One town captures the trend

By Jill Zuckman, Globe Staff, June 6, 1999

HUDSON, N. H. -- Given its suburban tract housing and commercial shopping strips, little is terribly distinctive about this small town on the banks of the Merrimack River, just over the Massachusetts line.

Except that, it seems, its voters are always right.

Since 1952, in election after election, the people of Hudson have cast their ballots in New Hampshire's presidential primary, the first in the nation. And they have picked the winners -- Republican and Democrat.

No other city or town in New Hampshire shares that distinction, although more than 20 claim rights as bellwethers on one side or another of the partisan divide.

So what is Hudson's secret? There's no divining the blend of destiny and dumb luck that underlies the election-year distinction of this town of 22,000, a mile outside Nashua and 40 miles north of the Massachusetts line.

But a visit to this conservative, middle-class community in the heart of the so-called golden triangle -- the vote-rich area of southern New Hampshire that is a popular hunting ground for presidential candidates -- suggests one answer:

Hudson has evolved as the state has evolved. Its sleepy, agrarian past was New Hampshire past; its high-tech, suburban present is New Hampshire present and future.

And candidates who want to win in Hudson -- and thus, if history holds, to win the primary -- will mark the change.

Once home to dairy and produce farms, Hudson today hosts Lockheed Commercial Electronics Co., Micronetics Inc., and Sanders surveillance systems division. Such companies are a magnet for out-of-state workers on the trail of opportunity, and so Hudson, like much of southern New Hampshire, has become an outpost for Bay State emigres.

With new demographics have come new political concerns. For 2000, candidates are adjusting their pitch to tap into issues that animate communities like Hudson, from sustaining the economic boom to easing the increasingly infuriating traffic congestion that has come with it.

"It's a hard-working town with a lot of good, honest, down-to-earth, sincere people. I think they reflect the general sentiment of the state as a whole," said Thomas P. Colantuono, an executive councilor from Derry who represents the community.

Its voters, like the state's, are an independent lot, hard to pin down ideologically. Many now consider themselves independent (5,595) rather than Republican (4,311) or Democratic (3,448). It is a pattern that, like much about Hudson, has been replicated in many communities across the state.

Rhona Charbonneau, a town selectwoman, has watched Hudson grow and change since she moved here in 1950. The 20-acre dairy farm, with 65 milking cows, where she and her husband, Claude, lived, worked, and raised five children, is now a subdivision. A similar plight has visited most of the other old farms and orchards in the area.

"Years ago, you knew everyone," she said. "Now, I go into a restaurant and I don't know anyone . . . It's unbelievable how it's developed."

Charbonneau said she rarely gets calls from constituents concerned about an issue. And while Elizabeth Dole, George W. Bush, Lamar Alexander, and Steve Forbes have all been asking for Charbonneau's backing, she thinks the voters in Hudson, for now, are not the least bit interested in presidential politics.

"I don't think you find too many people right now who are unhappy. They're working and earning money," she said. "When they get through with work, they want to spend time with their families. They're just not interested."

That's certainly the case for Rick Milosh, the owner of Carpet Creations in Brook Plaza here in Hudson. His showroom has tripled in size for the eight years he's been in business, and he's carpeting about 200 new homes a year.

"I'm not big into politics, more into working morning until night," he said, voicing uncertainty of his party affiliation. "When it starts getting closer, I'll pay more attention. My business takes most of my time."

Karen Cataldo, an insurance agent, watches the candidates who are visiting the town a bit more closely. She wants a candidate who is honest, and she worries about keeping the economy going, even though business has been good.

"I just built a new house on 12 acres, and I want to be able to afford to live there and buy furniture," said Cataldo, an independent.

Although the economy has been brisk here, and jobs have been plentiful, prosperity has not yielded much diversity. Hudson remains a nearly all-white community, with almost no African-Americans, Asian-Americans, or Latinos

And while crime is a hot topic in other places, the most pressing problem here is traffic congestion. A highway is in the works, and a third elementary school is to be built for the continuing influx of young families, many of whom commute to jobs in Massachusetts.

Few of Hudson's citizens receive welfare; the median family income is $62,000 a year, and the average home sells for $120,000.

"There really isn't a bad part of town," said Fidele J. Bernasconi, co-owner of the weekly Hudson Litchfield News. "We just don't have that."

Bernasconi is keeping a sharp eye on the candidates who move through the state. He wants to ask each what he or she would do to get the federal government to fully fund its share of special education in the public schools. He would also like to see term limits.

"Politicians seem to get in office, and do whatever they want," he said.

The New Hampshire primary being less than a year away, Bernasconi is not rushing to bandwagons. In 1996, he refused to support Bob Dole because so many state politicians were for him. He backed Alexander instead. This time, he says he's amazed at the frenzy over Bush.

"He's never been here," he said. "Where does he stand, and what does he stand for?"

Bernasconi does not have answers for Hudson's special status for votes. But he knows he loves his community.

"It's a good town to live in, a good town to do business in," he said. "It's not a crime town, it's a great town."

PLEASE REFER TO MICROFILM FOR CHART DATA.

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