BY MAIRE O’NEILL
maire@losalamosreporter.com

Democratic Rep. Christine Chandler will retain her House District 43 seat in the state legislature for the next two years after defeating her Republican challenger David Hampton by 9,820 votes to 6,205.

Chandler took the District 43 precincts in Santa Fe County by 1215 votes to Hampton’s 394, Sandoval County precincts by 1,260 votes to 999, and Los Alamos County by 7,256 votes to 4,605. Hampton had 207 votes in Rio Arriba County to Chandler’s 89.