December 2008 Archives

GOP power struggle starts
'Level playing field' sought

A power struggle that will determine the future leadership of the Republican Party has broken into the open as dissatisfied Republican leaders pushed for a meeting early next month that they hope will be the first step toward ending Washington-based control of the party.

In a move seen as a backlash against years of control of the Republican National Committee (RNC) by allies of President Bush and their District-based consulting firms, several senior members of the party's governing body are working to call an extra meeting to hear from all candidates for national chairman three weeks before the election for the post is scheduled.

The effort is seen by party insiders as an attempt to allow all six candidates for chairman to have an equal shot at the job, rather than giving an edge to the incumbent chairman, Robert M. "Mike" Duncan.

The special session would assemble all 168 members of the RNC on Jan. 6, the same day the Conservative Steering Committee, a self-designated "conservative" rump group of about 80 RNC members, has scheduled its own meeting with the six national-chairman candidates as well as a straw poll, ostensibly to measure which candidate has the most conservative support.

If only the rump group met Jan. 6, it would mean that most RNC members would not have the opportunity to question the six candidates together, in person, until three weeks later, just before the members vote on a new chairman.

Some conservative RNC members suspect that the Conservative Steering Committee is not particularly conservative and that allies of Mr. Duncan are using the steering panel meeting to advance his re-election bid.

"What I am after is a level playing field for all candidates and a chance for members to address their concerns," North Dakota Republican Party Chairman Gary Emineth told The Washington Times.

Mr. Emineth, abetted by RNC members Shawn Steel of California and Curly Haugland of North Dakota, began telephoning and e-mailing other RNC members Monday.

Mr. Emineth's goal is to solicit enough petitions from RNC members to require Mr. Duncan to call the special meeting of the full committee for the morning of Jan. 6, leaving the steering committee to hold its meeting in the afternoon.

Mr. Duncan, who is seeking a second term as national chairman, was chosen two years ago by Karl Rove, who was then White House chief political strategist.

The full Republican State Committee will meet on Saturday, January 17, at the new Bedford High School.  Doors open at 9:00 a.m. and the gavel will come down at 10:00 a.m.  Agenda items include electing our officers, including the new chairman.  We will likely have some presentations as well.  Members of the state committee - the nearly 500 people elected at 14 caucuses around the state in recent weeks - will receive a formal notice of the meeting via regular mail shortly, but for now you should save the date.
 
Please note that all New Hampshire Republicans will be welcome to attend the meeting as guests of the committee.
 
The new Bedford High School is located at 47B Nashua Road.  From the Intersection of Route 114 and Route 101 in Bedford, follow Route 101 West to the blinking yellow light. Turn left onto Nashua Road. Bedford High School will be approximately 1/4 mile on your right.
 

Governor Sununu appeared on NHPR's The Exchange with Laura Knoy this week.  You can listen to the show anytime at http://www.nhpr.org/node/19800
 
Also, both Governor Sununu and I are the guests on WMUR Channel 9's Close Up this Sunday, December 28, at 10:00 a.m.  

- Fergus

Just a couple items to bring to your attention before we all shift into holiday mode for a bit.  My family is grateful to have power/heat/water back after five days without, and we are mindful that many New Hampshire families are still without services as we head into Christmas.  A big thank you to the line crews and others who are working so hard to restore power and provide for those without.
 
WON'T YOU BE MY FRIEND?  As I prepare to leave the chairmanship in a couple weeks, I hope to stay in touch with many of you via Facebook.  If you are a user, please become one of my friends!
 
Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays,
 
Fergus Cullen
Chairman, New Hampshire Republicans
fergus@nhgop.org

Gov. Sununu: Democrats Have Mismanaged the State
The following op/ed by Gov. Sununu ran in the Union Leader on December 14:

The Democrats have controlled the New Hampshire governor's office for 10 of the last 12 years and will control it for the next two. They will also control the New Hampshire Senate and House for two more years.
 
Last week, the National Conference of State Legislatures issued its report on state finances. The only state with a deficit greater than 15 percent of its general fund budget was New Hampshire. We had the worst deficit of any of the 50 states (www.ncsl.org/summit/budgetmap.htm).

And last May, the Pew Center on the States issued its fourth report on the overall performance of the states (www.pewcenteronthestates.org/uploadedFiles/Overall%20Performance.pdf).
 
