TUESDAY, MAY 8, UPDATE: “VICTORY” DIRECTOR WARD. The Republican National Committee has tapped a Granite State native with deep North Country roots to head its Victory Committee operation in the New Hampshire.

The Granite Status has learned Brennan Ward, the 27-year-old son of former state Rep. Brien Ward, will soon be announced by the RNC as the head of its general election campaign operations in this important, if small, swing state.

Ward, a graduate of Littleton High School and the University of New Hampshire, is also the grandson of the late 20-year state Rep. Kay Ward, who was the matriarch of a well-known political family in the Littleton area.

The hiring of Ward by the RNC follows our exclusive report last week that Mitt Romney's campaign has hired a state general election campaign director, Phil Valenziano, and is gearing up its general election effort in New Hampshire.

The Romney campaign, RNC and New Hampshire Republican Party will work together as they face a formidable tandem of Democratic organizations in the Obama For America campaign, the Democratic National Committee's general election operation and the New Hampshire Democratic Party.

The Obama campaign has been operating in the state for about a year and the state party has added staff and a consultant in recent weeks and has been heavily funded by the DNC.

Dan Herman, a former defense department staffer, former Missouri state director for both Organizing for America in 2009-2010 and the Missouri Campaign for Change in 2008, has been the New Hampshire director of Organizing for America for about a month.

The Republicans, who have just come through a battle for the nomination, are trying playing catch-up with the Democrats organizationally in New Hampshire.

Ward' hiring is part of the RNC's initial wave of Victory committee directors in key states. Directors in North Carolina, Ohio and Pennsylvania were named last week.

The RNC this week announced a “Social Victory Center,” which it says is essentially a virtual campaign office, at www.Facebook.com/GOP.

Brennan Ward has spent most of his political career on campaigns in the Northeast and in Washington, D.C.

Most recently, he was the grassroots coordinator for the Leadership Institute in Arlington, Va., a well-known conservative public policy organization.

In the 2010 election cycle, Ward was the RNC's Victory director in Delaware County, Pennsylvania, a key swing county in a major swing state.

He worked at the RNC in Washington, D.C. from September 2009 to July 2010, focusing on strategy and political polling.

Previously, Ward worked at polling companies, including the Public Opinion Strategies, a top GOP firm. He focused on policy initiatives, organizing campaign message and tracking polls for U.S. Senate and House candidates.

Ward also worked on state and federal campaigns in Ohio and New Hampshire and has worked for two congressmen.

He has a master's degree from George Washington University in addition to his bachelor's degree from UNH.

In confirming Ward's appointment, RNC chairman Reince Priebus said, “The RNC is poised to run a comprehensive voter outreach and turnout operation in New Hampshire and I'm confident Brennan Ward will help ensure we make more phone calls, knock on more doors, and make more volunteer voter contacts than ever before.

“New Hampshire will be critical in the Path to 270 (the number of electoral votes needed to win the presidency), and Brennan is the perfect person to move us forward to victory this November,” said Priebus in a statement.

“In the wake of three and a half years of President Obama's failed policies and broken promises, the people of New Hampshire are ready for a change in Washington and Brennan is the start to a team that will demonstrate the RNC's serious commitment to victory in November,” said Priebus.

Tory Mazzola, executive director of the NHGOP, said, "We're excited to be expanding our ground game for the November elections, and this is a key step toward our comprehensive victory strategy to get-out-the-vote all across the state. New Hampshire will play a critical role this fall as Republicans unite to help turn our economy around, stop the reckless spending and make Barack Obama a one-term president."

The RNC plans to announce additional New Hampshire staff in the next few weeks. It will also open an office.

For now, Ward is headquartered at the state Republican Party office in Concord.

(Earlier updates and the full May 3 Granite Status follow.)

MONDAY, MAY 4 UPDATE: FIRST TV AD. If you need further evidence that the general election campaign for President is well under way and that New Hampshire is a key state on the electoral map, here it is:

With six months to go before Election Day, today marked the beginning of the television ad wars in the Granite State.

New Hampshire is among only nine states in which President Barack Obama's reelection campaign began airing a new ad crediting Obama with turning the economy around. The 60-second ad also notes that during Obama's first term, Osama bin Laden has been killed and “our troops are coming home from Iraq.”

It is the first ad of the general election in New Hampshire, the Obama campaign said.

New Hampshire, despite having only four electoral votes, is considered an important swing state in the general election. The ad is airing in other swing states, as well: Virginia, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Nevada, Iowa, North Carolina, Florida and Colorado.

The ad begins by citing “an economic meltdown” and the “worst financial collapse since the Great Depression” in 2008.

