
“I never voted in China,” said Williams. “So I’m very grateful and exercise my vote seriously.”
Williams called the 2nd Congressional District race especially important, both for the district and for New Hampshire as a whole.
“We’ve been trying to turn red for a decade and we cannot vote for the same-old, same-old,” she said. “I’m a problem solver. I want to serve Granite Staters, go to D.C. like a Chinese tiger mom and get stuff done to bring down the cost of living, to make the American dream affordable.”
Goodlander, too, had a message about affordability.
“It’s about getting back to the basic mission that our government has got to be on, which is lowering the sky-high cost of living,” she said outside Christa McAuliffe Elementary School in Concord, where she voted mid-morning. Healthcare, housing and childcare all intersect with the cost of living, she said — and she knows these are front of mind issues for many Americans right now.
She also pledged her commitment to ending the war in Iran and rolling back tariffs, which she described as “a tax on every person in this country.”
Beyond that, she praised election workers for their dedication to ensuring everything runs smoothly: “The incredible people, these nonpartisan, patriot poll observers and election officials are doing the Lord’s work to make this democracy happen today and it’s an awesome sight to behold.”
Goodlander said she feels heartened by all the new candidates running for office, as well as those voting for the first time.
“I think people who love America can change America, and that’s what’s happening today,” she said.
Governor Kelly Ayotte, running for reelection against Democtatic challenger Cinde Warmington, spent time in the southern part of the state as she cast her vote in her hometown of Nashua. The Monitor was unable to catch up with her on the last day of the campaign trail.
Warmington, for her part, stopped by Concord to greet supporters.
