The Union Leader editorial page follows up on our story on the Soda Tax, and wonders if nanny-state bans like New York’s prohibition on super-sized sugary sodas could pass in the Granite State.

In 2006, then-Rep. Catherine Mulholland, D-Grafton, proposed a beverage tax. Her bill called it a “beverage fee to be paid by beverage manufacturers and distributors.” It was a tax not just on sodas, but on bottled milk and water. She also wanted to tax candy. The bill died, and Mulholland was defeated in 2010, but the idea did not vanish.

Grant Bosse at the Josiah Bartlett Center pointed out to us this spring that Mulholland is running for the Legislature again this year. On Tuesday she crushed her primary opponent 674-233. She is now the Democratic nominee for state representative in District 17.

The Republicans had their own candidate who had supported a beverage tax. In 2006, then-Sen. Dick Green, R-Rochester, proposed a tax on water-based beverages. Green left the Senate to run the Pease Development Authority, but this year he re-emerged to run in the Republican primary for the Senate seat he used to hold. He lost by 205 votes.