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John DiStaso, the New Hampshire Union Leader's senior political writer, began writing "Granite Status" in 1982. His influential reports on behind-the-scenes politics in the first-primary state are must reading every Thursday for insiders from Concord to Washington, D.C. Watch for "Granite Status" updates on UnionLeader.com whenever New Hampshire political news breaks.
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May 22. 2012 12:07PM
John DiStaso's Granite Status: Rove group hits Obama with second 'issues' ad; new conservative PAC filed to help elect a GOP governor
TUESDAY, MAY 22, UPDATE: HITTING OBAMA, AGAIN. With Vice President Joe Biden speaking at Keene State College this afternoon, a conservative issues advocacy group will air a new television ad beginning tomorrow that charges President Obama's policies have made it harder on recent college graduates to find jobs.
The Democratic National Committee called the ad by Crossroads GPS, co-founded three years ago by former George W. Bush senior advisor Karl Rove, "deceptive."
The ad has a fictional woman lamenting that her two children were unable to find work after their college graduations and are living with her.
“They can't find jobs to get their careers started, and I can't afford to retire,” the woman says.
The ad, clearly timed to air during college graduation season, is being shown in 10 swing states, including New Hampshire.
The pro-Obama Priorities USA Action Super PAC said Crossroads GPS was "using actors to portray a fictional family." Priorities put up its own ad today, though not in New Hampshire, using a "real life" woman describing how she she lost her job after the Mitt Romney-led Bain Capital closed the plant where she worked in Indiana.
Crossroads GPS said it will spend nearly $10 million on its new ad as part of a larger $25 million ad campaign first announced last week.
It is the second Crossroads GPS ad to air in New Hampshire and the other swing states in the past two weeks. The three-week New Hampshire buys totals $772,000, Crossroads GPS said.
The ad is also being aired in Colorado, Iowa, Florida, Michigan, North Carolina, Nevada, Ohio, Pennsylvania and Virginia.
“The ad drives home the impact President Obama's policies are having on American families and why those policies need to be changed, said Steven Law, president of Crossroads GPS. “We want there to be a serious debate on the real issues are facing in this country, and this ad expresses the human element of that debate.”
The DNC responded that "Karl Rove's most recent deceptive ad can't hide the reality that, under President Obama's leadership, the economy has gone from losing 750,000 jobs a month to adding more than 4.2 million private sector jobs over the last 26 months. unemployment today is lower among college graduates than when the President took office and more companies are hiring recent graduates while the outlook for hiring continues to improve.,"
Biden, meanwhile, stopped at the Manchester Fire Department this morning and then a Peterborough diner before heading to Keene. The Obama campaign said that in his remarks he would “draw a contrast with Mitt Romney, who has repeatedly cited business experience as his chief qualification to be President, claiming he would use it to boost the economy, create jobs and reduce the deficit.”
The campaign said Biden will “outline why New Hampshire can't afford the consequences of Romney economics.”
(Earlier updates and the full May 17 Granite Status follow.)
TUESDAY, MAY 22, UPDATE: A NEW CONSERVATIVE PAC. Conservative liberty movement activist Andrew Hemingway has filed a new political action committee aimed at electing a Republican governor this year.
“4RG,” or “For a Republican Governor,” will not take sides in the GOP primary for governor between Ovide Lamontagne and Kevin Smith, but will focus on helping the eventual nominee win in November.
As the Granite Status first reported last week (see item below), Hemingway considered taking on U.S. Rep. Charlie Bass in a Republican 2nd District U.S. House primary, but recently decided against it in favor of setting up the new PAC.
“4RG is my number one, day-to-day project through general election day, Nov. 6,” Hemingway said. “4RG will work independently, strategically and tirelessly to elect the next Republican New Hampshire governor.”
Hemingway is the past chairman of the budget committee of the town of Bristol and of the Republican Liberty Caucus of New Hampshire. He was the state director of Newt Gingrich's presidential campaign in New Hampshire during the recent primary campaign.
He most recently founded a New Hampshire-based social media platform company. He co-led a group called Stop the LLC Tax, organizing business owners and collecting signatures across the state in opposition to a 13.5 percent tax that was supported in the state Senate by current Democratic candidate for governor Maggie Hassan.
Also closely involved in the PAC as communications director is conservative consultant Alex Talcott, a Dartmouth graduate and public affairs and marketing communications principal of Vaura Consulting LLC of Amesbury, Mass., which is expanding its operations to the Portsmouth/Durham area.
Talcott was a senior communications specialist and New Hampshire coalitions director of the Gingrich campaign and was state communications director for Michigan U.S. Rep. Thad McCotter's short-lived presidential campaign earlier in the cycle.
The PAC has also set up a Web site, www.4RG.org and a Twitter account, @4RGNH.
(Earlier updates and the full May 17 Granite Status follow.)
MONDAY, MAY 21, UPDATE: APOLOGY NOT ACCEPTED. State Senate candidate and current two-term Rep. John Hikel, R-Goffstown, said Monday he apologizes for directing “stupid and inappropriate” remarks at state GOP vice chair Pamela Manney at a weekend Republican gathering.
Manney, also of Goffstown, said a visibly irate Hikel approached her and loudly and repeatedly called her a former “pole dancer” and “stripper” in front of a group of Republicans at a Saturday picnic hosted by Hikel's GOP primary foe, state Rep. Phil Greazzo, R-Manchester. The picnic followed a meeting of the Goffstown-Weare Republican Committee at the Goffstown Parks and Recreation Department building.
Manney said she was never a pole dancer and believes Hikel is angry with her for supporting Greazzo over Hikel in a Republican primary for the District 20 state Senate seat held by Sen. Lou D'Allesandro, D-Manchester.
“I'm just totally mortified,” Manney said. “I was never a pole dancer or a stripper. And he said it two more times and the more he said it, he advanced toward me.” She said he made the comment five times in all.
Hikel, in an interview, refused to specifically acknowledge he called Manney a former “pole dancer” and "stripper” when asked to verify his alleged remarks.
But he said, “What I said on Saturday to Pam was stupid and inappropriate and I've apologized to her.”
“There is really nothing else to say,” Hikel said. “What I said was stupid and inappropriate, and I apologized. It's coming from the heart and I'm very sincere about this and I meant it.”
But Manney said the message Hikel left was not a true apology, so she does not accept it.
“He said he'd been getting a lot of e-mails about 'that thing I said on Saturday and I hope you accept my apology.'
“I don't accept it because he simply never said he was wrong,” said Manney.