In its three previous studies, the Pew Center reported that over the last decade with Democratic governors in control, New Hampshire's ranking on its performance, which had been rated good in the 1990s, was steadily getting worse. Unfortunately, we have hit rock bottom. New Hampshire now ranks 50th in its overall performance of state government.
 
This is all the more disturbing because this deterioration of service is taking place while there has been an uncontrolled increase in state spending. Last spring, going into the election season, the Democrat-controlled Legislature and Gov. John Lynch passed a budget with a 17 percent increase in spending even though they knew we were facing tough financial times. This spending explosion gave virtually every constituency in the state a big pre-election spending gift. Now that the election is over, the governor is trying to slash away at the deficit monster he created.

These are not the only big problems Democrat control has produced. The state retirement fund has been mismanaged under Democrat leadership for the past decade. It has been the victim of bad policy and under-funding, putting the retirement nest eggs of public employees in jeopardy. It was in serious trouble before this year's meltdown of the financial sector and is now in even worse shape. This is a financial problem for today, and unfortunately it will take years to fully repair. Furthermore, the financial impact of all this on our communities will be devastating.
 
These 10 years of Democrat control are also characterized by a lack of leadership in the school funding issue. Other than the statewide property tax Gov. Jeanne Shaheen gave us, nothing significant has been done to fix the problem. They let it grow from a manageable acorn of an issue into a giant oak of a fiscal crisis.
 
Finally, last year, Gov. Lynch acknowledged that a constitutional amendment was required to return the power over education policy to the Legislature and governor.
Unfortunately, he could not get the Democrat-controlled Senate and House to act responsibly to move a good amendment forward.
 
The basic problem, of course, is that the Democrats have been good at winning elections and terrible at managing the state of New Hampshire. They have used the politically successful formula of taking the pledge to veto a sales or income tax while still promising to increase spending for every voter's favorite program. That something-for-everyone campaign rhetoric makes their promise on taxes hypocritical and dishonest.
 
The pledge is more than just a promise on tax structure. Implicit in the commitment is a promise to keep spending low and state government small and efficient so that broad-based taxes are not needed. The Democrats have broken that implicit component of the promise. A 17 percent increase in spending and a $250 million deficit will eventually change New Hampshire into another Massachusetts.
 
Our state can be managed and run well even in tough times. In the only two years the Republicans have held the governor's office out of the last dozen years, Gov. Craig Benson cut spending and produced an $82 million surplus. Even with that surplus he inherited in 2004, Gov. Lynch has managed to turn it into a huge deficit.
 
These are important issues. They should be discussed on a factual basis. It is amazing that the Democrats seem unwilling to defend their performance with information. Rather, they are trying to hide their record by ranting and distorting what happened in New Hampshire over a quarter of a century ago. They are hoping their misrepresentation and their politics of personal destruction will keep the voters of New Hampshire from knowing that the Democrats are ruining our state.

A Guest Post by Phyllis Woods - first of a few.

Phyllis is a long time Republican activist who is currently New Hampshire's National Committeewoman to the GOP's Republican National Committee as well as the Chair of the Strafford County Republicans.

Unity

There are several things Republicans will need to do to take back our state and win in 2010 and I’d like to address them each in separate submissions.  The first, and most essential, is to unite our party.  While this may seem obvious, it’s harder than it would seem.  Republicans are not used to being in the minority.  The Democrats are very good at voting and walking in lock-step, something that’s important if you want to accomplish anything when you are greatly outnumbered.  Republicans are used to being diversified, thinking for themselves, and following their own agendas.  We cannot afford that luxury any longer.  We can’t afford to lose a single legislator’s vote on important issues and we will all have to pull together in a united effort to achieve any success even if it only means we’re able to stop some of the detrimental initiatives we know will be presented.  But even more important, all of us will need to hang together in order to have any strength and to make progress in the State GOP over the next two years.

Our county caucuses have been held to choose the future members of our state party.  Recently our State Chairman was quoted in the press saying that we shouldn’t say that some Republicans are ‘good ‘ Republicans and other Republicans are ‘bad’ Republicans.  Agreed, however, in another newspaper he is quoted as saying of one of the caucus elections, that a lot of ‘good’ Republicans were thrown off the committee, presumably to be replaced by ‘bad’ Republicans.  What needed to be stressed is that we have turnover in our membership every two years which is a good thing as it brings in new people into the process.  If some ‘good’ Republicans lost their bid for re-election, they were replaced with other ‘good’ Republicans were they not?

