Manchester Republican Larry Gagne is headed to the New Hampshire House for an eighth term after state Democrats on Sunday dropped their highly criticized challenge of the twice-recounted results of the race.
Gagne said he was notified on Sunday that lawyers representing Democrats and his opponent, Maxine Mosley, dropped a challenge of the second recount. The New Hampshire Ballot Law Commission was scheduled to take up the challenge on Monday.
Also withdrawing their Ballot Law case were the two Rochester candidates whose recount ended in a tie. The fate of that race now goes to the New Hampshire House.
On Monday morning, Ballot Law Commission Chairman Brad Cook announced that Mosley’s challenge had been withdrawn.
“I feel gratified the rest of the votes were counted,” Gagne said.
He represents Ward 6, the eastern-most ward of the city that includes neighborhoods around Lake Massabesic, St. Pius Church, Cohas Avenue and Bodwell Road.
Gagne and Mosley faced a seesaw of results since Nov. 8, when Gagne was declared the winner by 23 votes on election night, only to lose by a single vote in a Nov. 14 recount.
Believing that a stack of ballots had not been counted, Secretary of State David Scanlan sought a second recount, which is not technically allowed under state law. Democrats tried to block the recount in court, but Merrimack County Superior Court Judge Amy Ignatius allowed the vote to go forward.
The final tally returned the election to Gagne by a 26-vote margin.
The challenge before the Ballot Law Commission was the last opportunity for Mosley, a Democrat and retired school guidance counselor running in her first election.
Gagne, vice chairman of the House Transportation Committee, said one of his priorities in his new term will be legislation to give the secretary of state the ability to call a second recount if warranted.
Meanwhile, lawyers representing the two candidates from Rochester whose race ended in a tie withdrew their case before the Ballot Law Commission. They had each challenged three ballots.
If the commission had agreed to a challenge of even one of the ballots, the election would have had a winner, Cook said. The case now goes before the New Hampshire House, which can either seat one of the two candidates or call for another election.
The last time a race ended in a tie, the House called for an election, Cook said.
The incoming House has a slim Republican majority.