“America's economy, spiraling down,” the ad says, “All before this President took office.”

But, the ad says, because Obama “believed in us,” and “fought for us,” the auto industry “is back, firing on all cylinders,” and “instead of losing jobs, we're creating them.

“We're not there yet,” the ad says, “but we're coming back.” The ad says Americans “don't quit. And neither does he (Obama).”

The campaign is reportedly spending $25 million on this ad and other similar aids tailored to specific states.

Republican National Committee Chairman Reince Priebus reacted to the ad by saying, “For someone whose campaign slogan is ‘forward,' President Obama spends a lot of time looking backward and blaming others for the state of the American economy.”

Priebus said, “ While Obama may want you to forget he's been President for the past three and a half years, the fact that his policies have wreaked havoc on the middle class from high unemployment, high energy and higher education costs won't be forgotten. America deserves better than Obama's brand of hype and blame.”

(Earlier updates and the full May 3 Granite Status follow.)

MONDAY, MAY 7, UPDATE: THE LATEST ENDORSEMENTS. Democratic National Committeewoman and former NHDP Chair Kathy Sullivan is taking sides in her party's primary for governor, backing Maggie Hassan over Jackie Cilley.

Also Monday, Republican candidate for governor Kevin Smith picked up the endorsement of New Hampshire House Finance Committee Chairman Kenneth Weyler, R-Kingston.

Sullivan called Hassan “a forward-thinking leader who fights for what matters and delivers for New Hampshire.” She said Hassan had a “strong record” during her service as a state senator “advocating for New Hampshire families on jobs and education.”

Hassan said Sullivan will be “an incredible asset” to the campaign organization.

Sullivan took aim at GOP candidate for governor Ovide Lamontagne, who, she said, “would be a rubber stamp for an extremist agenda that would roll New Hampshire back decades.”

Hassan faces fellow former state Sen. Cilley in a Democratic primary. Gov. John Lynch has announced he will not seek reelection.

Cilley on Monday was endorsed by the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW) Local 2320.

If elected, "my administration will work closely with the workers of New Hampshire to ensure that we have the best educated workforce in the country and a workforce that will be a strong attractor for business that will grow a vibrant economy during this century,” Cilley said.

Last week, Hassan was endorsed by EMILY's List has also been backed by the Women's Campaign Fund, the International Union of Painters and Allied Trades Council 35, the Carpenters Local 118, the Iron Workers Local 7, and the United Food and Commercial Workers Locals 1445 and 791.

On the Republican side, Weyler said Smith Kevin Smith “knows more about state government and what needs to be done than any other candidate running. Kevin is the most knowledgeable person with the best experience to tackle the difficult challenges that face our state over the next decade.”

Smith will begin a statewide town meeting tour with a question-and-answer session at 6 p.m. at the Seacoast Charter School in Weyler's home town of Kingston.

(Earlier updates and the full May 3 Granite Status follow.)

FRIDAY, MAY 4, UPDATE: An attorney for U.S. Rep. Charlie Bass's campaign today filed a notice to move the state's “push poll” suit against the campaign from state to federal court, saying it should be decided under federal law.

The move by attorney Charles Douglas came just more than a week after the Federal Election Commission issued an advisory opinion saying that the New Hampshire law governing “push poll” telephone surveys is preempted by federal law when it comes to candidates for federal offices.

As a result, the FEC said, the state cannot force federal candidates to identify themselves to voters when they conduct push polling calls that give information designed to persuade voters not to vote for their opponents.

The FEC gave its opinion that such polling calls are governed by the Federal Election Campaign Act, which requires no such disclaimers.

The advisory opinion does not bind the state, but would most likely carry weight in a court challenge.

The state Attorney General's Office sued the Bass campaign in April, charging that the Bass campaign deliberately avoided identifying itself as a sponsor of a negative push poll against Democratic opponent Ann McLane Kuster during the 2010 campaign.

The Bass campaign said it was conducting “legitimate message testing,” and not a push poll at the time.

But Douglas said the FEC opinion would “have weight” in the Bass defense, and on Friday, he filed in Merrimack County Superior Court to have the case moved to the U.S. District Court.

The Douglas filing said that as a result of the FEC advisory opinion, “The (Attorney General's) petition is thus a proceeding preempted by the Federal Election Campaign Act.”

He wrote that the state push poll law “is preempted to the extent that it purports to regulate telephone surveys paid for by federal candidates, their authorized campaign committees and other federal political committees.”

The Attorney General's Office has the option of moving to remand the case back to state court if it argues there is no federal issue.