It’s time to stop public criticisms, in-fighting, attempts to ‘purify’ the party, public feuds, power struggles, and personality conflicts.  These things need to be addressed behind closed doors where anyone having a disagreement with another Republican will just duke it out and settle their differences and then go out in public totally united in our common cause.

There is opportunity in loss and on the political scene, as with all things in life, only one thing is certain - and that’s change.  We have been laid low but before we can begin to realize the opportunities inherent in these defeats, before we can choose new leadership, craft a new message, plot a new direction, or develop a new strategy, we have to realize we are now the minority party and we have to do one thing immediately…………come together!  We must do this not only for the good of the party but because the future of our state and to some degree the future of our nation depends on it.  The Republican Party is at a crossroads and we, in a unified voice, must address our problems. Divided we will fail, but together we can succeed.  There is strength in unity.  We must all direct our energy, resources, and passion, to the real enemy; all our time, efforts, and attention should be focused, not on our internal differences, but on the Democrats who are in control of our state who, with their liberal entitlement agenda, are fast destroying our New Hampshire advantage.

House group asks Norelli to remove committee chairs
By Brian Lawson, PolitickerNH.com Reporter

The House Republican Alliance has sent a letter to House Speaker Terie Norelli arguing that she should remove two committee chairwomen that are responsible for the budget deficit.

"The state's financial troubles are largely the result of irresponsible and expansive spending initiatives and irresponsible revenue projections promoted by the two past chairs of Finance and Ways and Means, Representatives Marge Smith and Susan Almy, respectively," the [House] Republican Alliance wrote to Norelli on Thursday.

Norelli announced last week that she decided to reappoint Smith to be chair of the Finance Committee, while Almy was reappointed head of the Ways and Means Committee. An email requesting comment from Norelli's office had not be returned as of this posting.

The [House] Republican Alliance also argued that Smith and Almy ignored economic predictions that indicated a downturn in the economy and "instead Representative Smith charged ahead and developed a budget that increased spending by 17.5%, characterizing it as fiscally responsible and transparent."

The letter continued, "Representative Almy consistently promoted revenue estimates that were irresponsibly generous and proved grossly inaccurate, despite warnings from leaders from both parties."

The House Republican Alliance is a caucus of House Republicans dedicated to promoting a fiscally conservative message and includes state Rep. D.J. Bettencourt (R-Salem) and state Rep. Nancy Elliott (R-Merrimack).

The Letter can be seen after the jump.

By Brian Lawson, PolitickerNH.com Reporter

The chairman of the Belknap County Republicans said that the county has begun to become more Democratic, but argued that Republicans can still be competitive in the county.

"You can't argue against the numbers, but I'm not ready to say it's shifted blue. I think our message needs to be articulated better," Frank Tilton told PolitickerNH.com last week in an interview.

After this past election cycle, 12 of the 18 state representative seats will be filled by Republicans. However, in November, President-elect Barack Obama carried the county by 394 votes and U.S. Sen.-elect Jeanne Shaheen (D-Madbury) beat U.S. Sen. John Sununu (R-Waterville Valley) by 282 votes. In 2004, President George W. Bush defeated U.S. Sen. John Kerry (D-Mass.) by 3,840 votes in the county and Sununu beat Shaheen by 3,893 votes in 2002.

Also in November, state Sen. Kathy Sgambati (D-Tilton) won re-election to a second term by 2,046 votes. In 2006, Sgambati defeated incumbent state Sen. Jim Fitzgerald (R-Laconia) by only 733 votes.

Given these trends showing the county slowly shifting towards the Democrats, Tilton said the Belknap County Republicans will spend the next year reaching out to new voters.

"We need to continue to get out the vote, we need to recruit candidates, we need to reach out to new people," Tilton said. "We can't sit around and wait for elections."

Tilton added, "We can't leave it to the Democrats to tell people what Republicans stand for."

Belknap County is located in central New Hampshire and includes Laconia, Tilton and Alton.