Manney and Hikel primary opponent Greazzo said Hikel should drop his bid for the Senate, but Hikel said he will stay in the race.
“What I said was stupid and inappropriate, but I plan on campaigning on the issues at hand,” he said, “the budget, smaller government” and more support for the business community.
Manney said Hikel's comments were “totally, totally unprovoked.”
She said a friend of Hikel was eavesdropping and making a video recording of a conversation among a former friend of Hikel, Greazzo and former Manchester Mayor Emile Beaulieu.
Manney said when Hikel's friend heard something that was being said, he called out to Hikel.
Hikel “came bolting over” and started “pointing and yelling” about what his former friend was telling Beaulieu, Manney said.
She said she was standing “10 or 20 feet away,” but when she heard Hikel begin yelling, “I was concerned for Mayor Beaulieu.”
After Hikel walked away, she said, she approached Beaulieu “to make sure he was OK.”
Then, she said, “out of the clear blue, John Hikel turns around and looks at me and in the loudest voice possible, said, 'Representative Quandt said you were a pole dancer. Is that true?'
“I said, 'What did you say,' and he said, 'Matt Quandt said you were a pole dancer.' Is that true?'”
Quandt, a state representative from Exeter, was not at the picnic and said he never told Hikel anything about Manney.
Manney said, “I said to him, 'John, are you kidding me? What's wrong with you?'"
She said Hikel “is a guy that I worked hard for” when he ran for the House and she at the time chaired the Goffstown-Weare Republicans. “I spent countless hours and raised countless funds for all my guys who were running in Goffstown. I didn't deserve this.”
Then, she said, Hikel repeated, “'Yeah, Quandt said you were a pole dancer and you used to strip.'
“I was just so embarrassed,” Manney said. “I'm a mom. I have children. My son is in the service.”
“His voice had such sexual undertones,” said Manney. “It was grossly, grossly unprofessional. I said to everyone, 'Everybody knows me. I was never a pole dancer or a stripper and I said, 'I know Matt Quandt. I served with Matt Quandt and I find this hard to believe.'
“It's totally uncalled for,” Manney, a former state House member said.
Manney had served as assistant secretary of the state GOP and was elected vice chair by the party executive committee last September when former vice chair Wayne MacDonald assumed the chairmanship following the resignation of Jack Kimball as chairman.
Manney said she has known Hikel for about eight years and never had any problem with him in the past.
Hikel said that after the incident he apologized to the assembled group and Manny “was standing right in front.”
But Manney said the statement he made to the group was not specifically directed at her.
“I was a poll watcher but I never was a pole dancer,” said Manney. “And he actually said I was a stripper.”
Quandt said Hikel “must be mixing me up with somebody else. I've never mentioned the name 'Pam Manney' or the words 'pole dancer' in the same sentence ever in my life, to the best of my knowledge.”
He said the only conversation he ever had with Hikel was about legislation at the State House.
“I like Pam very much,” said Quandt. “I have no issues with her. I like John, too. I have no issues with him. Phil Greazzo is also an OK guy.
“So I have no dog in this fight,” said Quandt.
Greazzo said in a statement, “This baseless and unprovoked attack against an innocent woman is beneath the dignity of anyone who calls himself a gentleman and the people of Goffstown and Manchester should let John Hikel know that they will not accept such behavior from anyone who attempts to represent them.”
(Earlier updates and the full May 17 Granite Status follows.)
FRIDAY, MAY 18, UPDATE: TWO MORE DEMOCRATS FOR STATE SENATE. A newcomer to New Hampshire state politics and a political veteran, both Democrats, are running for separate state Senate seats.
Nancy Fraher of Chichester, a Candia elementary school teacher who is retiring next month, said Friday she will run for the District 17 seat held by nine-term Republican Jack Barnes.
Former state Sen. Martha Fuller Clark of Portsmouth announced her candidacy for the District 21 seat being vacated by Sen. Amanda Merrill of Durham.
Fraher said in a statement, “Providing a high-quality education is the most important thing we can do as a state to ensure that our children have the opportunities they deserve for good lives and to ensure that our state can attract the innovative businesses of the future.
“I've spend most of my life trying to improve education for our children here in New Hampshire. I am running because I can't just sit back any longer and watch the Legislature attempt to dismantle public education and the opportunities it provides for our children,” Fraher said.
“This Legislature cut funding for higher education in half. It cut dropout prevention programs, funding for special education, and money for vocational education. Yet, this legislature said it had the money to fund a cut in the cigarette tax and to send millions in taxpayer dollars to private schools,” Fraher said. “We need to get the New Hampshire moving in the right direction again, focusing on the right priorities.”
A native of Pembroke and a Plymouth State University graduate, Fraher lives in Chichester. She is retiring after 35 years as a teacher, including the last 30 years at Candia Elementary School. She also taught for two years at the Department of Defense before going to Candia Elementary.
Clark said, ““I look forward to returning to the Senate to bring back a reasoned voice to the legislative process. During my six terms in the House and three terms in the Senate I was able to work across party lines to pass legislation on many major issues.
“These past two years I have been appalled at the deterioration of the process of providing good government and by the open manipulation occurring at the State House by radical out-of-state influences,” she said.
(Earlier updates and the full May 17 Granite Status follow.)
THURSDAY, MAY 17, UPDATE: BIDEN AT KEENE STATE. Some details of Vice President Joe Biden's visit to Keene on Tuesday, May22 have been obtained.
We've learned he will be at Keene State College, specifically the Mabel Brown Room of the Young Student Center, for an afternoon campaign event. The specific time has not yet been determined.
See our earlier items on the upcoming campaign stops by Biden and Mitt Romney below.
(Earlier updates and the full May 17 Granite Status follow.)
THURSDAY, MAY 17, UPDATE: HOLLINGWORTH MAY TRY SENATE COMEBACK. Former state Senate President Beverly Hollingworth, D-Hampton, who was ousted from the Executive Council two years ago, confirmed today she is strongly considering another run for the Senate.
Hollingworth served for five terms in the Senate from 1990 through 1994 and from 1996 through 2002. She was elected Senate President in 1999 following the death of Clesson Blaisdell and presided over the historic Senate impeachment trial that acquitted then-Chief Justice David Brock of charges levied by the House.
She later served two terms on the Executive Council before being defeated by Chris Sununu in 2010.
Earlier in her legislative service, she was in the House from 1980 to 1990.
The Granite Status first reported on Hollingworth's potential return to politics earlier Thursday (see item below).
