Editor's note - Vote totals from Tuesday's General Election have been updated with information released today from the Secretary of State's Elections Bureau.
Staff reports
ROCHESTER – Democrats won local races in unprecedented numbers on Tuesday with Republicans claiming victory in just a couple of contests.
One of the rare GOP survivors was longtime District 6 Senator James Gray, whose challenger, Democrat Cecil Abels, dropped out of the race over domicile regulations.
Abels remained on the ballot however, and the race in the end went Gray's way in a tight matchup defeating Abels by a little less than 800 votes, 12,245 to 11,456. Abels said in a statement last month he would not serve even if he won. The district includes Rochester, Alton, Farmington, Gilmanton, New Durham and Strafford.
Two other Republicans incumbents hung on as well in Strafford District 2 (Milton/Rochester Ward 5). The winners in that race were Democrat Larry Brown with 2,028 votes, Republican incumbent Rep. Michael Granger with 1,949 and Republican incumbent Rep. Glenn Bailey with 2,006.
The other races were swept by Democrats, including Strafford District 5 (Rochester Ward 1) with Democrat William Fessenden defeating Republican Jenny Wilson 1,323 to 993.
Meanwhile, in Strafford District 6 (Rochester Ward 2) Democrat Daniel Fitzpatrick defeated Republican incumbent Rep. Denise DeDe-Poulin, 1,203 to 988.
And in Strafford District 7 (Rochester Ward 3) Democrat incumbent Rep. John H. LaRochelle defeated Republican Eric Bourgeois, 1,069 to 939.
In Strafford District 8 (Rochester Ward 4): Democrat Ty Wyman defeated Republican incumbent Rep. David Walker 1,182 to 888.
And in Strafford District 9 (Rochester Ward 6): Democrat Nevin Dexter, with 1,043 votes, eased by Republican Robert Qua garnered just 683.
Democrats also swept Strafford District 19 comprising three winners with Nick Paul garnering 5,452 votes, Justin Mcisaac with 5,334 votes and Jonathan King with 5,315.
This story will be updated.