From PolitickerNH:

House committee chairs announced:

• Children and Family Law: Chair Mary Stuart Gile (D-Concord), Vice Chair Barbara Richardson (D-Richmond)
• Commerce: Chair Tara Reardon (D-Concord), Vice Chair Ed Butler (D-Harts Location)
• Criminal Justice and Public Safety: Chair Steve Shurtleff (D-Penacook), Vice Chair Laura Pantelakos (D-Portsmouth)
• Education: Chair Emma Rous (D-Durham), Vice Chair Judy Reever (D-Laconia)
• Election Law: Chair Jane Clemons (D-Nashua), Vice Chair David Pierce (D-Etna)
• Environment and Agriculture: Chair Tara Sad (D-Walpole), Vice Chair Jane Beaulieu (D-Manchester)
• Executive Departments and Administration: Chair Anne-Marie Irwin (D-Peterborough), Vice Chair Laurie Harding (D-Lebanon)
• Finance: Chair Marjorie Smith (D-Durham), Vice Chair Sharon Nordgren (D-Hanover)
• Fish and Game: Chair Dennis Abbott (D-Newmarket), Vice Chair Margaret Porter (D-Epsom)
• Health, Human Services and Elderly Affairs: Chair Cindy Rosenwald (D-Nashua), Vice Chair Tom Donovan (D-Claremont)
• Judiciary: Chair David Cote (D-Nashua), Vice Chair Janet Wall (D-Madbury)
• Labor, Industrial and Rehabilitative Services: Chair Jeff Goley (D-Manchester), Vice Chair Sally Kelly (D-Chichester)
• Legislative Administration: Chair Lucy Weber (D-Walpole), Vice Chair Ricia McMahon (D-North Sutton)
• Local and Regulated Revenues: Chair Mary Beth Walz (D-Bow), Vice Chair Kathleen Taylor (D-Franconia)
• Municipal and County Government: Chair Mary Cooney (D-Plymouth), Vice Chair Ray Gagnon (D-Claremont)
• Public Works and Highways: Chair Candace Bouchard (D-Concord), Vice Chair David Campbell (D-Nashua)
• Resources, Recreation and Development: Chair Judith Spang (D-Durham), Vice Chair Frank Tupper (D-Canterbury)
• Rules: Chair Terie Norelli (D-Portsmouth), Vice Chair Mary Jane Wallner (D-Concord)
• Science, Technology and Energy: Chair Naida Kaen (D-Lee), Vice Chair Suzanne Harvey (D-Nashua)
• State-Federal Relations and Veterans Affairs: Chair Mike Rollo (D-Rollinsford), Vice Chair Patrick Garrity (D-Manchester)
• Transportation: Chair Robert Williams (D-Concord), Vice Chair Jennifer Brown (D-Dover)
• Ways and Means: Chair Susan Almy (D-Lebanon), Vice Chair Bill Hatch (D-Gorham)

So much for any bipartisanship sharing, eh?  Elections have consequences.

A message from the Republican Leader.....

I would like to welcome you all back for the 2009-2010 legislative session! A special welcome goes out to our freshmen legislators who will be joining us on the floor of the House for the first time. You will find the legislature to be an exciting and rewarding place to work and the friendships that you make on both sides of the aisle will stay with you for the rest of your life. I would also like to welcome back our successful incumbents as well as those of you who have served the House in the past but for various reasons took some time off from your legislative duties. Your experience as legislators will be of great value to our cause.

As a result of the November election, we have 176 members in the Republican Caucus this session, including 106 incumbents, 22 who have served the House in previous years and 48 freshmen. I would ask that our veteran legislators take time to work with and mentor the freshmen on their committee so that they may be brought up to speed on the legislative process as soon as possible.

I know that we all spent much of the summer working on getting reelected but now that election season is over it is time to focus on the coming biennium. There is no question that we face difficult times over the next two years in the legislature and in the State of New Hampshire. Fortunately we are returning as a larger minority than we had in the previous session and, because of this fact, I believe strongly that if we stick together on our core Republican beliefs of lower taxes, reduced spending and smaller government, we will win some of the battles that we lost over the past two years. With 176 members all working together, we have an opportunity to accomplish some of our goals this session. There is no question that the Democrats have put our state in a precarious position financially and it will be up to us to work together on behalf of the New Hampshire taxpayer to prevent the deficit from growing even larger. I look forward to working with you all in the coming months. I also want you to know that the doors to the Republican Office are always open and our staff is always available to assist you with any issue.

