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Update: Now with the latest from the SOS. Joe Kelly Levasseur to take on Senator Lou. Tom Eaton hopes 3rd time is the charm in D10. Three way Battle Royal to be the Republican candidate from D4. Still no Republican candidates for 21 & 15, Still no Democratic candidates for 4 & 7. Friday is the last day to file.
The news of the retirement of Sens. Sgambatti and Janeway is sad. They were a big part of the budding progressivism in the Senate and they will be missed. They really fit the mold of citizen legislators and in my mind really helped to bring "the real world" to Senate Chamber. Thank you for your service.
Dems currently have 3 2 seats without candidates and the Republicans have 6. The biggest empty space for Dems is D24. Pindell as be hinting that Martha Fuller-Clark may be up for a White House appointment. I'd hate to see her go, but it is a strong D district so we should be able to hold it should she move on to bigger things. Update: Burt says she is in so I've updated the spreadsheet.
This info is from: Harrell Kirstein and the "must see TV" at NH SOS
Sorted by strength of Dem Favored PVI according to the work done by wtucker. Incumbents in bold, no bold = open seat.
The Nashua Telegraph reports today that the unemployment rate in New Hampshire fell for the second straight month, moving from 7% to 6.7%.
This was New Hampshire's second largest month-to-month improvement since the recession officially ended in July 2009. The state added 1,360 jobs in April, bringing the total number of employed to 696,980.
The national trend is still slightly down; our Democratic majorities in the State House, State Senate, and Governor Lynch are showing the strength of leadership in these uncertain times.
The alternative to that leadership is more of teh crazy that's about posturing, not solutions.
An RNC national committee member from Indiana, Jim Bopp and nine others, have proposed a resolution to not allow the national party to send money to candidates who do not meet eight of the ten party principles.
Those principles include opposing abortion rights, opposing same-sex marriage, opposing the stimulus package and cap and trade bills and supporting surges in Iraq and Afghanistan and gun rights, among others.
If the resolution passes, it may make things even more difficult for Kelly Ayotte in her quest for the GOP US Senate nomination and for the seat itself.
Bopp may get a vote on the floor of the RNC meeting this Jan. in Hawaii, or RNC chair Michael Steele may succeed in once again blocking a measure that could prove embarrassing. But candidates, and the party's professional class, uniformally call the resolution a bad idea.
John Nichols, in his blog at The Nation, has the exact wording of the resolution, plus compares the record of Ronald Reagan against it. Reagan comes up a loser.
Here is a partial list:
1) Deficit spending soared during Reagan's presidency. Strike one.
(5) Reagan signed the Immigration Reform and Control Act of 1986, which granted amnesty to most undocumented workers who could prove they had been in the country continuously for the previous five years. After he finished his presidency, Reagan continues to speak out forcefully for immigration rights. Strike five.
9) Shortly after his inauguration as governor of California, Reagan signed into law the most liberal abortion statute of its day". Strike nine.
So if Bopp and other extremists have their way, even Ronald Reagan would be unacceptable, maybe even be "Scozzafavaed".
Scala sees parallels between this GOP Senate primary and the one in 2002.
The Sununu vs. Smith race is especially instructive. Sununu, the challenger to the incumbent, did not run as a moderate insurgent. If anything, the contrast was one of tone and personality, between the coolly cerebral Sununu and the flamboyant, Buchananesque Smith (who quit the Republican Party and ran for president before returning to the GOP).
Ayotte and Lamontagne are both running to the right to win the primary. Then what?
Now to the general. Ambinder implies that only a Susan Collins Republican can now win a general election in New Hampshire. But in the last two election cycles, moderate Republicans (Congressmen Charlie Bass and Jeb Bradley) and conservative Republicans (Sununu) alike lost here. Arguably, no one with an (R) next to his name could win a statewide election in New Hampshire the last two cycles. It doesn't necessarily follow that a conservative Republican cannot win a general election in New Hampshire in the new Obama era, when economic and fiscal issues appear to be dominant once again.
I guess Scala is holding to the meme that Democrats won the last two cycles because of the war and Bush fatigue. I'm not so sure. Also, I don't think Bass and Bradley, who voted with W. Bush most, if not all the time, can be considered moderate.
Also, I hope the parallels end at the primary election. We don't need any more illegal actions, such as phone jamming, leading to lawsuits, jail time and whatnot.
I don't think it was particularly unexpected, but the marriage equality amendment demanded by Governor Lynch passed the Senate Judiciary Committee by a 3-2 vote, presumably along party lines. This should come to the full Senate tomorrow. My understanding is that it will then go to the House for a vote, then go through the enrollment process, which may be finished as early as Friday, or may take until next week to start his five-day clock.
Shhhh.... Can you hear it? If you listen hard enough you can hear the sound of the most open and participatory communication medium yet invented crashing headlong into one of the smallest Legislative bodies in the world.
Yesterday we were live blogging proceedings from the NH Senate. Go back and read that again to let it sink in.
While the topic at hand (HB436) was the "primary" watershed event, I think another tipping point was reached yesterday as well: From this point forward elected officials at the state level will need to be a part of the online conversation if they are to be successful in promoting themselves and their agenda.
Walt Disney is credited with saying "Change is inevitable, growth is optional". At times it seems party insiders and our elected officials yearn for the time when it took days for the news travel from Concord to the corners of the state and lament the fact that the citizenry can organize and react in real time. "Don't worry your pretty little heads about that ITL committee vote, we've got it under control" Well, those days are past, and the bell can not be unrung.
