NASHUA – The costs and low turnout would be too much and too little, respectively, to bother holding another special election to fill a House seat in Nashua before this legislative session ends, aldermen agreed Tuesday.
The board reviewed a recommendation from City Clerk Paul Bergeron on Tuesday, relaying the resignation of Ward 8 Rep. Roland Laplante, and Bergeron’s recommendation to not hold a special election to fill his seat but instead to wait until the regular November ballot.
“The basic trade-off we’ve got is the expense of having a special election and … turnout is generally quite low for a single state rep seat,” board President Brian McCarthy said Tuesday, comparing the contest to a special election held for a Ward 4 House seat earlier this month.
“So, the question is, is this greater franchising of the voter or less by holding it until November?” McCarthy said. “And we have no guarantee that we’ll get someone before the end of the term. We have a guarantee that more people will participate in the process if we wait until November.”
Laplante, who was elected to serve Ward 8 with fellow Democrats Daniel Hansberry and Mary Nelson in November, officially announced his plan to resign Feb.![]()
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