Earlier this month I announced my leadership team for the coming two years and a press release was sent out to our caucus members as well as to the media outlets throughout the state. In selecting this team I attempted to be all- inclusive by making sure that every segment of the Republican Party was represented. I believe that our leadership team is well balanced both philosophically as well as geographically. Combined, the Republican leadership team brings over 125 years of legislative experience to the table. I know that they are all looking forward to working with you toward a successful legislative session.

Check out the Republican Office website at: nhousegop.com

Legislative Aides

• Jim Rivers     271-6277
• Paul Smith     271-3665

From RedState - a warning that the campaign has not stopped.  The 13 million email addresses that were accumulated during the campaign will continue to be used - and not for our issues.  The "community organizer" has put an organization that will be working to not just shift public opinion, but to shape it before we know it.  And not just at the national level.  As you read this, there are already paid staffers working cross-purposes to our interests:

If there’s one thing most Americans agree on, it’s that presidential campaigns just aren’t long enough! If you’re one of the millions who agree, you’ll be thrilled to hear that the Obama campaign didn’t end on election day, and won’t end with the inaugural. Instead, the president-elect has decided to maintain a ‘permanent grassroots movement:’

OFA 2.0, which is the initiative’s working title (adapted from Obama for America, the campaign committee), is still taking form: Funding is undecided, specifics are scarce and focus will be shaped in part by this weekend’s house parties.

“No structural decisions have been made… it is an open dialogue,” said campaign spokesman Ben LaBolt. “The campaign has assembled a team of organizers from battleground states to work with our volunteers and allies on the next steps for the organization.”

The idea, apparently, is to provide paid support for communities organizing not just around Obama’s legislative agenda but also around state and local initiatives. Its vision is no less than a “national, grassroots-driven renewal of civic engagement,” according to an account that a California Obama organizer posted to his blog…

“President-elect Obama was clear throughout the campaign that elected officials in Washington alone aren’t going to bring change, and whether it’s by working to expand the Democratic majority or building grassroots support for the administration’s agenda, the power to bring the change we need lies in the hands of Americans who are engaging their communities.”

At the very least, this ought to send a signal to Republicans that they can’t sit back and wait for disenchantment with Obama to slow his agenda and bring voters back to the GOP. Obama’s shock troops will certainly be putting pressure on Senate moderates for example, to enact controversial elements of Obama’s agenda. Conservatives will need to get engaged and stay engaged if they hope to affect the debate.

What is our response?

We were graced with a special speaker, former Governor John H. Sununu.  Video of the meeting can be seen by clicking on the Video guy below!

Last night, the Belknap County Republicans also voted on the 18 people that will be part of the NH State Republican Committee for the next two years (the next meeting of the State Committee will be January 31, 2009 at Bow High School).  The 23 people that were nominated were:

Nominated in November

    George Roberts
    Steve Nadeau
    Frank Tilton
    Bill Tobin
    Skip Murphy
    Doug Lambert
    Tom Brown
    Don Flanders
    Bob Holbrook
    Helen Holbrook
    Elaine Swinford
    Steve Costa
    Laurie Boyce
    Alan Glassman
    Jan Glassman
    Carl Johnson

Nominated last night:

    Fran Wendelboe
    Jim Fitzgerald
    Larry Scott
    Tim Lang
    Alida Milham
    Dennis Fields

The top 18 vote winners were:

    George Roberts
    Steve Nadeau
    Frank Tilton
    Bill Tobin
    Tom Brown
    Don Flanders
    Carl Johnson
    Bob Holbrook
    Helen Holbrook
    Elaine Swinford
    Laurie Boyce
    Alan Glassman
    Jan Glassman
    Greg Knytych
    Fran Wendelboe
    Larry Scott
    Alida Milham
    Dennis Fields

Alternates: Jim Fitzgerald and Skip Murphy

The Nominating Committee, as appointed by Frank Tilton for next month's election of the Belknap County Republican Officers will be Helen Holbrook, Don Flanders, and George Roberts. 

As requested by Frank Tilton - just click here for the email address

The Republican Party fell asleep at the wheel.  While it coasted on its laurels, as it lived on its past history and glory, the Democrats now have more members than the Republicans. 

Changes will have to come to the Party - the question will it be from within the Party or externally by the public.


From PolitickerNH:

Updated: Welcome to ‘Blue Hampshire,’ Dems claim
By Brian Lawson, PolitickerNH.com Reporter

The New Hampshire Democratic Party said that unofficial voter registration numbers show that they now have more registered voters than the Republicans.