The office has yet to comment on the FEC's advisory opinion, despite several attempts by the New Hampshire Union Leader.

FRIDAY, MAY 4, UPDATE: MOTHER'S DAY GREETING. The Barack Obama campaign in New Hampshire next week will release “a fact of the day” each day leading up to Mother's Day. The aim is to “highlight the choice at stake in this election for Granite State moms,” the campaign says.

The campaign's points will focus on preventative health insurance for women and their children, the resumption of funding for Planned Parenthood, the economy and jobs, equal pay for women, access to contraception and “access to affordable higher education.”

The national Obama campaign has also issued a video and memo saying that Obama's policies will help, and Mitt Romney's policies will hurt, women.

(The full May 3 Granite Status follows.)

THURSDAY, MAY 3: ROMNEY GETS ROLLING IN NH. Mitt Romney supporters here say the general election organization in New Hampshire has been ready and waiting since the presidential primary ended.

But in the weeks since Rick Santorum dropped out, not much has happened in the Granite State to indicate that the campaign is gearing up — until now.

A state director for the general election has been appointed. His name is Phil Valenziano, a New Jersey native who comes to New Hampshire after managing field operations for Romney in South Carolina, Colorado, Oklahoma and Missouri.

He previously worked for the Republican Party of Iowa and was an aide in the Iowa House of Representatives.

Valenziano, who begins work today, is the first of the campaign directors in key states being announced by the Romney campaign this week.

Romney national political director Rich Beeson called Valenziano “an energetic political operative who brings knowledge and a history of success to our growing New Hampshire team. Phil played an important role in several states during the Republican nomination process, and we are pleased that he has agreed to bring his experience and skills to New Hampshire to help Governor Romney turn the Granite State red in November.”

Jason McBride, who managed the Romney New Hampshire Primary campaign, has received a promotion. He is now the deputy national political director for the campaign, based in Boston, reporting to Beeson.

Ryan Williams, the former John E. Sununu aide and former spokesman for the New Hampshire Republican Party, has received a promotion from Romney. Instead of being just a “spokesman,” he is now deputy national press secretary, reporting to press secretary Andrea Saul.

The Romney camp is looking at office space in the Manchester area and is expected to open a general election headquarters shortly.

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STRICKLAND HEADED TO NH. The Obama campaign, which has long been up and running, will bring a former top official of a key swing state to this swing state later in the month.

Former Ohio Gov. Ted Strickland, an Obama campaign co-chair, will be in New Hampshire Sunday, May 20, for the Rockingham County Democratic Clambake at the Elks Club in Portsmouth and the Grover Cleveland Dinner at the Grand Summit Hotel in Bartlett.

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LANDING THE GREGGS. Ovide Lamontagne on Wednesday added Judd and Kathy Gregg to his list of big-name endorsements.

It's the first time the former senator and governor has endorsed Lamontagne, who has run for the U.S. House (1992), governor (1996) and U.S. Senate (2010).

Gregg said he understands what it's like to serve in the “challenging role” of governor, calling Lamontagne “a trusted conservative and tested leader with the experience to get our economy moving again.”

He said Lamontagne “has distinguished himself as a leader in the public, private and nonprofit sectors, and it is this diverse leadership experience that has prepared him to serve with distinction as our next governor.”

Lamontagne said he was “honored” to earn the Greggs' support.

Gregg became the second former governor to endorse in the gubernatorial primary. Lamontagne foe Kevin Smith picked up the backing of his former boss, former Gov. Craig Benson, last month.

While Lamontagne was the “outsider” candidate during his Senate primary against Kelly Ayotte two years ago, the Gregg endorsement is further evidence that this time, he has the establishment with him.

Among his other supporters so far are Rep. Charlie Bass, six state senators, three members of the House leadership, a long list of former state lawmakers and former state party officials, and five county sheriffs.

Judd Gregg will join Lamontagne for a tour of the Sig Sauer manufacturing plant in Exeter May 21.

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COURT OFFERS COMPROMISE. Two state Supreme Court justices will testify at the State House today against a proposed constitutional amendment question that, if passed by voters, will take away the court's power to make its own administrative rules.

Conservative Robert Lynn and liberal Gary Hicks will represent a “unified” court asking the state Senate to kill a House-passed constitutional resolution that would repeal a 1978 constitutional amendment giving the chief justice unilateral authority to make rules governing the administration of all state courts “and the practice and procedure to be followed” in those courts.

Lawmakers who felt the court has abused that power over the years have twice tried to supplant the amendment with ones that would water down, but not eliminate, the judicial rule-making power.