I know it is not easy. I know how busy and long the days are for our Citizen Legislators and how intimidating it can be to communicate in a medium that can be instantly sent around the world. But if you regularly engage in dialog, people will come to know and trust you in a whole new way. That trust, used wisely, can extend your leverage and ability to promote a Democratic Agenda. The 2,500 visitors to Blue Hampshire this week are exactly the kind of "Influentials" you want on your side in a fight.
Leaders that embrace and work to understand the velocity and connectedness of the online world will reap it's rewards, those who do not will slowly be left behind.
Today is a great day to live in New Hampshire because our Senate Democrats, by a 13 to 11 vote, did us all proud by moving marriage equality one step closer to becoming the law of our land.
They deserve our congratulations and our support moving forward for their courageous stand in supporting HB 436.
It does bear mentioning, however, that a few of us in the progressive and Democratic community may have gone overboard in our criticisms of the senators. Criticism is constructive only when that criticism is earned. Overall, sharing our opinions in real time is a wonderful exercise in Democratic dialogue, but I think we should use today's historic example to consider keeping some of our more intemperate comments regarding political speculation to ourselves. Unlike New York or California, New Hampshire is a small state where everything gets passed along.
I admit that while some of my own comments as a party leader, public and private, may have caused some personal pain to one or more of them, their actions today overshadowed our words, and for that, I thank the N.H. Senate Democrats for passing this historic marriage equality legislation.
The Senate has just passed medical marijuana by 14-10. I don't know if it was a party-line vote, but considering that the party line would be 14-10, it seems quite likely. If that was the case, then this would appear to be the Union Leader choosing to downplay the Democratic role in passing something the U-L had itself advocated for in an editorial just a few days ago.
Sadly, the transgender rights bill was shot down 24-0 after a successful right-wing smear campaign by the Potty Of No.
What an incredible week! Concord was rockin' as the winds of change blew through the capitol.
No matter which side of the political aisle you call home, or if your place of comfort is to straddle the aisle, this most recent session of the New Hampshire House of Representatives - the people's legislature - should have left you exhilarated.
Granted, no one is totally satisfied with the legislation passed. Count me as displeased with several outcomes. But I can live with that. And so can you.
In a year with a POTUS race and three federal level congressional races it's hard for state level candidates to get any attention.
Here in D10 Tom Eaton is running a fairly negative campaign (Radio/Mail) against Senator Molly Kelly. He seems seems to be pinning his chances on the demise of "Straight Ticket" voting and short term memory loss amongst the electorate.
A debate between Senator Kelly and Tom Eaton is being rebroadcast via Cheshire TV Channel 8 and their web stream at the following times:
While I think it may be difficult for some of us focus on NH issues until the Dem Pres Nom is known, yesterdays announcement regarding The potential of Bob Clegg running for Hodes seat was a great reminder that things are going to get interesting around here. All of our NH (Sen, Rep, Gov, E-Council) seats will be once again up for grabs. (The two year cycle would be good diary for another day.)
What are people hearing about possible challenges out there? Any Dem Primaries (other then US Sen?).
it looks like we will not know more for sure until June 13th (deadline to file for Primary)... but anyone who is taking a serious run is working towards that goal now.
I've been curious for some time about the geographic spread of we hampsters. Please use the Poll below the fold to proclaim your Senate District. Don't know? For shame, this tool will help you out.
Open thread for anything else on your mind today (DOW Down ~180 (-1480 YTD) at noon).
Rather than bemoan the lack of "local" content I thought I should create some. I decided to take a look at some of the 2006 election numbers behind our NH Senate and see if I could make some 2008 predictions. I'm no political scientist, but by my calculations 75% of the most vulnerable seats in the 2008 election belong to the Republicans. Find out whom after the jump.
My name is Molly Kelly. I am the State Senator from District 10 in New Hampshire representing the southwestern part of the state. I was recently appointed to the Joint Legislative Task Force on Adequacy, an eight member panel of House and Senate members. We are traveling around the state seeking public input before presenting recommendations to the Legislature on how to define an adequate education.
The New Hampshire Supreme Court has directed the Legislature to define "adequate education" by July 1, 2007. The Court obligated the Legislature to give specific substantive content to the program it deems necessary to provide that "education" satisfies the requirements of Part II, Article 83 of the New Hampshire Constitution.
So far, the Joint Special Task Force has held four forums in various parts of the state, with the final fifth forum to be held in Claremont tomorrow, March 12 from 6:30 p.m. to 8 p.m. at Maple Avenue Elementary School, 210 Maple Avenue. If you are able to attend that forum, please come and share your thoughts with us.
In addition to the comments received at the forums, we are encouraging people to send written remarks to adequacy@leg.state.nh.us. For who were unable to travel to the forums or who cannot attend the Claremont forum, New Hampshire Public Television videotaped each of the forums around that state and they are available on its website at www.nhptv.org/outlook via streaming video.
Because there was not a forum in Cheshire County (the forum sites were determined before my appointment to the Task Force), I am making a special effort to seek input from my constituents. I have attended various coffees through my district in an effort to seek input from a diverse group of citizens. I have met with various groups including, parents, educators, health care providers, and business people. I also have encouraged constituents to contact me directly by email at molly.kelly@leg.state.nh.us.
I know that you have had some good discussion of the issue on Blue Hampshire and I have read all the past diaries and comments that I can.
I will be online for about an hour to read your comments and thoughts on the definition of adequacy (I will try to check in later on the thread as well). Remember this is my first time blogging and I may not be as quick as all of you are! I'd be happy to answer any questions about the process moving forward as well.