According to the New Hampshire Democrats, there are now 2,908 more registered Democrats than Republicans. Registration numbers from the election show that there are 280,968 Democratic voters in New Hampshire compared to 278,060 registered Republicans. However, undeclared voters still outnumber both parties with 393,899 voters. The Secretary of State office is set to make the numbers official later today.

New Hampshire Democratic Party Chairman Ray Buckley said that the numbers reflect a trend that the once traditional Republican state is now shifting into the Democratic column. Buckley also predicted that the Democrats will outnumber undeclared voters within seven years.

"Numbers indicate that voters are joining the Democratic Party in New Hampshire by a two to one margin over undeclared and a three to one margin over the Republicans - making the Democrats the fastest growing of the three. If these trends continue at the current rate, Democrats will outnumber undeclared voters within seven years," a Democratic press release stated.

On a conference call with reporters, Buckley and DNC members Kathy Sullivan and Peter Burling said that the numbers show Granite Staters are looking to Democrats to solve problems facing the state.

"The Democratic majority, which we now see in New Hampshire, has allowed Governor Lynch and the Democratic majorities in the House and Senate to make real progress after so many years of no progress on a wide range of issues," Burling told reporters.

Sullivan also joked, "I am proud to say that I am now a member of the majority party of New Hampshire."

Sullivan and Burling also credited Gov. John Lynch (D-Hopkinton) and former Gov., now U.S. Sen.-elect, Jeanne Shaheen (D-Madbury) with demonstrating that Democrats can effectively lead the state.

Update: “News that Democrats have overtaken Republicans in voter registration should be a wake up call for all Republicans, especially those who are bad at math,” Fergus Cullen, chairman of the New Hampshire Republican Party, said in a statement.“In order to win elections, Republicans need to broaden our message to include a broader set of issues.  We need to talk about education, health care, and conservation, issues that are a higher priority to the independent voters who decide elections in our state.  We can’t just be talking about taxes and social issues that appeal mostly to our base.”

In what seems to be part of the changing of the guard at the GOP, the NH GOP December Newsletter had this news:

As we downsize after the elections, two of our staff members are moving on to new adventures.  Dean of the staff Pete Flynn, our Finance Director since 2007, and Political Director Tom DeRosa both served the party very capably and will be missed.

Meanwhile, the news from the Democrats is a bit more positive:

In addition to a new executive director, the New Hampshire Democratic Party has hired a field director and an office manager. A party newsletter says that Ryan Mahoney will be the party's field director and Alexis Chininis will be the office manager. Mahoney was the deputy director of the House Democratic Caucus during the 2008 general election and Chininis was the executive director of the Manchester city Democrats. Chininis is also a state representative from Manchester.

From the December Newsletter of the NH GOP:

Dear New Hampshire Republican:
 
In the weeks since the election, I have had an ongoing positive and collaborative discussion with former Governor John H. Sununu about the future of the New Hampshire Republican Party and what role Governor Sununu might play as we work to continue the process of rebuilding and strengthening the Party.
 
Governor Sununu has decided that he wants to apply his considerable experience, talent, and intellect to the job of state party chairman.  I have decided to step aside when my term ends in January and support his candidacy for this position.

I have enjoyed serving as chairman, and am proud of the progress the Party has made over the past two years.  I was prepared to continue in the position for another two years, and after consulting with many party leaders and activists in the weeks since the election, it was apparent that, absent Governor Sununu's willingness to serve, I had more than enough political support to do so.

Nonetheless, I don't mind being given the opportunity to refocus on other aspects of my life that have sometimes taken the backseat over the past two years.  When I became chairman, I was dating; since then I've become a husband and father.  I worked nearly full-time as the unpaid, volunteer state party chairman, but with a family now I need to give more attention to my financial responsibilities to others.  I wasn't as good a coach to the distance runners I work with at Kingswood Regional High School because I couldn't make all the practices.  I realized the other day that I hadn't gone hiking in the White Mountains once this year.  So I'm looking forward to having more time for other things again.
 
I will continue to be active in Republican politics moving forward.  What form that will take will be determined in due time.
 
