Rubens, Smith Vie for Conservative Votes

Jim Rubens and Bob Smith engaged in a friendly U.S. Senate debate in Merrimack on June 18, but these two Republicans – out of 10 on the ballot – are in a battle for the conservative vote.

Smith, the former U.S. Senator who lost his seat in a GOP primary in 2002, is trying to reclaim the mantle. When Karen Testerman dropped out of the race last week, she said she was doing so to unite conservatives behind Smith.

The race for the GOP nomination appears fluid, with almost 40 percent in a Suffolk University/Boston Herald poll of likely voters saying they were undecided. Scott Brown was far in the lead in the Suffolk-Herald poll, followed by Smith and Rubens.

SCROLL Down on the Storify to read more about the Merrimack Business Association debate, the latest on the Suffolk-Herald poll and what others are saying about the U.S. Senate race. 

Dante Scala, a professor of political science at the University of New Hampshire, referenced the conservative voting bloc in a Tweet after the Merrimack debate. Scala observed: "The problem @JimRubens needs to solve: He can play the notes of populist, anti-elite conservatism, but @BobSmithSenate can make it sing."