In 2002, a proposed amendment that would have restored legislative authority to regulate court rules, essentially sharing that power with the courts, failed to gain the necessary approval by two-thirds of the voters.

In 2004, another attempt to clarify the amendment, this time to say the Legislature “shall have a concurrent power to regulate the same matters by statutes,” also failed to gain the necessary two-thirds to pass.

This year's proposed amendment question, sponsored by constitutional conservative Rep. Paul Mirski, R-Enfield, is more straightforward, simply calling for the outright repeal of the 1978 provision.

Mirski said that while the court in the past has cited the separation-of-powers doctrine of the constitution to bolster its argument for unilateral rule-making authority, “The fact is you cannot have a free government without public oversight.”

He said that since the 1978 amendment passed and became Part 2 Article 73-1, “the court has become isolated. The court has come to say over the years that it means total independence, and you can't have that.”

He said court rules should be “subject to review, as they were” prior to 1978.

“The lessons over the years have been that this sort of power does ultimately result in some abuse,” Mirski said.

His resolution, CACR 26, passed the House by the required three-fifths majority, 239-114, March 21. At least 15 votes by the 24-member Senate are needed for the question to be placed on this November's ballot.

Lynn supported the 2004 proposal, while Chief Justice John Broderick and Justice Joseph Nadeau, both now retired, opposed it.

Some assumed Lynn and Hicks would take opposite sides of the argument today, with Hicks making the same case Broderick did eight years ago, but that's not going to happen, said Supreme Court spokesman Laura Kiernan.

“There is no conflict on the court,” she said. “This is a unified position.”

She said both justices will ask the Senate to kill the current proposal, or at least replace it with one similar to the 2002 and 2004 resolutions.

The current proposal sponsored by Mirski “would eliminate the chief justice as the chief administrator of the court system. And the judicial branch, like any other, needs to have a chief administrative officer,” said Kiernan.

But, she said, if the Senate is not interested in killing the proposal outright, then, “a unified court is offering an amendment that would adopt language saying that the court would maintain its rule-making authority, but if a statute conflicts with a rule, the statute would prevail unless it is in conflict with the constitution.”

In other words, the “unified court,” under Chief Justice Linda Dalianis, has now adopted the position Lynn championed, and Broderick and Nadeau opposed, in 2004.

If the Senate agrees with the court's preference and kills CACR 26, the issue is dead. If the Senate agrees with the court-offered compromise, it would set up interesting negotiations in a conference committee between the House and Senate.

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REGISTERS OF PROBATE WIN. On another key state government issue that has been largely under the radar, a judge has agreed that two former registers of probate were illegally fired by the state when lawmakers last year overhauled their roles and reduced their salaries to $100 a year.

Judge Richard McNamara has ruled the state violated its contract with Anna Tilton of Rockingham County and Andrew Christie of Cheshire County when House Bill 609 became law last year. The new law drastically reduced not only the duties of the registers of probate across the state but it also reduced their salaries from $55,500 in Tilton's case and from $70,600 in Christie's case, to $100.

The new law also took away their health insurance and other benefits.

While the eight other registers left office when effectively fired by the state, Tilton and Christie stayed and brought suit, represented by Concord attorney Charles Douglas.

They said in their suit they were elected in November 2010 to serve two-year terms with the full-time salary and benefits. They charged the state breached their employment contracts just a few months after they took office.

The state argued it was entitled to modify the registers' role and salaries at any time and in any way as long as it was constitutional.

While the two registers argued that they were “constructively discharged” after being elected by the voters, the state said they remained employed by virtue of their $100-per-year salaries.

But McNamara ruled that registers are county, not state, employees and may be dismissed only by the Superior Court, and only for official misconduct. As a result, he ruled the two registers' “constructive discharge” by the passage of the new law “was improper.”

McNamara granted the registers' motion for summary judgment and ordered a hearing on the award of damages to them.

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COLIN'S MILESTONE. District 2 Democratic Executive Council candidate Colin Van Ostern has been working the grassroots hard since beginning his campaign last year.

Van Ostern says he is now the first Executive Council candidate on record, and probably in state history, to report receiving more than 1,000 individual donations, and there are still six months to go before the election.

Van Ostern says his campaign has raised over $100,000 with an average contribution of roughly $100 and more than three-quarters of the funds coming from New Hampshire voters. No donor to his campaign has yet given the maximum contribution, he says.

He said he is not sure precisely how many individual donors there are, but said the number is near 1,000. He said he's sure a “handful” of donors probably gave more than once.

But Van Ostern said he checked and found that even the venerable Ray Burton has never, so far at least, reached 1,000 individual donations. Burton had a high-water mark of 962 donations in 2004.

