Democrats take winning Rochester race to the bank

Mar. 4—THE RECORD-SETTING final numbers are in for the Rochester Ward 4 special election. The fundraising advantage that Democratic state Rep. Chuck Grassie had over Republican challenger and ex-Mayor David Walker dwarfed his 12-point victory at the polls.

All told, the Democratic forces spent $176,621 on Grassie's behalf, with the New Hampshire House Democrats Victory Campaign Committee's $159,580 leading the way.

The Washington-based Democratic Legislative Campaign Committee gave the N.H. House Dems PAC a $26,100 stake in this race.

Together, the Rochester Republican City Committee and Walker spent only $3,399, almost all of it on mailings to likely voters.

Prominent donors in the Walker/Rochester GOP camp were Sen. James Gray, R-Rochester ($250), two-time Senate hopeful Lou Gargiulo of Hampton Falls ($300), Christine Peters of Amherst ($300), Daniel Richards of Lebanon ($959), the Strafford County GOP ($1,000), N.H. GOP ($100) and ex-Rep. Packy Campbell, R-Farmington ($480).

This little state rep race went national.

In the final two weeks, Act Blue generated more than 900 donors to Grassie's campaign from across the country, all of whom gave less than $50 each.

The winner literally could not find enough ways to spend it all. Of the nearly $43,500 he raised, about $29,000 is left in the bank.

Democrats spent 52 times more for Grassie than Republicans did for Walker.

Doing the math, Grassie forces spent $311 for each vote he received on Feb. 21, and Walker/GOP spent $7.50 for each of his.

Given the stakes and the tightening balance of power in the New Hampshire House, state Democrats would consider that a good investment.

A little fun speculation

It remains a mystery how the voting broke down in the New Hampshire Supreme Court's 2-2 tie decision on whether Gov. Chris Sununu and future occupants can claim executive privilege.

The justices did not reveal how they voted.

The tie was a huge win for Sununu, because it affirmed a lower court ruling that he could claim executive privilege in shielding his staff's private account emails from public view.

Chief Justice Gordon MacDonald did participate since he was attorney general at the time of the 2019 controversy.

It's tempting to assume the two justices Sununu named to the high court, Anna Barbara Hantz Marconi and Patrick Donovan, would have sided with the governor and the two that ex-Democratic Gov. John Lynch placed on the court, Gary Hicks and James Bassett, would have thought otherwise.

But over the years, governors of all stripes have confided that the five highest-ranking justices have issued opinions that surprised them in both good and bad ways.

Legislature back in action

Both the House of Representatives and state Senate have busy sessions scheduled this week, after a one-week pause to allow members to enjoy the school vacation week.

A few House policy committees had to convene last week in order to meet deadlines later for making recommendations on bills.

The Senate workload is such that all panels were able to take the week off.

They each have busy sessions set to start this Thursday at 10 a.m.

The House has 14 bills that committees have deadlocked over, including two dealing with education freedom accounts (HB 367 and HB 464), one on whether to require youth risk behavior surveys in charter schools (HB 380), another bill that mandates a 30-day notice before any apartment rental increase (HB 567) and five bills dealing with energy issues.

The Senate faces its own battle over whether to restrict the granting of EFAs in the future (SB 141), enshrine in state law a woman's access to abortion services (SB 181) and require the state to allow cities and towns to receive federal grants to replace their aging voting machines (SB 73).

More media flirting

The Wall Street Journal is working on a profile on Sununu, his consideration of a presidential run and his insistence the national GOP has to move past Trump to win back the White House.

This comes a few weeks after the New York Times did its own favorable piece.

E-ZPass tweak

The proposed budget trailer bill includes a change to E-ZPass eligibility requested by the Department of Transportation.

If adopted, it would mean motorists would get a discount on the regular toll rate only if they have a "working and properly mounted" E-ZPass transponder.

Under current law, the motorist merely has to have a transponder to qualify for the discount, which is 30% for cars and trucks and 10% for commercial vehicles.

Border enforcement

As part of the state's effort to crack down on illegal immigration up north, Sununu has embraced the idea of giving all "police employees" within "25 air miles" of the Canadian border the same powers as forest rangers.

He also has proposed using $1.4 million in surplus this year to create a Border Alliance Program.

The State Police would be the "lead agency" in this effort, receiving $620,000 for overtime and expenses.

