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MANCHESTER, N.H.

Democratic Manchester Ward 1 Alderman Kevin Cavanaugh capitalized on a strong get-out-the-vote effort to upset Republican former Sen. David Boutin in a special state Senate election in three Manchester wards and four area towns Tuesday.

Cavanaughs win kept the seat in Democratic hands and also kept the Republican majority in the Senate at 14-10.

The win was viewed as an upset because registration figures show 35 percent of the districts voters are Republicans and 29 percent are Democrats, with undeclared voters the largest segment, at 36 percent. In addition, Boutin had held the seat from 2010 through 2016 and was better-known district-wide than Cavanaugh.

Unofficial results showed that Cavanaugh won with nearly 55 percent of the vote as compared to 44 percent for Hooksett resident Boutin. Libertarian candidate Jason Dubrow of Dunbarton picked up 1 percent of the vote.

Nearly 8,700 votes were cast, making for a turnout of nearly 21 percent, impressive for a mid-summer special election.

The closely-watched contest was necessitated by the death of Democratic Sen. Scott McGilvray in March. The late NEA-New Hampshire teachers union president was the first Democrat to win the seat in more than three decades.

Boutin first won the seat in a February 2010 special election, and then won re-election to full, two-year terms in November 2010, 2012 and 2014. He chose not to seek re-election in November 2016 in order to spend more time with his daughter, who was pregnant at the time. McGilvray defeated a lesser-known candidate, Republican state Rep. Joseph Duarte, by a margin of only 51 percent to 49 percent to win the seat.

But after McGilvrays death, Boutin decided to attempt to return to the Senate, where he was viewed as a fiscal conservative but with moderate stances on some key issues, such as his opposition to right-to-work legislation.

The voting took place in Senate District 16, which is composed of Manchester Wards 1, 2 and 12 and the towns of Hooksett, Bow, Candia and Dunbarton.

Cavanaugh won his home ward with 1,191 votes, to 708 for Boutin and two votes for Dubrow. He won Manchester Ward 2, by a margin of 771 to 441, with 24 votes for Dubrow. In Ward 12, it was 447 for Cavanaugh, 336 for Boutin and 11 for Dubrow.

The total of the three wards showed a 924-vote margin for Cavanaugh, who received 61.2 percent of the city vote, while Boutin received 37.8 percent and Dubrow, 1 percent.

"This was a tremendous turnout for a mid-summer special election," City Clerk Matthew Normand told WMUR. "It was consistent with what we might see at a typical city-wide general election in the fall."

Unofficial results from Hooksett showed Boutin winning his home town, but by a narrow-than-expected margin of 1,012 to 850, with 24 votes for Dubrow. Boutin won in Dunbarton, 255 to 247, with 16 for Dubrow, which was a nearly 24 percent turnout.

In Bow, Cavanaugh won with 938 votes to 626 for Boutin and 17 for Dubrow. And in Candia, unofficial results showed Boutin with 426 votes to 307 for Cavanaugh and 14 for Dubrow.

Cavanaugh, a first-term alderman, husband and father of three young children, has said he intends to remain in the city post while also serving in Concord. Like his sate Senate predecessor, he is also a union activist. A longtime employee of FairPoint Communications, Cavanaugh is currently the assistant business manager of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Local 2320.

Democrats credited Cavanaugh's win to an outpouring of enthusiasm from voters frustrated by the GOP legislative and congressional majorities at the State House and on Capitol Hill.

"This loss is a stunning repudiation of the reckless Trump-Sununu agenda," said state Democratic Party Chairman Raymond Buckley. "It should serve as a huge wake-up call to New Hampshire Republicans, Governor (Chris) Sununu, and Mayor (Ted) Gatsas. They poured everything they had into this race and still came up short.

"The NHGOP's efforts to suppress the vote only served to energize the Democratic base," Buckley said. "This should teach Republicans to back away from fear-mongering, bullying rhetoric that is not just eroding our political discourse but hemorrhaging Republican votes in the state."

Democratic National Committee Chairman Tom Perez also weighed in from Washington, saying in a statement, "When we invest, we win. That's what we did here in New Hampshire and that's what we will continue to do in races up and down the ballot."

NHGOP Chair Jeanie Forrester noted that in November, Democrat Hillary Clinton won the district. Clinton's win was narrow -- 15,132 to 15,040 for President Donald Trump. However, Republicans Sununu and former Sen. Kelly Ayotte also won the district by substantial margins.

"With massive out-of-state support, the Democrats managed to hold onto a state Senate seat," Forrester said. "The New Hampshire Republican Party is continuing the process of building our organization for long-term victory in the Granite State."

In an interview, Cavanaugh would not acknowledge that he entered the race as an underdog, but he did say, I knew we had a lot of work to do. And I like working. Someone told me that I should put my name out there but told me, Youll never beat him. That got me going.

He said that in the Senate, he will focus on working families and education.

Boutin and Cavanaugh both poured substantial funds into the race.

Through last Wednesday, Boutin had raised $108,000, including $37,600 brought forward from his previous campaigns' fundraising. He had spent $62,669.

The NHGOP had raised and spent about $61,000 promoting Boutin in direct mail and radio ads. Gov. Chris Sununu and former Sen. Kelly Ayotte appeared in separate radio spots praising Boutin.

Cavanaugh had raised $125,771 and had spent $87,346 as of July 19.

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Updated: Democrat Cavanaugh pulls off upset in state Senate special election - WMUR Manchester