“This overwhelming grassroots support is a clear signal that New Hampshire voters in every corner of the state are rallying behind our call for more focus on jobs and the economy, and less government interference in our personal lives,” Van Ostern says in a statement. “Other campaigns may have bigger bank accounts in this election, but I am proud of the widespread, grassroots support that is reflected in the historic number of voters investing in our campaign.”

Van Ostern opposes Republican efforts to de-fund Planned Parenthood and last week delivered a petition to Gov. John Lynch signed by nearly 2,500 voters calling for an end to that legislation, which was tabled in the state Senate.

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ROMNEY-AYOTTE? Don't count on a Mitt Romney-Kelly Ayotte ticket in November.

Ayotte told New Hampshire Union Leader correspondent Gretyl Macalaster at a campaign event in Portsmouth on Monday, “that's not going to happen.”

While Ayotte continues to be a rising star in GOP politics, both here in New Hampshire and nationally, she's apparently known primarily among the activists.

Even former Gov. John H. Sununu has downplayed Ayotte's chances, saying that being from New Hampshire “may, in an odd way, be her biggest problem because with two people from the Northeast on the ticket, you don't gain anything geographically.”

What do last week's poll numbers on Ayotte mean? Could she help Romney gain swing state New Hampshire's four electoral votes? He is currently losing here to President Barack Obama by 9 percentage points.

Surprisingly, Ayotte, for all of her perceived popularity among those close to the political scene, is really a “wash” among rank-and-file New Hampshire voters, if the WMUR poll is to be believed.

A UNH-conducted poll showed in February 2011 that Ayotte was viewed favorably by 51 percent and unfavorably by only 20 percent of Granite Staters. She was viewed favorably by 73 percent and unfavorably by only 4 percent of self-identified Republicans.

Among self-identified Democrats, her favorable/unfavorable rating at the time was 31/40 and among self-identified registered Democrats, it was 35/35.

In last week's poll, she was viewed favorably by 43 percent of Granite Staters and unfavorably by 29 percent.

And even after 15 months in office, 22 percent still don't know enough about her to render an opinion.

Among self-identified Republicans, she remained strong with a 70/10 favorable/unfavorable rating, but among self-identified Democrats she fell to 21/49 as they saw that she is a much more partisan Republican than, say, Olympia Snowe of Maine.

The view of the all-important independents is moderately good news for Ayotte.

In the latest poll, 46 percent of self-identified independents viewed Ayotte favorably, while 23 percent viewed her unfavorably and 23 percent did not know enough about her to say.

That's consistent with the February 2011 poll, in which 36 percent of independents viewed her favorably, 19 percent viewed her unfavorably and 34 percent did not know enough about her at the time to say.

As a running mate, she could help Romney among independents in New Hampshire. Last week's polling showed that Romney is viewed favorably by 30 percent of independents in the state and unfavorably by 49 percent.

But independents feel no better about Obama, with 34 percent viewing him favorably and 54 percent viewing him unfavorably.

Geographically, Ayotte could help Romney in cities and towns along the Massachusetts border, including her home city of Nashua. In that region, she is viewed favorably by 54 percent and unfavorably by 25 percent, while Romney's favorable/unfavorable rating is 45/43.

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BIG BACKING FOR MAGGIE. After picking up four union endorsements, Democratic candidate for governor Maggie Hassan this week won the backing of the pro-Democratic women's group EMILY's list.

It's a fund-raising and grassroots boon for Hassan, but it's far too early to say how it will translate into votes.

EMILY's List called Hassan “a principled leader with a proven record of working hard for New Hampshire's women and families,” said Stephanie Schriock, President of EMILY's List.

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DELEGATES AND THE DNC. The New Hampshire Democratic State Committee last Saturday unanimously re-elected Kathy Sullivan and Peter Burling to the Democratic National Committee. Neither faced opposition.

The state committee also chose the remaining 20 members of the New Hampshire delegation to the 2012 Democratic National Convention in Charlotte.

The party says it is “the most diverse NHDP delegation ever, with 50 percent of the delegates attending their first convention.”

The names of those on the delegation to Charlotte can be found at www.NHDP.org.

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QUICK TAKES:

-- U.S. Rep. Frank Guinta says he is kicking off his reelection campaign with a fund-raiser at XO on Elm in Manchester May 23. Tickets range from $100 to $1,000.

- Conservative activist Jennifer Horn will host a reception at her home for GOP candidate for governor Kevin Smith next Tuesday, May 8.

John DiStaso is senior political reporter of the New Hampshire Union Leader and New Hampshire Sunday News. Follow him on Twitter: @jdistaso.