N.H. House races we'll be watching: Goffstown
In many ways, Goffstown is ground zero in the Republican family feud between party regulars and a rival group of Tea Partiers and Free Staters.
The insurgent faction is represented by state House Reps. John Hikel and Mark Warden, who are not running for re-election, and John Burt, who is running for reelection in Goffstown’s floterial district, Hillsborough 39. Former Rep. Pam Manney, who maintains a website in which she catalogs their transgressions, is the most outspoken of the party regulars.
Round one in the skirmish went to the moderates. In municipal elections last spring, Burt was defeated in his race for selectman by a two-to-one margin. Planning Board incumbents Hikel and Warden lost their reelection bids by similar margins in what conservative radio host Rich Girard described as “a good ol’ fashioned you know what whoopin.’ ”
Round two battle lines have been drawn for tomorrow’s New Hampshire House primary where nine Goffstown Republicans are vying for five slots in Hillsborough District 6.
In a letter to the editor of the Goffstown News, “Beware of RINOs in this year’s Republican Primary,” Warden singled out former selectmen Barbara Griffin and David Pierce as “long-time Democrats and big government apologists.”
Letters defending Griffin and Pierce criticized “Warden and his cronies” who “let their votes be dictated by the radical agendas of outside organizations.” They turned their fire on James Butcher, who has been endorsed by Burt, Hikel and Warden, for attempting to mislead voters and for being Warden’s “protege.”
Tomorrow’s Goffstown vote could provide some insight into how the battle between the GOP’s warring factions is playing out.