“As you might expect, it has been tough sitting on the sidelines and watching a lot of the things I worked so hard for be changed,” she said. “It's amazing that in such a short period of time so much could happen to so many of the great things that Senate did.”
She said that when she served Republicans and Democrats “had our difference of opinion but we were always able to be friends and work together in the best interest of the state.”
Were Hollingworth to run for the District 24 seat, she would face Republican Nancy Stiles, also of Hampton, in a general election.
Also today, sources told the Granite Status that two-term state Sen. Amanda Merrill of Durham has decided not to run for reelection from District 21. And with Portsmouth now in that district as a result of redistricting, former state Sen. Martha Fuller Clark, who was defeated by Stiles two years ago, will run for the seat being vacated by Merrill.
(Earlier updates and the full May 17 Granite Status follow.)
THURSDAY, MAY 17, UPDATE: MITT AND THE BRIDGE. Presumptive GOP presidential nominee Mitt Romney on Friday will cite the Sawyer Bridge in Hillsborough as an example of wasteful government spending when he makes his third visit to the state in less than a month's time.
Both presidential campaigns are placing intense focus on New Hampshire. Despite having only four electoral votes in the general election, it is viewed as a key swing state.
Vice President Joe Biden will make his fifth visit to the state in six months next Tuesday when he makes a campaign stop in Keene.
Romney last visited the state on April 30, when he stopped in Portsmouth. He kicked off his general election campaign in Manchester on April 24.
Romney won the New Hampshire first-in-the-nation primary back on Jan. 10.
The Sawyer Bridge is an old, stone arch structure that is literally a dead end, and is sometimes cited as New Hampshire's version of the “bridge to nowhere.”
About $150,000 in federal stimulus money was used to repair the bridge, an expenditure cited in 2010 by then-congressional candidate Republican Sean Mahoney.
Town officials have said they want to turn the area into a public park.
Romney and his campaign have been criticizing President Barack Obama on the mounting federal deficit and debt, and they believe the taxpayer money spent on the bridge under the Obama stimulus program fits into that theme.
“This is one of thousands of examples around the country of how stimulus funds have been wasted and used for purposes that really aren't helpful,” said a key Republican. “This is literally a bridge that goes nowhere.”
Romney is scheduled to speak at 1:30 p.m.
(The full May 17 Granite Status follow.)
► HuffPo: Mitt Romney Aide Ryan Williams Challenges Joe Biden In Ohio Restaurant
Former NHGOP spokesman Ryan Williams encountered Vice President Joe Biden in Ohio on Wednesday. more
THURSDAY, MAY 17: PRESIDENTIAL WARFARE. It didn't take long for the negativity on both sides of the presidential campaign to begin in earnest, and New Hampshire (of course) is in the middle of it.
President Barack Obama's campaign fired off the first attack ad of the presidential campaign in five key swing states this week: Ohio, Pennsylvania, Virginia, Iowa and Colorado.
Although the television ad isn't airing here, the Obama campaign on Tuesday organized a news conference in Concord to roll out a 6-minute web video about GST Steel in Kansas City and advertise a new anti-Mitt Romney website, RomneyEconomics.com.
New Hampshire Democratic Party Chairman Raymond Buckley and Democratic National Committeeman and former state Sen. Peter Burling said they were not questioning the private equity industry, but, as Buckley said, “whether those are values we want in our President.”
Burling cited Holson Burnes Group, a photo-album manufacturing firm in Claremont that was shut down after being taken over by the Romney-led Bain Capital.
“With Mitt Romney making his business experience his main qualification for office,” said Burling, “it's totally legitimate for the American people to know about those values and consider them as they cast their votes.”
The campaign also held screenings of the web ad at grassroots events in Franklin, Amherst, Plaistow, Lebanon, Nashua, Windham, Manchester and Madison on Tuesday and Wednesday.
The Obama ad running in the swing states picks up where Newt Gingrich and Rick Perry left off during the presidential nomination battle, depicting Romney and his cohorts at Bain Capital as corporate “vampires” who sucked the lifeblood out of GST, laying off workers and canceling, or greatly reducing, pensions and benefits before shutting the firm's doors.
The Republicans returned fire with their own web video focusing on the national debt and the economy, “Empty Promises: Debt and Deficits.”
It accuses Obama of breaking his pledge “to cut the deficit in half” during his first term in office, while instead racking up “the three highest deficits in history.”
Republican National Committee Chairman Reince Priebus had a piece blasting Obama on the same topic on the New Hampshire Union Leader opinion page on Tuesday.
Then, on Wednesday, former Sen. John E. Sununu surfaced for the first time in this presidential election, joining with state Senate Majority Leader Jeb Bradley, a former congressman, to hammer the same theme.
They noted that in 2008, Obama said adding $4 trillion to the national deficit was irresponsible and unpatriotic, but, Sununu said, “he's gone beyond that in a much shorter period of time” by adding more than $5 trillion to the deficit.
“A $2.6-trillion health-care takeover whose cost keeps going up,” noted Sununu. “And that isn't campaign rhetoric. It's the White House and Congressional Budget Office budget analysis.”
He said Obama has been “pandering to his political base” by rejecting “tough but fair” deficit reduction deals.
Sununu said Romney will “reduce the size of government” and “won't ignore problems and won't burden future generations with more debt.”
Bradley said, “We are the brink of an ever-cascading set of problems if we don't turn things around.”
KERRY FOR HASSAN. Democratic candidate for governor Maggie Hassan is picking up high-powered support this week.
Massachusetts U.S. Sen. John Kerry is the special guest at a fundraiser for Hassan at an undisclosed location in Boston Friday morning.
Tickets for the breakfast reception range from $250 to $2,500.
Hassan is in a party primary against another former state senator, Jackie Cilley.
It's unusual for a sitting senator to take sides in a major party primary in another state. But in this case, Hassan has been a longtime supporter of Kerry, especially during his 2004 run for President.
Another Massachusetts Democrat, U.S. Rep. Mike Capuano, is the scheduled guest speaker at the Manchester City Democratic Committee's annual Flag Day Dinner honoring former state Sen. and Manchester alderman Betsi DeVries June 11 at the Puritan Backroom.
By the way, Capuano's nephew, Chris Evans, is currently starring in “The Avengers” movie as Captain America.
JOE LOVES IT HERE. Vice President Joe Biden's visits to New Hampshire are becoming almost monthly events.
The Granite Status has learned that Biden will make his fifth visit to the state in the past six months on Tuesday.
