NH GOP tree needs pruning

Posted on July 31, 2007

There was a special election in New Hampshire today. A seat in the state House of Representatives opened up. With the Dem’s take over last fall, it seemed like an important seat for the GOP to try to reclaim. That seat had been filled by a Republican nearly forever and the GOP candidate had served three terms in the past and lost by only 90 votes last November.

The Dems pulled out all the stops. They had their state chairman out there-repeatedly, the speaker of the House, a former Senate President, the Governor and the perennial congressional candidate - daughter of US Rep. Lantos - wife of former congressman - Katrina Swett was there. All that was missing was a presidential contender - all for a $100 a year seat.

What was the GOP effort - all grass roots. Several state reps from all over the state, an “insurgent group” - the Reagan Network, and some volunteers. The state chair seemed unable to locate the district - no show. The Senate minority leader/former senate president was the only party leader to show up. The House minority leader called in, at about 1pm, 6 hours before the polls closed, to suggest language for the PR about the losing effort.

The result was - the GOP candidate lost by only 86 votes this time. He and the volunteers made a valiant effort but there is only so much the roots can do on their own. It is the deadwood at the top that makes it look bad.

I think there is some serious pruning work to be done to allow for the new growth to take over and flourish.

» Filed Under Legislators, New Hampshire, NH Politics

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Comments

One Response to “NH GOP tree needs pruning”

Administrator on August 1st, 2007 11:53 pm

a comment by e-mail:
I’m new to NH politics, just wondering if you had any idea whether
anything serious was being done by the republican party, or are they just
enjoying the ride down on the Titanic?

Thanks,
Paul

(He has his own blog: a dog-eared town

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