Other law enforcement agencies in the state would be able to compete for up to $816,000 in grants to support this campaign.

Three hope to get crowd

With a history of New Hampshire Democrats performing better in presidential election years, incumbent Republican state senators can't wait to begin raising money.

And sometimes there is strength in numbers.

That's what one trio decided, announcing a joint fundraiser on March 15 at Hermanos in Concord.

Senate Finance Committee Chair Gray and first-termers Carrie Gendreau, R-Littleton, and Howard Pearl, R-Loudon, are hosting this joint event, with admission going for $450 per person ($150 for each senator).

The top Mount Washington Sponsor status goes for $2,500.

DeSantis headed here?

Rumors persist that Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis will be bringing his book tour to New Hampshire as soon as this month.

Over the weekend, DeSantis chose to stiff the Conservative Political Action Conference annual event and straw poll, knowing that former President Donald Trump would likely own that crowd.

Instead, DeSantis attended a private big donor fundraiser in Florida, where the anti-Trump Club for Growth hosted a four-day event.

The rival conference in Florida drew even more potential 2024 candidates than the CPAC event did.

"We invited Ron DeSantis to come. He's been a friend to CPAC. He's spoken at CPAC before. Look, I think for DeSantis it's a missed opportunity for him not to be at CPAC," said Mercedes Schlapp, a member of CPAC's foundation and wife of Matt Schlapp, who chairs the American Conservative Union.

An anonymous staffer on Herschel Walker's U.S. Senate campaign in Georgia claimed Matt Schlapp sexually assaulted him last October and filed a civil suit against the couple, seeking $9.4 million in damages.

A lawyer for the Schlapps called the charges false and defamatory and said they may countersue.

During the final weeks of the 2022 campaign, the Schlapps came to New Hampshire to support Senate candidate Don Bolduc.

Bridges House earmark

First Lady Valerie and Gov. Sununu have been big advocates for the continued upkeep of the Bridges House mansion in Concord.

Sununu credits former First Lady Susan Lynch for spearheading the private fundraising campaign that turned the building from an aging, unattractive relic to a comfortable, more modern meeting place.

Now Sununu is asking the Legislature to create in state law a "special account" that would administer private efforts to continue to support the property in the future.

Biz tax targets for ed aid

Tucked into Sununu's trailer bill is a change that could translate into regular increases in state aid to education.

Under current law, the revenue commissioner is required each year to determine how much of the revenue from the business profits tax and business enterprise tax should go into the Education Trust Fund to keep it balanced.

This proposal would automatically set aside 35% of what comes in from those two taxes for for education aid.

Given that these business tax revenues have steadily grown even in the face of three rounds of tax cuts, it's reasonable to think this change could help boost state aid to education in the future.

Sununu's education aid plan calls for an annual increase in education aid tied to the consumer price index. Currently that change is made every two years.

Student debt relief pitch

For the past four years, Sununu has tried without success to convince the Legislature to set up a state-funded program to help students with debt relief.

His latest proposal is to create scholarship aid by using the same model that built private support for workforce dedicated to producing jobs in the regenerative manufacturing field.

Dean Kamen created the regenerative manufacturing workforce program in the Manchester Millyard to support research into regenerative tissue technology.

Sununu's idea is to permit using up to 50% of an endowment, with support from private donations or other sources, to give direct scholarships to eligible students attending New Hampshire colleges. The initiative would begin in 2025.

Properties get attention

The governor has endorsed a bipartisan proposal to create more housing by making developers eligible to receive a new state tax credit for renovating historic buildings.

The Historic Sites Fund would have an annual budget of $450,000.

'Unwinding' Medicaid

State officials believe New Hampshire government will save at least $10 million a month once it ends Medicaid insurance coverage for families who no longer will be eligible when the pandemic is declared over later this spring.

The state recently sent out notices asking 72,500 in the program to confirm they financially qualify to remain on the program.

Federal law permits those who lose their benefits to keep them for a while once the state deems them to be ineligible.

In the meantime, Sununu is asking legislators to devote $16.4 million in current budget surplus to the "unwinding" process the state Department of Health and Human Services is conducting.

Kevin Landrigan is State House Bureau Chief for the New Hampshire Union Leader and Sunday News. Contact him at klandrigan@unionleader.com.