An Obama campaign official confirmed that Biden will appear at a “political event,” as opposed to an official, taxpayer-funded event, in Keene.
Biden last visited the state April 12 promoting what the Obama administration calls the “Buffet Rule” to ensure that the wealthy do not pay lower taxes than the middle class. He also visited in November, January and February.
On Wednesday, Maryland Gov. Martin O'Malley will be the keynote speaker at the party's 2012 state convention, state Democratic Chair Buckley said.
The event is scheduled for June 2 at Memorial High School in Manchester.
As chairman of the Democratic Governors Association, O'Malley will be in the state “to underscore the commitment that the DGA has to continue the great Democratic leadership New Hampshire has enjoyed with governors John Lynch and Jeanne Shaheen.”
O'Malley is a rising star in national Democratic politics and is in the mix with those mentioned as potential presidential candidates in 2016. Buckley said the convention will hear from Shaheen, honor Lynch for his eight years as governor and also hear from candidates for Congress and governor.
The party will also pass its platform, adopt resolutions and hold workshops.
Buckley said about 295 people have signed up so far.
“BROKEN PROMISES” CHARGED. The nonprofit self-described issues advocacy group Crossroads Grassroots Policy Strategies (GPS), will begin television advertising today in New Hampshire.
The group, co-founded by Karl Rove, the former senior advisor to former President George W. Bush, plans to spend $535,000 on an ad accusing President Barack Obama of “broken promises” on issues from taxes to the deficit to home foreclosures to key aspects of his health care plan.
The New Hampshire ad is part of a $25 million “issue advocacy initiative over the next four weeks in 10 states,” Crossroads GPS announced Wednesday.
It said it hopes to “frame the national debate on jobs, the economy, ObamaCare and government debt.”
The new ad, entitled “Obama's Promise,” is described in the Crossroads announcement as “the first phase of the initiative” and is tied to a new program it calls the “New Majority Agenda,” which is detailed at www.newmajorityagenda.org.
Crossroads said that in addition to New Hampshire, the initial television buy includes network affiliates in Colorado, Florida, Iowa, Michigan, North Carolina, Nevada, Ohio, Pennsylvania and Virginia. They are all swing states in the November election.
Crossroads GPS president Steven Law said, “President Obama made commitments on core issues to the American people, and this ad holds him to account.”
The Democratic National Committee returned fire at what it called “Karl Rove's latest deceptive ad.
“President Obama has proposed a plan to reduce our deficit by $4 trillion over the next decade while creating an economy built to last through investments in education, infrastructure, and research,” the DNC said. “As promised, the President has cut taxes for every working American and cut taxes for small business 18 times, bringing federal taxes for middle-class households near historic lows.”
The DNC said that Romney, as Massachusetts governor, “increased state spending by 6.5 percent each year and increased Massachusetts long-term debt by 16 percent in just four years, leaving it with the largest per-capita debt of any state in the nation.”
Crossroads GPS works in conjunction with the pro-Republican Super PAC American Crossroads and was viewed as having played a major role in helping Republicans gain big victories nationally in the 2010 elections.
According to the nonpartisan Center for Responsive Politics, American Crossroads is a Super PAC that has raised about $28 million in the current cycle.
While American Crossroads must disclose its donors, Crossroads GPS, as a 501 (c)(4) nonprofit, does not.
Crossroads GPS's tax forms for 2010 and 2011 showed it raised about $77 million.
Crossroads GPS cannot expressly advocate for or against the election of a candidate, but it can air ads praising or complaining about a candidate's position and encouraging viewers to call the candidate.
RENEWED CALL; RENEWED CRITICISM. Crossroad GPS's New Hampshire advertising plans comes just a few days after Democratic former U.S. Rep. Carol Shea-Porter last Friday called on Republican Rep. Frank Guinta to join her in calling on Super PACs not to advertise in their race for the 1st District U.S. House seat.
Guinta rejected the call and the National Republican Congressional Committee followed up with criticism.
But Shea-Porter earlier this week tried again.
“Last week, I asked my political opponent for the NH-01 seat, Congressman Frank Guinta, to join with me to try to reduce Super PAC advertising in the 2012 election. His campaign responded by name-calling and falsehoods.
“New Hampshire voters don't want to hear false accusations and name-calling,” Shea-Porter said. “They just want Super PACs to stop all their negative advertising and let New Hampshire voters decide for themselves.”
Shea-Porter said she and Guinta “should work together to try to reduce the constant barrage of ads that offend NH-01 voters and try to reduce outside influence by Super PACs.”
The NRCC called Shea-Porter hypocritical for focusing her call only on advertising by Super PACS and not negative grassroots activities.
“Shea-Porter's endorsement of certain activities that the radical activist Super PAC CREDO is already conducting on her behalf shows that her rhetoric and promises are nothing more than empty words,” the NRCC said.
The liberal Super PAC CREDO has set up shop in New Hampshire and has promised to organize against Guinta.
ANDREW WON'T RUN. Conservative activist and entrepreneur Andrew Hemingway will not run for Congress this year.
After considering running against U.S. Rep. Charlie Bass in a primary, Hemingway, a Bristol native and the former state presidential primary campaign manager for Newt Gingrich, will instead run a new political action committee aimed at electing a Republican governor.
The new PAC will not take sides in the GOP gubernatorial primary between Kevin Smith and Ovide Lamontagne and will focus its pre-primary efforts on Democrats.
The PAC's formation will be announced next week, a source directly involved confirmed.
“A New Hampshire Republican can, will, and must secure the corner office,” the source said.
AFP HITS BRAGDON. Americans for Prosperity-New Hampshire plans to play a role in the state elections this year, too, and it's beginning its mail program with a knock on state Senate President Peter Bragdon.
Arriving in mailboxes in his newly re-drawn state Senate district are what AFP calls “political disconnect notices” hitting Bragdon's support for keeping New Hampshire in the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI) program.
“Senator Peter Bragdon wants to keep NH ratepayers trapped in this job- and economy-destroying scheme that sends NH jobs to China and India and other states that are not part of this job-killing scheme,” the mailer says.
AFP-NH president Corey Lewandowski said he will deliver the tear-off sections of the mailers asking that New Hampshire exit RGGI to Bragdon later in the year.
Although as an issues advocacy group, AFP cannot advocate the election or defeat of any candidate, Lewandowki said, “We will continue to play a very active role in state Senate districts where we believe senators should be voting the will of their constituents.”
