In case you have been hiding away in a social media-proof bunker, New Hampshire has elections coming up on Tuesday, Nov. 8. The airwaves have been full of partisan sound and fury signifying not very much and mostly focused on the congressional contests.

This leaves many voters to educate themselves on so-called down-ballot races. The results of those contests are often more important to New Hampshire’s future than who is sent to Washington. That is particularly so with the New Hampshire Senate, with only 24 seats but a lot of control over state affairs.

We fully expect voters to give Gov. Chris Sununu another term but if he is to continue to govern as ably as he has, he will need help in the Senate. That includes Greater Manchester towns where taxpayers have the rare chance to gain conservative common sense in two districts.

In District 20, it is way past the time for Lou D’Allesandro to step away. D’Allesandro is a nice enough fellow who likes to spend public money, but he has been in Concord for so long that he remembers when Joe Biden, several years his junior, wasn’t in Washington. District voters haven’t always had an option other than Lifer Lou, but this year former Manchester alderman and school board member Rich Girard has stepped forward to challenge Lou. It’s time for a change and Girard is a competent opponent who will protect the taxpayers.

District 16 will also see a change. The incumbent isn’t running and the district boundaries have changed. It now includes Manchester Ward 1 as well as the towns of Candia, Raymond, Goffstown, and Hooksett. Here, too, conservatives have a chance to improve their lot by voting for Republican Keith Murphy, a local businessman who knows what it is like to have the government trying to run the private sector.