Highlights of my tenure as Chairman include:

• Despite a terrible national political environment, New Hampshire Republicans gained 17 legislative seats in a year in which Republicans lost seats in every other New England state.
• Ably served as a steward of the First in The Nation Primary, including working with the National Committee on adopting protection for our primary in party rules for the first time.
• Completed the purchase of and transition into a new state party headquarters building.
• Gave the party a youthful face while serving as the youngest Republican state party chairman in the country.
• Placed special emphasis on recruiting qualified women candidates, which resulted in the party nominating a woman candidate for Federal office for the first time.
• Improved and increased communications with elected officials, activists, and the media.
• Stabilized state party finances.
• Modernized our computer and phone systems, and provided health care benefits for party employees for the first time.
• Restored a degree of civility to the discourse between the parties in New Hampshire.

It has been my pleasure and honor to serve you for the past two years, and look forward to seeing you on trail in the months and years to come.
 
Sincerely,
 
Fergus Cullen
Chairman, New Hampshire Republicans

=========================
Fran Wendelboe had this to add to the NH GOP Chair race when interviewed by Brian Lawson of PolitickerNH:

Fran Wendelboe, head of the New Hampshire Reagan Network, said that she "wholeheartedly" supports former Gov. John H. Sununu's decision to run for chairman of the New Hampshire Republican Party.

"I've known that his decision was pretty much final for quite some time now and I actually encouraged him to run and wholeheartedly support him," Wendelboe said in an e-mail to PolitickerNH.com.

Wendelboe, who is also a state rep from New Hampton, said that she has been in touch with Sununu and will work to get him elected chairman.

"The Governor and I have had several conversations and emails in the last couple of weeks," Wendelboe added. "I look forward to helping him get elected and assisting him in any way he wishes."

She added, "Remember I had said I really had no intention to run but was keeping my option open.  This was just in case something came up and the Governor did not run."

From PolitickerNH:

The State Senate has finalized its committee assignments for the upcoming legislative session.

With the retirement of six state senators, most committees will have a new chairman and one committee is comprised entirely of new state senators.

Three Republican state senators were picked to be committee chairmen. State Sen. Bob Odell (R-Lempster) is chair of Ways & Means, John Gallus (R-Berlin) will be chair of Wildlife & Agriculture and state Sen. Bob Letourneau (R-Derry) was picked to be chair of the Transportation & Interstate Cooperation committee. All three senators held the same positions in the last legislative session.

You can find the complete list of assignments below.

Health & Human Services

• Sgambati, chair (D)
  
• Gilmour, vice chair (D)
• Kelly (D)
• Gallus (R)
• Downing

Commerce, Labor & Consumer Protection

• Hassan, chair (D)
• DeVries, vice chair (D)
• Reynolds (D)
• Cilley (D)
• Bragdon (R)
• Roberge (R)

Election Law & Internal Affairs

• Lasky, chair (D)
• Houde, vice chair (D)
• Merrill (D)
• Carson (R)
• Denley (R)

Education

• Kelly, chair (D)
• Merrill, vice chair (D)
• Fuller Clark (D)
• Lasky (D)
• Bragdon (R)
• Letourneau (R)

Ways & Means

• Odell, chair (R)
• D'Allesandro, vice chair (D)
• Gilmour (D)
• Janeway (D)
• Reynolds (D)
• Denley (R)
• Downing (R)

Wildlife & Agriculture

• Gallus, chair (R)
• Janeway, vice chair (D)
• Merrill (D)
• Gilmour (D)
• Gatsas (R)

Judiciary

• Reynolds, chair (D)
• Lasky, vice chair (D)
• Houde (D)
• Letourneau (R)
• Roberge (R)

Executive Departments & Administration

• Cilley, chair (D)
• Fuller Clark, vice chair (D)
• DeVries (D)
• Downing (R)
• Carson (R)

Public & Municipal Affairs

• DeVries, chair (D)
• Houde, vice chair (D)
• Sgambati (D)
• Roberge (R)
• Barnes (R)

Transportation & Interstate Cooperation

• Letourneau, chair (R)
• Gilmour, vice chair (D)
• Kelly (D)
• Fuller Clark (D)
• Gatsas (R)

Energy, Environment & Economic Development

• Fuller Clark, chair (D)
• Merrill, vice chair (D)
• Lasky (D)
• Cilley (D)
• Barnes (R)
• Odell (R)

