ANCHESTER, N.H. - Democratic Governor Jeanne Shaheen handily defeated her primary opponent yesterday for the right to run for a third term as New Hampshire's chief executive. She will be opposed in the November elections by former Republican US Senator Gordon Humphrey.
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Governor (Democrat)
Jeanne Shaheen (i) 45,249 (60%)
Mark Fernald 28,488 (38%)
Governor (Republican)
Gordon Humphrey 54,134 (52%)
James 'Jim' Squires 23,582 (23%)
'Jeff' Howard 21,734 (21%)
'Fred' Bramante 2,500 (3%)
'Jim' Marron 584 (1%)
2nd Congressional Dist. (Democrat)
Barney Brannen 20,496 (68%)
Norman H. Jackman 9,291 (31%)
Other (1%)
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New Hampshire was one of four states in New England holding primaries yesterday. Massachusetts will hold its preliminary elections next Tuesday.
In Vermont, that state's ''civil unions'' law was the deciding issue in some key state legislative races, as voters for the first time had a chance to air through the ballot box their reactions to adoption of the controversial law.
In a tough Rhode Island Democratic primary fight, US Representative Robert Weygand defeated Richard Licht and will try to unseat US Senator Lincoln Chafee in November. He was appointed after his father, Senator John Chaffee, died.
Meanwhile, in Connecticut, a series of state legislative primaries were held. In Bridgeport, in the most heated contest, State Senator Alvin Penn, a black lawyer, won a racially charged contest with his Hispanic challenger, Representative Edna Garcia.
In New Hampshire, Humphrey, with just over 50 percent of the vote, topped a field originally made up of five GOP candidates.
''Now, they [Shaheen and Humphrey] really have to go after some of those voters who really don't like either of them,'' said Andrew Smith, director of the University of New Hampshire Survey Center. ''It seems to me like it will be a nasty campaign.''
The state's school funding crisis dominated the primary campaigns and is likely to dominate the general election campaign.
''The problem with school funding as an issue is that there is no popular solution to it,'' Smith said.
Humphrey has pledged to veto all new taxes, often raising the specter of turning New Hampshire into ''Taxachusetts North.'' He says the school funding crisis can be solved through revenue increases and budget cuts.
The Democratic primary heated up here only in recent days, as Shaheen and her only opponent, state Senator Mark Fernald, engaged in their single televised debate on Sunday morning. Shaheen was criticized for refusing to debate Fernald earlier in the season. Yesterday, Shaheen received about 60 percent of the vote.
In other races, Democrat Barney Brannen, with some 69 percent of the vote, defeated Norman Jackman in a 2d Congressional District race in New Hampshire, earning the right to challenge Republican Representative Charles Bass in November.
In Vermont, house lawmakers who won back their seats - and others who lost theirs - agreed that their votes on civil unions became the key issue in the primary campaign.
''There are eight house Republicans who voted for civil unions - four have won or are leading, and four have lost or are trailing. As it presently stands, it looks like a wash,'' said University of Vermont political science professor Garrison Nelson late last night.
The issue also played a role in state Senate races.
Republican Representative Marion Milne, who won five of six towns in her district in the last election, was swept out of office yesterday.
''It was definitely an anti-civil union vote,'' Milne said. ''I have absolutely no regrets. I believe in my heart it was the right vote [civil unions].''
Representative Thomas Little, a Shelburne Republican and chairman of the committee that authored the civil unions law, won his primary by a vote of 617-428. He has run unopposed in the last three primaries. He was opposed by Rod Fisher, a little-known candidate who opposed civil unions.
Representative John Edwards of Swanton, a three-term Republican incumbent from a conservative district, was also defeated yesterday. He said, ''Civil union was the only issue that had an effect in this district.''
The Vermont Supreme Court ruled last December that the state had to afford equal rights to gay and lesbian couples wishing to marry. The Legislature stopped short of allowing gay marriage, instead setting up a provision for gay and lesbian couples to form legally binding civil unions.
Nelson said the civil unions issue would be less of a factor in the general election.
Meanwhile, Republican US Senator James Jeffords, with 79 percent of the vote, and Vermont Democratic Governor Howard Dean, with 88 percent, both easily defeated their respective primary opponents, Rick Hubbard and Brian Pearl.
Ruth Dwyer, with 58 percent of the vote, defeated William Meub in the Republican gubernatorial primary; state auditor Ed Flanagan was deadlocked late last night with state Senator Jan Backus in their Democratic primary race for the US Senate.
Material from the Associated Press was used in this report. Globe correspondent Fran Riley also contributed.
