Democrat Bob Perry won tonight’s special election for a vacant state House seat in Strafford District 3. Perry outpolled Republican Honey Puterbaugh by a 58% - 42% margin.
Update: Official results from New Hampshire Secretary of State:
Town Puterbaugh-R Perry-D Puterbaugh-R Perry-D
------------ ------------ ------------ ------------ ------------
Barrington 485 727 40% 60%
Farmington 299 359 45% 55%
Middleton 95 86 52% 48%
Milton 222 266 45% 55%
New Durham 139 171 45% 55%
Strafford 267 493 35% 65%
------------ ------------ ------------ ------------ ------------
Total 1507 2102 42% 58%
Democratic chair Ray Buckley was characteristically understated:
“Bob Perry’s victory tonight is a complete and total rejection of Republican House Speaker Bill O’Brien’s reckless job killing agenda. … New Hampshire voters have seen enough of the radical Free State agenda this year with bills that would allow guns in schools and courts, would remove support for our United States’ Constitution out of the oath of office, and would eliminate public kindergarten.”
Republican chair Jack Kimball was characteristically gracious:
“Under John Lynch’s watch, Bob Perry voted with the tax-and-spend crowd for numerous tax and fee increases including the job-crushing LLC small business tax, while they ran up a massive deficit. Thankfully with the Republican-led legislature, Bob Perry won’t be able to do any further damage.”
Honey Puterbaugh, the Republican candidate in Strafford District 3, can’t hide her association with the Free State Project any longer — but she sure is trying to downplay it:
When we asked her about the Free State connection, Puterbaugh said she had planned to move here to be close to family anyway when she heard about the Free State movement and its pledge.
That’s not how her husband, Todd Puterbaugh, tells the story:
“One of the things that did influence our move here was my wife and I both felt that the loss of liberty was occurring at an accelerated pace and we didn’t want to sit by and let that happen.”
Honey Puterbaugh, the Republican candidate in Tuesday’s special election for a Strafford District 3 state House seat, says social programs like Meals on Wheels should not receive public funding.
Puterbaugh says in an ideal world people should take care of themselves, but this does not always happen. She believes that state and county government costs should be kept to a minimum. Asked if, for example, she approves of taxpayer funding for a program like Meals on Wheels, she replied, “Ideally, individuals would donate. Sometimes it sounds cruel to cut a charity, but it may be the way to go at that time.”
Meals On Wheels provides well over one million meals to seniors who need them each day. Nearly six million U.S. seniors face the threat of hunger.
Honey Puterbaugh, the Republican candidate in the upcoming special election for a Strafford County District 3 House seat, moved to New Hampshire after signing the Free State Project pledge. The stated goal of the Free State Project is to take over the state government, slash state and local budgets, and eliminate federal “interference.”
Even Foster’s, a newspaper known for a very conservative and reliably Republican viewpoint, is troubled by the failure of the candidate and the GOP to honestly acknowledge this association.
In Puterbaugh’s race against Democrat Bob Perry, Foster’s believes there has been a concerted effort on the part of the candidate and the state Republican Party to avoid an open and full discussion of the issue.
Politics being what it is, this has brought calls of a cover-up. Puterbaugh and the GOP owe the voters of District 3 an explanation and the opportunity to weigh the import of the Free State Movement on their vote this coming Tuesday, Aug. 9.
The next state House special election will be on August 9, 2011 for the Strafford District 3 seat previously held by the infamous Republican Rep. Martin Harty. Harty, you may remember, resigned after publicly expressing support for eugenics. In a letter to the editor, Stan Freeda warns that the GOP candidate, Honey Puterbaugh, also has an agenda that is extreme and appalling.
The New Hampshire spirit, born from a strong sense of pride in the society we have created, believes in the worth and value of every citizen. We work and pay taxes to support government and institutions that protect our land, air, and water; public schools, so all our children can get a quality education; police and firemen, so that we can feel safe and protected in our homes and on our streets. These things, for us, are what it means to live free.
Puterbaugh is a member of the Free State Project, whose main goal is to infest a state with a small population, take over its government, slash the state and local budgets, reduce the regulations that protect us, and eventually refuse to accept federal funds that support our infrastructure and eliminate federal interference.
If elected, she would serve to advance the Free State agenda, which she pledged to uphold. …
