Politics & Government

Frank Szabo Loses Sheriff's Bid

Hillsborough County Sheriff's candidate, whose controversial abortion comments made national news, loses big to Republican incumbent James Hardy.

The end came quickly for Frank Szabo, the Goffstown Republican who promised to be "a constitutional sheriff" to protect citizens rights, but found himself under fire for to block abortions.

Within 24 hours of making his comments, Szabo . Or tried to. He told Patch in a statement:

"I want to be clear to the people of New Hampshire that I made several comments about the use of deadly force against abortion doctors that I regret, that I apologize for and that I fully retract. Clearly, I feel very strongly about life beginning at conception, and that will not change. But, in making comments yesterday, I let my passionate stance against abortion get the better of me.  What I said was inexcusable, and as sheriff, I would not use lethal force against an abortion doctor. To explain my misstatement, however, I want to point out that for someone as adamantly pro-life as me, walking in on an abortion is the equivalent of walking in on someone who is in the process of stabbing someone else."

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Hardy easily defended the GOP nomination in Hillsborough County. He beat Szabo in Amherst by 388 votes, in Bedford by 1,102 votes, in Merrimack by 855 votes, in Nashua by 2,559 votes – and he even crushed Szabo in his hometown, 1,183 to 404.

Hardy, of Pelham, will face Democrat Bill Barry of Manchester in the Nov. 6 General Election.

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