Capital Budget

• Janeway, chair (D)
• Hassan, vice chair (D)
• D'Allesandro (D)
• Kelly (D)
• Gatsas (R)
• Downing (R)

Finance

• D'Allesandro, chair (D)
• Janeway, vice chair (D)
• Larsen (D)
  
• Sgambati (D)
• Hassan (D)
• Gallus (R)
• Odell (R)

Rules & Enrolled Bills

• Reynolds, chair (D)
• D'Allesandro, vice chair (D)
• Bragdon (R)
  
• Houde (D)
• Downing (R)

From PolitickerNH:

State Sen. Peter Bragdon (R-Milford), the Republican leader, has named state Sens. Bob Odell (R-Lempster) and Mike Downing (R-Salem) to be the deputy Republican minority leaders for the upcoming legislative session.

"Senator Downing and Odell are true leaders and they will bring to the table a style of politics that will help us accomplish our goals in the minority," Bragdon said in a press release.  "Senator Odell has years of experience working on the Finance and Ways and Means committees, while Senator Downing brings to the table experience with the retirement issues that will be facing the state in the next two years."

After being confirmed by House Speaker Norelli as the House Minority Leader, Sherm Packard has chosen his leadership team.  From PolitickerNH:

House Republican leader state Rep. Sherman Packard (R-Londonderry) has announced his leadership team for the upcoming legislative session.

Packard has decided to keep state Rep. David Hess (R-Hooksett) as the deputy republican leader. State Rep. Shawn Jasper (R-Hudson) will be the Republican whip and state Rep. Andrew Renzullo (R-Hudson) will be the deputy Republican whip. State Rep. Gene Chandler (R-Bartlett), who ran against Packard for House Republican leader, has been tapped to be the senior assistant Republican leader.

"I am very excited to announce the members of the House Republican Leadership team, who come from all walks of life, with different backgrounds, from various parts of the state and representing all the different opinions in the Republican Party," said Packard in a press release. "As I said when I campaigned for Republican Leader, we will work to ensure that every voice in our caucus is heard, and that starts right here with this leadership team. I am looking forward to working with so many dedicated public servants and am optimistic that our caucus will be united and stand strong for the taxpayers of our great state."

Below is a list of whom Packard as picked to be assistant Republican leaders and whips:

Assistant Republican Leader:

• Rep. Pamela Price (Nashua)
  
• Rep. John Reagan (Deerfield)
  
• Rep. Jim Rausch (Derry)

Assistant Republican Whip:

• Rep. DJ Bettencourt (Salem)
• Rep. Eric Stohl (Columbia)
  
• Rep. David Kidder (New London)
  
• Rep. John Graham (Bedford)
  

From PolitickerNH:

Wendelboe-Cullen spat spills over into UL comment section
By Brian Lawson, PolitickerNH.com Reporter

An argument between New Hampshire Republican Chairman Fergus Cullen and Fran Wendelboe, head of the New Hampshire Reagan Network, has taken center stage in the online comment section of The Union Leader.

The two were featured in today's Granite Status over allegations that Wendelboe is organizing an effort to replace state committee members with conservatives Republicans. It started earlier this week when Betsy Miller was replaced as the chair of the Merrimack County Republicans by Anne Copp, a prominent supporter of the Reagan Network.

"This isn't a fight between conservatives and moderates," Cullen wrote in the Union Leader's comment section. "Most NH GOP activists, including the ones Fran just excommunicated from the Merrimack Committee, accurately describe themselves as conservatives."

Cullen then went on to argue that this is an attempt by Wendelboe to become chairman of the state party.

"No, this is simply about Fran trying to line up votes in her Ahab-like effort to become state party chairman, booting conservatives who don't support her narrow, extreme view of who makes a good Republican," Cullen added. "If only Fran would put as much energy into fighting Democrats as she wastes plotting and scheming against fellow Republicans."

Wendelboe countered that she is looking out for the principles of the party.

"What Fergus doesn't understand is that I am not fighting fellow Republicans, I am fighting for the principles of the Republican party--those enumerated in not only our state platform but the national platform as well," Wendelboe wrote. "Yes, we have a big tent, but those who are ‘out of step' with the platform are the ones fighting to make those who do fully support the platform as the ones who somehow are divisive if they don't abandon the areas they don't agree on."

Wendelboe also said that it was the members of the Merrimack County Republicans that kicked out Miller and not Wendelboe.