John DiStaso is senior political reporter of the New Hampshire Union Leader and New Hampshire Sunday News. Follow him on Twitter: @jdistaso.
The Democratic National Committee called the ad by Crossroads GPS, co-founded three years ago by former George W. Bush senior advisor Karl Rove, "deceptive."
The ad has a fictional woman lamenting that her two children were unable to find work after their college graduations and are living with her.
“They can't find jobs to get their careers started, and I can't afford to retire,” the woman says.
The ad, clearly timed to air during college graduation season, is being shown in 10 swing states, including New Hampshire.
The pro-Obama Priorities USA Action Super PAC said Crossroads GPS was "using actors to portray a fictional family." Priorities put up its own ad today, though not in New Hampshire, using a "real life" woman describing how she she lost her job after the Mitt Romney-led Bain Capital closed the plant where she worked in Indiana.
Crossroads GPS said it will spend nearly $10 million on its new ad as part of a larger $25 million ad campaign first announced last week.
It is the second Crossroads GPS ad to air in New Hampshire and the other swing states in the past two weeks. The three-week New Hampshire buys totals $772,000, Crossroads GPS said.
The ad is also being aired in Colorado, Iowa, Florida, Michigan, North Carolina, Nevada, Ohio, Pennsylvania and Virginia.
“The ad drives home the impact President Obama's policies are having on American families and why those policies need to be changed, said Steven Law, president of Crossroads GPS. “We want there to be a serious debate on the real issues are facing in this country, and this ad expresses the human element of that debate.”
The DNC responded that "Karl Rove's most recent deceptive ad can't hide the reality that, under President Obama's leadership, the economy has gone from losing 750,000 jobs a month to adding more than 4.2 million private sector jobs over the last 26 months. unemployment today is lower among college graduates than when the President took office and more companies are hiring recent graduates while the outlook for hiring continues to improve.,"
Biden, meanwhile, stopped at the Manchester Fire Department this morning and then a Peterborough diner before heading to Keene. The Obama campaign said that in his remarks he would “draw a contrast with Mitt Romney, who has repeatedly cited business experience as his chief qualification to be President, claiming he would use it to boost the economy, create jobs and reduce the deficit.”
The campaign said Biden will “outline why New Hampshire can't afford the consequences of Romney economics.”
(Earlier updates and the full May 17 Granite Status follow.)
TUESDAY, MAY 22, UPDATE: A NEW CONSERVATIVE PAC. Conservative liberty movement activist Andrew Hemingway has filed a new political action committee aimed at electing a Republican governor this year.
“4RG,” or “For a Republican Governor,” will not take sides in the GOP primary for governor between Ovide Lamontagne and Kevin Smith, but will focus on helping the eventual nominee win in November.
As the Granite Status first reported last week (see item below), Hemingway considered taking on U.S. Rep. Charlie Bass in a Republican 2nd District U.S. House primary, but recently decided against it in favor of setting up the new PAC.
“4RG is my number one, day-to-day project through general election day, Nov. 6,” Hemingway said. “4RG will work independently, strategically and tirelessly to elect the next Republican New Hampshire governor.”
Hemingway is the past chairman of the budget committee of the town of Bristol and of the Republican Liberty Caucus of New Hampshire. He was the state director of Newt Gingrich's presidential campaign in New Hampshire during the recent primary campaign.
He most recently founded a New Hampshire-based social media platform company. He co-led a group called Stop the LLC Tax, organizing business owners and collecting signatures across the state in opposition to a 13.5 percent tax that was supported in the state Senate by current Democratic candidate for governor Maggie Hassan.
Also closely involved in the PAC as communications director is conservative consultant Alex Talcott, a Dartmouth graduate and public affairs and marketing communications principal of Vaura Consulting LLC of Amesbury, Mass., which is expanding its operations to the Portsmouth/Durham area.
Talcott was a senior communications specialist and New Hampshire coalitions director of the Gingrich campaign and was state communications director for Michigan U.S. Rep. Thad McCotter's short-lived presidential campaign earlier in the cycle.
The PAC has also set up a Web site, www.4RG.org and a Twitter account, @4RGNH.
(Earlier updates and the full May 17 Granite Status follow.)
MONDAY, MAY 21, UPDATE: APOLOGY NOT ACCEPTED. State Senate candidate and current two-term Rep. John Hikel, R-Goffstown, said Monday he apologizes for directing “stupid and inappropriate” remarks at state GOP vice chair Pamela Manney at a weekend Republican gathering.
Manney, also of Goffstown, said a visibly irate Hikel approached her and loudly and repeatedly called her a former “pole dancer” and “stripper” in front of a group of Republicans at a Saturday picnic hosted by Hikel's GOP primary foe, state Rep. Phil Greazzo, R-Manchester. The picnic followed a meeting of the Goffstown-Weare Republican Committee at the Goffstown Parks and Recreation Department building.
Manney said she was never a pole dancer and believes Hikel is angry with her for supporting Greazzo over Hikel in a Republican primary for the District 20 state Senate seat held by Sen. Lou D'Allesandro, D-Manchester.
“I'm just totally mortified,” Manney said. “I was never a pole dancer or a stripper. And he said it two more times and the more he said it, he advanced toward me.” She said he made the comment five times in all.
Hikel, in an interview, refused to specifically acknowledge he called Manney a former “pole dancer” and "stripper” when asked to verify his alleged remarks.
But he said, “What I said on Saturday to Pam was stupid and inappropriate and I've apologized to her.”
“There is really nothing else to say,” Hikel said. “What I said was stupid and inappropriate, and I apologized. It's coming from the heart and I'm very sincere about this and I meant it.”
But Manney said the message Hikel left was not a true apology, so she does not accept it.
“He said he'd been getting a lot of e-mails about 'that thing I said on Saturday and I hope you accept my apology.'
“I don't accept it because he simply never said he was wrong,” said Manney.
Manney and Hikel primary opponent Greazzo said Hikel should drop his bid for the Senate, but Hikel said he will stay in the race.
“What I said was stupid and inappropriate, but I plan on campaigning on the issues at hand,” he said, “the budget, smaller government” and more support for the business community.
Manney said Hikel's comments were “totally, totally unprovoked.”
She said a friend of Hikel was eavesdropping and making a video recording of a conversation among a former friend of Hikel, Greazzo and former Manchester Mayor Emile Beaulieu.
Manney said when Hikel's friend heard something that was being said, he called out to Hikel.
