Concord – Jack Kimball, Chairman of the New Hampshire Republican Party released the following statement today regarding Governor John Lynch’s budget.

“John Lynch must be hiding in the massive hole he has dug us into. Clearly he didn’t get the message on November 2nd. The irresponsible spending has to stop.”

“The governor’s budget clearly demonstrates he is out of touch with his own departments and the people of New Hampshire. It is packed with hidden fees, inflated numbers and broken promises. It continues his out of control spending habit.”

”The taxpayer’s of New Hampshire don’t deserve to pay Governor Lynch’s tab. After years of the Democrats reckless spending and tax increases it is wrong to pass the burden onto New Hampshire families during these hard economic times.”

“I have full faith that Speaker O’Brien and Senator Bragdon will fix this mess in Concord and return fiscal sanity to our state. One thing is clear: Governor Lynch has got to go.”

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–
Christine Baratta
Communications Director
New Hampshire Republican State Committee
press@nhgop.org
cell: 603-828-8026
office: 603-225-9341

“I greatly look forward to working with Representatives Tucker and Chandler, two top notch Republicans, over the coming biennium,” stated O’Brien, entering his third term in the New Hampshire House. “We have a great opportunity before us, to right the many wrongs of the last four years, and I am confident that working with Rep. Tucker, Rep. Chandler and every other member of our caucus, we will be successful in making New Hampshire great again.”

Rep. Pamela Tucker, entering her second term in the NH House added, “I would like to thank Bill for this opportunity and look forward to serving the citizens of our state and working with every member of the House and tackling our state’s economic issues.”

“I am pleased to accept the position of Speaker Pro Tempore and look forward to advancing the Republican agenda in the House. I remain confident that all Republicans can work together toward solving the looming budget crisis in our state,” concluded Chandler, entering his fifteenth term in the House.

Bill O’Brien ANNOUNCES TRANSITION TEAM

CONCORD, N.H.— With an historic 298 Republican member majority elected to the New Hampshire House of Representatives, Republican Speaker of the House nominee Bill O’Brien announced today his transition team to prepare for a quick start in the 162nd General Court, that starts in January 2011.

ADMINISTRATION
Representative Bob Mead, Hillsborough 4
Representative Pam Tucker, Rockingham 17

PUBLICITY AND MEDIA RELATIONS
Representative Peter Silva, Hillsborough 26
Representative Will Smith, Rockingham 18

COMMITTEES AND COMMITTEE ORGANIZATION
Representative Robert H. Rowe, Hillsborough 6
Representative Paul Ingbretson, Grafton 5
Representative-Elect Stephen B. Stepanek, Hillsborough 6
Representative-Elect Paul Mirski, Grafton 10

COMMITTEE MEMBERSHIP
Representative Gary Daniels, Hillsborough 6
Representative Bob Mead, Hillsborough 4
Representative Al Baldasaro, Rockingham 3
Representative D.J. Bettencourt, Rockingham 4

HOUSE RULES
Representative Robert H. Rowe, Hillsborough 6
Representative-Elect Steve Winter, Merrimack 3
Representative Paul Ingbretson, Grafton 5

LEGISLATIVE AGENDA AND PENDING LSRs
Representative Pam Tucker, Rockingham 17
Representative John Cebrowski, Hillsborough 18
Representative Will Smith, Rockingham 18

PARKING AND SEATING
Representative Jenn Coffey, Merrimack 6
Representative Carl Seidel, Hillsborough 20
Representative John A. Hikel, Hillsborough 7
Representative Peter Silva, Hillsborough 26

THIRD PARTY RELATIONSHIPS
Representative-Elect Stephen B. Stepanek, Hillsborough 6
Representative David Bates, Rockingham 4

ORGANIZATION DAY AND MAJORITY LEADER CAUCUS
Representative John Cebrowski, Hillsborough 18

NEW MEMBER MENTORING STRUCTURE
Representative Jenn Coffey, Merrimack 6
Representative D.J. Bettencourt, Rockingham 4

The Rally will be held at Halligan Tavern 32 West Broadway Derry and will start at 4:30 PM. Light refreshments will be served.

For questions or to RSVP, please call 226.6000 or email mclark@votebass.com

This is a FREE Event! RSVP by Phone: (603) 634-4372 or email: Rally@johnstephen.com

Please specify “Salem Rally” in the subject line of your email.

This is exactly what Governor Lynch and the Democrats are trying to do in New Hampshire. In an effort to change the subject from the disastrous results of his inept spend-and-tax policy and from the debilitating national burden of trillion dollar deficits, the Governor and his State Party have unleashed the attack experts of their political committees to do their usual distract-and-destroy messaging.

We see those efforts in the dishonest phone “push polling” they have started against fiscally conservative NH State Senate candidates. John Lynch himself is running ads against John Stephen that attempt to dishonestly malign his character. In the Congressional races, Carol Shea-Porter and Ann Kuster are using false personal attacks, and in the Senate race, Paul Hodes is trying to smear Kelly Ayotte with untrue distortions.

We must remember, this is the standard procedure of the John Lynch’s State Party since he started running for Governor. Lest it be forgotten, Governor John Lynch won his 2004 election against the then incumbent Governor with a campaign based on extreme personal attacks on his opponent. There was virtually no focus on the traditional New Hampshire fiscal issues of spending and taxes. As usual, in that race, Governor Lynch left the tough attacks to his campaign committee. That allowed him to preserve the public image he works so hard to nurture, and to sound conservative.

