Tag: john lynch

Ovide Lamontagne enters NH-GOV (R) primary.

Not particularly surprising – it’s been speculated on for some time – but today Ovide Lamontagne made it official: he’ll be running to replace retreating Governor John Lynch (D).

This morning, at the annual Bedford GOP breakfast at the Manchester Country Club, Lamontagne, with his wife, Bettie, at his side, announced his intent to once again run for governor in front of hundreds of local Republicans, including [Senator Kelly] Ayotte.

“I certainly got to know Ovide, we had many debates during our primary, and I have respect for him and think he’ll be a strong candidate for governor,” said Ayotte. “With Gov. (John) Lynch retiring, this is an opportunity to go forward and preserve the New Hampshire advantage. Ovide is a lifelong resident of this state. He cares deeply about the people of New Hampshire.”

Continue reading Ovide Lamontagne enters NH-GOV (R) primary.

Gov. John Lynch (D, NH) cuts and runs.

New Hampshire has two-year terms for governor, so Lynch was up for a fifth term in 2012; but he’s decided not to run.  Apparently being Governor of New Hampshire isn’t as much fun when the new, Republican-controlled legislature makes you spend less money to balance the budget and won’t let you trample all over a basic civil right* like self-defense (via @Lash3).  There’s also right-to-work reform looming, so really, eight years is enough, right?

The field was already pretty wide-open, by the way – despite the fact that Lynch was supposedly popular.  Then again, that’s such a subjective thing these days.  Particularly if you’re a Democrat with President Obama threatening to drag  down your ticket next year.  Not that I’m suggesting that this is the case in New Hampshire, of course.

Yet.

Moe Lane (crosspost)

*More here.

NH-GOV: Stephen (R) now within MoE.

Rasmussen shows a fairly unexpected primary bounce in NH for GOP gubernatorial candidate John Stephen: the race has gone from 50/39 Lynch/Stephen to 48/46 Lynch/Stephen.  Polling for this race has been somewhat sparse, but it should be noted that there has been notable movement towards in both the Rasmussen and PPP polls.  With the NH-SEN and NH-02 (no good recent polling on NH-01) races showing a definite break towards the GOP, Lynch may have to start worrying.

And so should national Democrats: it will not fit their narrative if the New Hampshire GOP runs the table next Election Night, and if this poll bears up, that’s now a genuine threat.  In other words, rumors of the extinction of the New England Republican may have ended up being a bit premature…

Moe Lane

Crossposted to RedState.