Hikel “came bolting over” and started “pointing and yelling” about what his former friend was telling Beaulieu, Manney said.
She said she was standing “10 or 20 feet away,” but when she heard Hikel begin yelling, “I was concerned for Mayor Beaulieu.”
After Hikel walked away, she said, she approached Beaulieu “to make sure he was OK.”
Then, she said, “out of the clear blue, John Hikel turns around and looks at me and in the loudest voice possible, said, 'Representative Quandt said you were a pole dancer. Is that true?'
“I said, 'What did you say,' and he said, 'Matt Quandt said you were a pole dancer.' Is that true?'”
Quandt, a state representative from Exeter, was not at the picnic and said he never told Hikel anything about Manney.
Manney said, “I said to him, 'John, are you kidding me? What's wrong with you?'"
She said Hikel “is a guy that I worked hard for” when he ran for the House and she at the time chaired the Goffstown-Weare Republicans. “I spent countless hours and raised countless funds for all my guys who were running in Goffstown. I didn't deserve this.”
Then, she said, Hikel repeated, “'Yeah, Quandt said you were a pole dancer and you used to strip.'
“I was just so embarrassed,” Manney said. “I'm a mom. I have children. My son is in the service.”
“His voice had such sexual undertones,” said Manney. “It was grossly, grossly unprofessional. I said to everyone, 'Everybody knows me. I was never a pole dancer or a stripper and I said, 'I know Matt Quandt. I served with Matt Quandt and I find this hard to believe.'
“It's totally uncalled for,” Manney, a former state House member said.
Manney had served as assistant secretary of the state GOP and was elected vice chair by the party executive committee last September when former vice chair Wayne MacDonald assumed the chairmanship following the resignation of Jack Kimball as chairman.
Manney said she has known Hikel for about eight years and never had any problem with him in the past.
Hikel said that after the incident he apologized to the assembled group and Manny “was standing right in front.”
But Manney said the statement he made to the group was not specifically directed at her.
“I was a poll watcher but I never was a pole dancer,” said Manney. “And he actually said I was a stripper.”
Quandt said Hikel “must be mixing me up with somebody else. I've never mentioned the name 'Pam Manney' or the words 'pole dancer' in the same sentence ever in my life, to the best of my knowledge.”
He said the only conversation he ever had with Hikel was about legislation at the State House.
“I like Pam very much,” said Quandt. “I have no issues with her. I like John, too. I have no issues with him. Phil Greazzo is also an OK guy.
“So I have no dog in this fight,” said Quandt.
Greazzo said in a statement, “This baseless and unprovoked attack against an innocent woman is beneath the dignity of anyone who calls himself a gentleman and the people of Goffstown and Manchester should let John Hikel know that they will not accept such behavior from anyone who attempts to represent them.”
(Earlier updates and the full May 17 Granite Status follows.)
FRIDAY, MAY 18, UPDATE: TWO MORE DEMOCRATS FOR STATE SENATE. A newcomer to New Hampshire state politics and a political veteran, both Democrats, are running for separate state Senate seats.
Nancy Fraher of Chichester, a Candia elementary school teacher who is retiring next month, said Friday she will run for the District 17 seat held by nine-term Republican Jack Barnes.
Former state Sen. Martha Fuller Clark of Portsmouth announced her candidacy for the District 21 seat being vacated by Sen. Amanda Merrill of Durham.
Fraher said in a statement, “Providing a high-quality education is the most important thing we can do as a state to ensure that our children have the opportunities they deserve for good lives and to ensure that our state can attract the innovative businesses of the future.
“I've spend most of my life trying to improve education for our children here in New Hampshire. I am running because I can't just sit back any longer and watch the Legislature attempt to dismantle public education and the opportunities it provides for our children,” Fraher said.
“This Legislature cut funding for higher education in half. It cut dropout prevention programs, funding for special education, and money for vocational education. Yet, this legislature said it had the money to fund a cut in the cigarette tax and to send millions in taxpayer dollars to private schools,” Fraher said. “We need to get the New Hampshire moving in the right direction again, focusing on the right priorities.”
A native of Pembroke and a Plymouth State University graduate, Fraher lives in Chichester. She is retiring after 35 years as a teacher, including the last 30 years at Candia Elementary School. She also taught for two years at the Department of Defense before going to Candia Elementary.
Clark said, ““I look forward to returning to the Senate to bring back a reasoned voice to the legislative process. During my six terms in the House and three terms in the Senate I was able to work across party lines to pass legislation on many major issues.
“These past two years I have been appalled at the deterioration of the process of providing good government and by the open manipulation occurring at the State House by radical out-of-state influences,” she said.
(Earlier updates and the full May 17 Granite Status follow.)
THURSDAY, MAY 17, UPDATE: BIDEN AT KEENE STATE. Some details of Vice President Joe Biden's visit to Keene on Tuesday, May22 have been obtained.
We've learned he will be at Keene State College, specifically the Mabel Brown Room of the Young Student Center, for an afternoon campaign event. The specific time has not yet been determined.
See our earlier items on the upcoming campaign stops by Biden and Mitt Romney below.
(Earlier updates and the full May 17 Granite Status follow.)
THURSDAY, MAY 17, UPDATE: HOLLINGWORTH MAY TRY SENATE COMEBACK. Former state Senate President Beverly Hollingworth, D-Hampton, who was ousted from the Executive Council two years ago, confirmed today she is strongly considering another run for the Senate.
Hollingworth served for five terms in the Senate from 1990 through 1994 and from 1996 through 2002. She was elected Senate President in 1999 following the death of Clesson Blaisdell and presided over the historic Senate impeachment trial that acquitted then-Chief Justice David Brock of charges levied by the House.
She later served two terms on the Executive Council before being defeated by Chris Sununu in 2010.
Earlier in her legislative service, she was in the House from 1980 to 1990.
The Granite Status first reported on Hollingworth's potential return to politics earlier Thursday (see item below).
“As you might expect, it has been tough sitting on the sidelines and watching a lot of the things I worked so hard for be changed,” she said. “It's amazing that in such a short period of time so much could happen to so many of the great things that Senate did.”
She said that when she served Republicans and Democrats “had our difference of opinion but we were always able to be friends and work together in the best interest of the state.”
Were Hollingworth to run for the District 24 seat, she would face Republican Nancy Stiles, also of Hampton, in a general election.
Also today, sources told the Granite Status that two-term state Sen. Amanda Merrill of Durham has decided not to run for reelection from District 21. And with Portsmouth now in that district as a result of redistricting, former state Sen. Martha Fuller Clark, who was defeated by Stiles two years ago, will run for the seat being vacated by Merrill.