In 2006 the pattern was the same. They attacked, and Lynch stayed above the fray. And even in the 2008 Obama big wave election, they kept up the personal attacks on all the opposing candidates. Lynch’s committee operatives honed their skills in those races, and for the most part they were able to maintain the attacks with little or no effective opposition.

Now we are in the midst of the 2010 election, and of course, Governor Lynch and his State Party are at it again. For the past year, every time a credible opposing candidate was announced, the Lynch committee attack crew went to work. They pounced when Attorney General Ayotte announced, and even went on the offensive before some of the opposition made formal announcements. And now that John Stephen has emerged as the nominee for Governor, John Lynch is trying to smear him with dishonest ads. He will use any false accusation to move attention away from the abysmal Lynch record.

In the past Democrats have been elected in New Hampshire by using a two-pronged strategy— by sounding like a conservative and by smearing their opponent. The disastrous performances in overspending, overtaxing, and creating a budget problem at both the state and national level should prove to the voters that Democrats might talk-the-talk, but they certainly cannot walk-the-walk. And when voters hear the bile and venom in the Governor’s ads, in the media, in the mail, or over the phone, they should recognize that it is just the Democrats trying to avoid the issues.

The State of New Hampshire and our country have serious problems. Our Republican candidates are trying to focus on policy changes and issues. Kelly Ayotte is running for the Senate committed to continue the strong conservative approach of Senator Judd Gregg. Our Congressional Candidates have targeted cutting the unconscionable growth of Federal spending and ObamaCare as their first priority. And most important Charlie Bass and Frank Guinta will vote to replace Nancy Pelosi as Speaker. And here in New Hampshire, John Stephen is committed to make the tough decisions needed to fix the $800 million hole in the budget. This election is too important to let the Democrats steal it with dishonest political smears.

John H. Sununu
Chairman
New Hampshire GOP

DERRY – With the Republican Congressional primary just weeks away, four major District 1 contenders gathered last night to debate before a panel of news media representatives and live audience at Pinkerton Academy in Derry. And as the candidates lined the stage at Pinkerton Academy in Derry, their eyes were all set on incumbent U.S. Rep. Carol Shea-Porter.

“Carol Shea-Porter is stockpiling her dollars and is waiting for Sept. 15 to unload on whoever the nominee is,” said Rich Ashooh. “We need to be sure we get it right in the primary, because we’re not going to have much time.” All candidates expressed frustration with Shea-Porter’s support of the recent health care reform, several calling out the wave of town meetings she held only after the legislation had been passed.

“(Speaker of the House) Nancy Pelosi isn’t representing New Hampshire, and Carol Shea-Porter clearly isn’t, either,” said former Manchester mayor Frank Guinta. “Term limits are the way we can ensure members of Congress will respect the constituents.”

Candidates had a long list of complaints about current administration, including the financial bailout, the recent health care reform package and rising taxes; but several also took aim at a GOP Party they said had moved away from conservatism.

“I very whole-heartedly believe in the conservative principles of the Republican Party,” said Bob Bestani. “But part of the reason that I’m running is because I think the Republican Party has lost its moorings and it’s not and has not in the past steadfastly adhered to the conservative principles that I think we believe in.”

Congressional Debate 2010

1st District Republican candidates (from left) Rich Ashooh, Bob Bestani, Frank Guinta and Sean Mahoney, listen to Ashooh’s remarks during a Derry Republican Committee-sponsored forum at Pinkerton Academy on Wednesday evening. (MARK BOLTON) Sean Mahoney said he would also work to return to the values laid out in the Constitution.

“We’ve got a federal government that has grown out of control,” Mahoney said. “Our founding fathers would be rolling in their graves if they saw the intrusiveness, growth, size and scope of our federal government today.” When questioned about a recent adjustment made to his financial disclosure filings — to include a personal savings account of between $250,000 and $500,000 not previously listed — Guinta defended himself, calling the mistake a simple error. “When I identified that I made some mistakes, I amended the report voluntarily,” Guinta said.

But others said the error could hint at an ethical misstep.

“This is a golden opportunity for us to beat Carol Shea-Porter and I want to make sure we have a nominee that is free of ethical concerns clouding their candidacy,” Mahoney said. “I think we’re doing ourselves a disservice when there are still questions that remain around candidates.” Not present on the stage were three other candidates in the primary. Among them was Peter Bearse, who briefly interrupted the discussion.

“We would simply like to be able to participate with these gentlemen in this debate so you can hear the full range and the full spectrum of voices within the party contesting the Republican nomination and not prejudge the vote,” Bearse said, before returning to his seat. The Derry Republican Committee hosted yesterday’s debate.

Two Republican candidates said the town Republican committee blocked them from participating in the debate. Peter Bearse of Danville and Richard Parent of Wolfeboro, standing outside the event, said they have a right to be heard because they will be on the Sept. 14 ballot and they have been campaigning. “By the Derry Republicans doing this to us, they’re picking the winners and losers of this race,” said Parent, a chief engineer on a merchant marine vessel. “This is the first time in 2 1/2 months of campaigning, and I’m talking about active campaigning, that I’ve been excluded.” Parent said he decided to run after the passage of the Democrats’ health care plan, and his opposition to the Democratic incumbent, Carol Shea-Porter of Rochester.

There are lots of signs and new literature to look at. Also, if you’d like to join us for 1-minute survey calls,
that would be much appreciated!

The NEW (slightly different) office location is: 356 S. Broadway #6 this time to the left of SeaWorld Pet Center, and upstairs on the second floor!