Last year, the New Hampshire Democratic Party was fined for violating the state election law that requires prerecorded political messages to disclose who paid for the call. State House Speaker Bill O’Brien was outraged and called for Chairman Ray Buckley’s ouster.
“New Hampshire has never stood for Boston-style or Chicago-style, dirty politics like this,” O’Brien said in an interview…
“Unless the Democratic Party takes concrete steps to prevent this from happening again such as removing their chairman, removing their current leadership and move into the mainstream of New Hampshire politics, those are the type of issues through a subsequent civil suit that we feel almost compelled to ask,” O’Brien said in the interview.
Last week, a firm conducting a push poll on behalf of Frank Guinta’s 2010 congressional campaign was fined for making the calls without the required disclosures. O’Brien’s response? Crickets…
h/t: Jeff Feingold
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.”
“I have a message for Charlie Bass, Frank Guinta and all of the Republican presidential candidates who have come to the Granite State and endorsed this proposal. Your agenda to double down on the failed economic policies of the past that nearly sank our economy into a second Great Depression, your out of touch plan to end Medicare as we know it, and your insistence on playing politics with the debt limit are not in line with New Hampshire values.”
— Ray Buckley, New Hampshire Democratic Party chair, on GOP “cut, cap and balance” budget plan