(Earlier updates and the full May 17 Granite Status follow.)
THURSDAY, MAY 17, UPDATE: MITT AND THE BRIDGE. Presumptive GOP presidential nominee Mitt Romney on Friday will cite the Sawyer Bridge in Hillsborough as an example of wasteful government spending when he makes his third visit to the state in less than a month's time.
Both presidential campaigns are placing intense focus on New Hampshire. Despite having only four electoral votes in the general election, it is viewed as a key swing state.
Vice President Joe Biden will make his fifth visit to the state in six months next Tuesday when he makes a campaign stop in Keene.
Romney last visited the state on April 30, when he stopped in Portsmouth. He kicked off his general election campaign in Manchester on April 24.
Romney won the New Hampshire first-in-the-nation primary back on Jan. 10.
The Sawyer Bridge is an old, stone arch structure that is literally a dead end, and is sometimes cited as New Hampshire's version of the “bridge to nowhere.”
About $150,000 in federal stimulus money was used to repair the bridge, an expenditure cited in 2010 by then-congressional candidate Republican Sean Mahoney.
Town officials have said they want to turn the area into a public park.
Romney and his campaign have been criticizing President Barack Obama on the mounting federal deficit and debt, and they believe the taxpayer money spent on the bridge under the Obama stimulus program fits into that theme.
“This is one of thousands of examples around the country of how stimulus funds have been wasted and used for purposes that really aren't helpful,” said a key Republican. “This is literally a bridge that goes nowhere.”
Romney is scheduled to speak at 1:30 p.m.
(The full May 17 Granite Status follow.)
► HuffPo: Mitt Romney Aide Ryan Williams Challenges Joe Biden In Ohio Restaurant
Former NHGOP spokesman Ryan Williams encountered Vice President Joe Biden in Ohio on Wednesday. more
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THURSDAY, MAY 17: PRESIDENTIAL WARFARE. It didn't take long for the negativity on both sides of the presidential campaign to begin in earnest, and New Hampshire (of course) is in the middle of it.
President Barack Obama's campaign fired off the first attack ad of the presidential campaign in five key swing states this week: Ohio, Pennsylvania, Virginia, Iowa and Colorado.
Although the television ad isn't airing here, the Obama campaign on Tuesday organized a news conference in Concord to roll out a 6-minute web video about GST Steel in Kansas City and advertise a new anti-Mitt Romney website, RomneyEconomics.com.
New Hampshire Democratic Party Chairman Raymond Buckley and Democratic National Committeeman and former state Sen. Peter Burling said they were not questioning the private equity industry, but, as Buckley said, “whether those are values we want in our President.”
Burling cited Holson Burnes Group, a photo-album manufacturing firm in Claremont that was shut down after being taken over by the Romney-led Bain Capital.
“With Mitt Romney making his business experience his main qualification for office,” said Burling, “it's totally legitimate for the American people to know about those values and consider them as they cast their votes.”
The campaign also held screenings of the web ad at grassroots events in Franklin, Amherst, Plaistow, Lebanon, Nashua, Windham, Manchester and Madison on Tuesday and Wednesday.
The Obama ad running in the swing states picks up where Newt Gingrich and Rick Perry left off during the presidential nomination battle, depicting Romney and his cohorts at Bain Capital as corporate “vampires” who sucked the lifeblood out of GST, laying off workers and canceling, or greatly reducing, pensions and benefits before shutting the firm's doors.
The Republicans returned fire with their own web video focusing on the national debt and the economy, “Empty Promises: Debt and Deficits.”
It accuses Obama of breaking his pledge “to cut the deficit in half” during his first term in office, while instead racking up “the three highest deficits in history.”
Republican National Committee Chairman Reince Priebus had a piece blasting Obama on the same topic on the New Hampshire Union Leader opinion page on Tuesday.
Then, on Wednesday, former Sen. John E. Sununu surfaced for the first time in this presidential election, joining with state Senate Majority Leader Jeb Bradley, a former congressman, to hammer the same theme.
They noted that in 2008, Obama said adding $4 trillion to the national deficit was irresponsible and unpatriotic, but, Sununu said, “he's gone beyond that in a much shorter period of time” by adding more than $5 trillion to the deficit.
“A $2.6-trillion health-care takeover whose cost keeps going up,” noted Sununu. “And that isn't campaign rhetoric. It's the White House and Congressional Budget Office budget analysis.”
He said Obama has been “pandering to his political base” by rejecting “tough but fair” deficit reduction deals.
Sununu said Romney will “reduce the size of government” and “won't ignore problems and won't burden future generations with more debt.”
Bradley said, “We are the brink of an ever-cascading set of problems if we don't turn things around.”
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KERRY FOR HASSAN. Democratic candidate for governor Maggie Hassan is picking up high-powered support this week.
Massachusetts U.S. Sen. John Kerry is the special guest at a fundraiser for Hassan at an undisclosed location in Boston Friday morning.
Tickets for the breakfast reception range from $250 to $2,500.
Hassan is in a party primary against another former state senator, Jackie Cilley.
It's unusual for a sitting senator to take sides in a major party primary in another state. But in this case, Hassan has been a longtime supporter of Kerry, especially during his 2004 run for President.
Another Massachusetts Democrat, U.S. Rep. Mike Capuano, is the scheduled guest speaker at the Manchester City Democratic Committee's annual Flag Day Dinner honoring former state Sen. and Manchester alderman Betsi DeVries June 11 at the Puritan Backroom.
By the way, Capuano's nephew, Chris Evans, is currently starring in “The Avengers” movie as Captain America.
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JOE LOVES IT HERE. Vice President Joe Biden's visits to New Hampshire are becoming almost monthly events.
The Granite Status has learned that Biden will make his fifth visit to the state in the past six months on Tuesday.
An Obama campaign official confirmed that Biden will appear at a “political event,” as opposed to an official, taxpayer-funded event, in Keene.
Biden last visited the state April 12 promoting what the Obama administration calls the “Buffet Rule” to ensure that the wealthy do not pay lower taxes than the middle class. He also visited in November, January and February.
On Wednesday, Maryland Gov. Martin O'Malley will be the keynote speaker at the party's 2012 state convention, state Democratic Chair Buckley said.
The event is scheduled for June 2 at Memorial High School in Manchester.
