Saturday, June 14, 2008

Primary ballots heating up for Concord voters

Friday was the last day to file for state and county elected offices and Concord voters will have a bunch of candidates to choose from on Sept 9.
Gov. John Lynch, to the surprise of many, will face opposition in the primary via the candidacy of Kathryn Forry of Jaffrey.
Joseph Kenney of Wakefield will be the Republican nominee for governor.
At least two people have filed intentions to run as indies for governor: David Boyle of Concord and Susan Newell of Winchester. Not much is known about Boyle except that in 2006, he formed a political action committee [DAC PAC] to stimulate discussion about a potential independent or Libertarian gubernatorial candidacy. Newell also has Libertarian-leanings according to a Google search. She was a selectwoman in Winchester and serves on the Town Budget Committee.
For the U.S. Senate seat, incumbent John Sununu will have a primary opponent in libertarian-leaning Tom Alciere of Hudson, a former state representative from Nashua. Tom has a Web site here: ["TomAlciere.us"].
Over on the Democratic side, former Gov. Jeanne Shaheen will face off against Raymond Stebbins of Nashua, who recently received more than 50,000 votes in the vice presidential primary. Stebbins does not have a new Web site up for his Senate campaign.
Libertarian Ken Blevens of Bow is also seeking ballot access for the final election.
For Congress, in the Second Congressional District, incumbent Democrat Paul Hodes has filed to run for a second term. He has not primary opposition.
On the GOP side, five candidates have filed to run. They are:
Grant Bosse of Hillsboro, an award-winning radio journalist and former staffer for Sen. Sununu: ["Bosse2008"].
Bob Clegg, a state Senator from Hudson: ["Clegg for Congress"].
Jennifer Horn, a talk show host and newspaper columnist from Nashua: ["Jennifer Horn"].
Alfred L'Eplattenier of Rindge: ["Border Secure"].
Jim Steiner of Concord, an attorney and former Green Beret: ["Join Jim 2008"].
Chester L. Lapointe II of Swanzey will seek to gain ballot access on the Libertarian line and Roy Kendel of Fitzwilliam will also run as an indie.
Democratic Executive Councilor John Shea will have a Republican opponent, once they shake things out. County Attorney Dan St. Hilaire, Businessman Bernie Sparks, and Richard Wasson are all competing for the seat.
State Sen. Sylvia Larsen will again face off against Republican Kristie MacNeil for the seat.
With St. Hilaire running for Executive Councilor, the County Attorney's seat is open. On the Democratic side, Ted Barnes will oppose former City Councilor and Mayoral candidate Kathy Rogers. Republican Tom Reid is also seeking the seat.
With Rogers running for County Attorney, the County Commissioner seat is open. Running for that seat on the Democratic side are City Councilor Elizabeth Blanchard and former City Councilor Doris Ballard.
Sheriff Scott Hilliard, a Republican, has won his election by default since he had no challengers this year.
Concord has 13 state representatives in three districts. Some of the districts will have primaries. Some won't. Democrats have escaped primary battles in District 10 [Ward 1, 2, and 3] and District 12 [Ward 5, 6, and 7] but not in District 11 [Ward 4, 8, 9, 10]. Republicans have no primaries for state rep. seats in the city.
In District 11, six candidates will seek five seats on the Democratic side: Incumbents Candace Bouchard, John DeJoie, Tara Reardon, and Bob Williams, will face off against challengers Michael Barlett and Klee Dienes.
Five Republicans are also running: Incumbent Jim McKay, and challengers Lynne Blankenbecker, Elizabeth Cheney, Jeff Newman, and Frank Rosano.
District 10 will see Democrats Mary Stuart Gile, Fran Potter, and Steve Shurtleff, all incumbents, and challenger William Stetson, facing off against Republican challenger Angela Harman.
In District 12, incumbent Democrats Jessie Osborne and Mary Jane Wallner, along with challengers Harold "Chip" Rice and Rick Watrous, will face off against Republican challengers Pamela Ean and John Kalb. Dwight Haynes of Concord will be running as an independent for one of the four seats.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Any more background on the newbies for State Rep? In particular, I wonder if one of the Democratic candidates for District 11 has more establishment support than the other.

Tony said...

Hey Ben,
Thanks for reading! I don't know about the new candidates but it will be interesting to see how they shake out.