She can't yet legally order a beer or rent a car, but 19-year-old college student Yvonne Dean-Bailey was elected yesterday to New Hampshire's House of Representatives in a special election to fill the vacant seat in Rockingham District 32. Dean-Bailey, a Republican, defeated Democrat candidate Maureen Mann in a race that involved an unusual number of high-profile endorsements for both candidates.
From the New Hampshire Union Leader:
The race attracted a disproportionate share of attention on the eve of a presidential primary season.
Republican presidential hopefuls Carly Fiorina and Rick Perry attended events with Dean-Bailey, while Democrat Martin O’Malley helped promote Mann, who is a former state representative.
The election drew enormous interest, and support for and against each candidate, from outside of the district. In Deerfield, for example, turnout was about 26 percent. In Candia, it was 16 percent.
Dean-Bailey was also the subject of a hoax email campaign immediately before Election Day that said she had dropped out of the race. It's clear that this attempt to suppress voters didn't work.
Dean-Bailey is one of the youngest candidates to ever be elected to the NH legislature.