As chairman of the Democratic Governors Association, O'Malley will be in the state “to underscore the commitment that the DGA has to continue the great Democratic leadership New Hampshire has enjoyed with governors John Lynch and Jeanne Shaheen.”
O'Malley is a rising star in national Democratic politics and is in the mix with those mentioned as potential presidential candidates in 2016. Buckley said the convention will hear from Shaheen, honor Lynch for his eight years as governor and also hear from candidates for Congress and governor.
The party will also pass its platform, adopt resolutions and hold workshops.
Buckley said about 295 people have signed up so far.
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“BROKEN PROMISES” CHARGED. The nonprofit self-described issues advocacy group Crossroads Grassroots Policy Strategies (GPS), will begin television advertising today in New Hampshire.
The group, co-founded by Karl Rove, the former senior advisor to former President George W. Bush, plans to spend $535,000 on an ad accusing President Barack Obama of “broken promises” on issues from taxes to the deficit to home foreclosures to key aspects of his health care plan.
The New Hampshire ad is part of a $25 million “issue advocacy initiative over the next four weeks in 10 states,” Crossroads GPS announced Wednesday.
It said it hopes to “frame the national debate on jobs, the economy, ObamaCare and government debt.”
The new ad, entitled “Obama's Promise,” is described in the Crossroads announcement as “the first phase of the initiative” and is tied to a new program it calls the “New Majority Agenda,” which is detailed at www.newmajorityagenda.org.
Crossroads said that in addition to New Hampshire, the initial television buy includes network affiliates in Colorado, Florida, Iowa, Michigan, North Carolina, Nevada, Ohio, Pennsylvania and Virginia. They are all swing states in the November election.
Crossroads GPS president Steven Law said, “President Obama made commitments on core issues to the American people, and this ad holds him to account.”
The Democratic National Committee returned fire at what it called “Karl Rove's latest deceptive ad.
“President Obama has proposed a plan to reduce our deficit by $4 trillion over the next decade while creating an economy built to last through investments in education, infrastructure, and research,” the DNC said. “As promised, the President has cut taxes for every working American and cut taxes for small business 18 times, bringing federal taxes for middle-class households near historic lows.”
The DNC said that Romney, as Massachusetts governor, “increased state spending by 6.5 percent each year and increased Massachusetts long-term debt by 16 percent in just four years, leaving it with the largest per-capita debt of any state in the nation.”
Crossroads GPS works in conjunction with the pro-Republican Super PAC American Crossroads and was viewed as having played a major role in helping Republicans gain big victories nationally in the 2010 elections.
According to the nonpartisan Center for Responsive Politics, American Crossroads is a Super PAC that has raised about $28 million in the current cycle.
While American Crossroads must disclose its donors, Crossroads GPS, as a 501 (c)(4) nonprofit, does not.
Crossroads GPS's tax forms for 2010 and 2011 showed it raised about $77 million.
Crossroads GPS cannot expressly advocate for or against the election of a candidate, but it can air ads praising or complaining about a candidate's position and encouraging viewers to call the candidate.
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RENEWED CALL; RENEWED CRITICISM. Crossroad GPS's New Hampshire advertising plans comes just a few days after Democratic former U.S. Rep. Carol Shea-Porter last Friday called on Republican Rep. Frank Guinta to join her in calling on Super PACs not to advertise in their race for the 1st District U.S. House seat.
Guinta rejected the call and the National Republican Congressional Committee followed up with criticism.
But Shea-Porter earlier this week tried again.
“Last week, I asked my political opponent for the NH-01 seat, Congressman Frank Guinta, to join with me to try to reduce Super PAC advertising in the 2012 election. His campaign responded by name-calling and falsehoods.
“New Hampshire voters don't want to hear false accusations and name-calling,” Shea-Porter said. “They just want Super PACs to stop all their negative advertising and let New Hampshire voters decide for themselves.”
Shea-Porter said she and Guinta “should work together to try to reduce the constant barrage of ads that offend NH-01 voters and try to reduce outside influence by Super PACs.”
The NRCC called Shea-Porter hypocritical for focusing her call only on advertising by Super PACS and not negative grassroots activities.
“Shea-Porter's endorsement of certain activities that the radical activist Super PAC CREDO is already conducting on her behalf shows that her rhetoric and promises are nothing more than empty words,” the NRCC said.
The liberal Super PAC CREDO has set up shop in New Hampshire and has promised to organize against Guinta.
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STATE SENATE DEMOCRATIC ACTION. The Democrats continue to organize a state Senate slate.
We understand that any time now, perhaps as soon as today, former Executive Councilor and state Sen. Beverly Hollingworth will announce she is a candidate for the District 24 seat against Republican incumbent Nancy Stiles.
Meanwhile, Senate Democratic Leader Sylvia Larsen on Monday formally announced her candidacy for a ninth term from Concord-based District 15, while Lee Nyquist of New Boston made it official on Tuesday.
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ANDREW WON'T RUN. Conservative activist and entrepreneur Andrew Hemingway will not run for Congress this year.
After considering running against U.S. Rep. Charlie Bass in a primary, Hemingway, a Bristol native and the former state presidential primary campaign manager for Newt Gingrich, will instead run a new political action committee aimed at electing a Republican governor.
The new PAC will not take sides in the GOP gubernatorial primary between Kevin Smith and Ovide Lamontagne and will focus its pre-primary efforts on Democrats.
The PAC's formation will be announced next week, a source directly involved confirmed.
“A New Hampshire Republican can, will, and must secure the corner office,” the source said.
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AFP HITS BRAGDON. Americans for Prosperity-New Hampshire plans to play a role in the state elections this year, too, and it's beginning its mail program with a knock on state Senate President Peter Bragdon.
Arriving in mailboxes in his newly re-drawn state Senate district are what AFP calls “political disconnect notices” hitting Bragdon's support for keeping New Hampshire in the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI) program.
“Senator Peter Bragdon wants to keep NH ratepayers trapped in this job- and economy-destroying scheme that sends NH jobs to China and India and other states that are not part of this job-killing scheme,” the mailer says.
AFP-NH president Corey Lewandowski said he will deliver the tear-off sections of the mailers asking that New Hampshire exit RGGI to Bragdon later in the year.
Although as an issues advocacy group, AFP cannot advocate the election or defeat of any candidate, Lewandowki said, “We will continue to play a very active role in state Senate districts where we believe senators should be voting the will of their constituents.”
John DiStaso is senior political reporter of the New Hampshire Union Leader and New Hampshire Sunday News. Follow him on Twitter: @jdistaso.
