State House Dome: Free Staters land VP short-lister

Feb. 24—TALK ABOUT good timing.

The Free State Project has landed a big fish for its Liberty Forum Experience next month — former Hawaii Democratic congresswoman and 2020 presidential candidate Tulsi Gabbard.

Gabbard will be the keynoter on Saturday, March 16; the Nashua event runs from March 15-17.

This news comes after the former Democrat was included on the short list of potential vice presidential candidates that GOP nominee-to-be Donald Trump name-dropped on Fox News last week.

Gabbard became a Fox News analyst last year. She had a very public break with the Democratic Party after her presidential campaign in 2020.

Her libertarian views on many key issues are simpatico with Free Staters.

Florida Gov., and ex-2024 presidential candidate, Ron DeSantis quickly dismissed his mention as possible VP material.

Others on Trump's mini-menu were primary candidates Tim Scott and Vivek Ramaswamy, South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem and U.S. Rep. Byron Donalds, R-Florida.

Keep in mind: Trump didn't drop the name of former Indiana Gov. and Congressman Mike Pence before inviting him to join the ticket in 2016.

In 2023, the Free State Project landed then-Democratic presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. as the speaker at their PorcFest.

Many weeks later, Kennedy abandoned his Democratic bid in favor of a third-party run for president.

Beating for right-to-work

Even some of its most fervent union opponents were stunned to see the right-to-work bill (HB 1377) go down as badly as it did. In the end, 23 House Republicans broke ranks and opposed it.

The GOP foes were Reps. Mike Bordes of Laconia, Tim Cahill of Raymond, Matthew Coker (newly flipped Dem-to-GOP) of Meredith, Karel Crawford of Moultonborough, Arnold Davis of Berlin, Charles Foote (retired firefighter) of Derry, Joseph Guthrie of Hampstead, Jason Janvrin of Seabrook, Aboul Khan of Seabrook, Seth King of Whitefield, Michael Murphy (just won special election) of Gorham, David Nagel of Gilmanton, Travis O'Hara of Belmont, Michael Ouellet of Colebrook, Mark Pearson of Hampstead, Stephen Pearson (Manchester F.D.) of Derry, Kevin Pratt (retired fire chief) of Raymond, Mark Proulx (retired Nashua F.D.) of Manchester, Karen Reid of Deering, Walter Stapleton of Claremont, David Testerman of Franklin and James Tierney of Groveton.

Coos County went 8-1 against the bill. Rep. Sean Durkin, R-Northumberland, was the only backer, weeks after he won a special election to replace Troy Merner (retired ironworker), formerly of Lancaster and a reliable right-to-work opponent.

Some of these folks may be looking over their shoulders and wondering if a primary fight is in their future; many are popular enough to survive.

Lots of green to go blue

The Democratic Legislative Campaign Committee is showing the money in an effort to flip the New Hampshire State House from red to blue this fall.

The group announced its first 2024 investment in the N.H. Senate Democratic Caucus ($12,500) and a much bigger one ($115,000) to the N.H. House Victory Committee.

In late 2023, the group gave House Democrats $50,000.

Arizona and New Hampshire are the only states the group has targeted with the goal of switching both legislative chambers.

The group played a pivotal role in House Democratic leader Matt Wilhelm coming within a razor's edge of becoming House speaker.

The group's top priority is defending narrow majorities in Michigan and Minnesota. They also will be playing in support of Democratic governors in states with GOP legislatures (Kansas, North Carolina and Wisconsin) and helping Georgia Democrats recover from hits taken due to redistricting.

You can bet the N.H. GOP will spare no resources as they seek to hold the line.

Last ticket to D.C.

Outgoing (don't call him lame duck) Gov. Chris Sununu attended his last winter meeting of the National Governors Association in the nation's capital last weekend.

Politico also included Sununu in a small group of governors who took part in a summit Thursday.

Sununu did the full Monty, attending NGA business meetings and the state dinner of all governors Saturday night with President Joe Biden and First Lady Jill Biden.

AG vet ID'd for bench

In his final year, Sununu has identified seasoned prosecutors that he thinks would help build his legacy of quality picks to the judicial branch.

The latest is Laura Lombardi of Concord, who has spent more than two decades in the attorney general's office.

Lombardi most recently served as head of the civil appeals bureau in the AG office.

Like Superior Court Justice and ex-prosecutor Anne Edwards, Lombardi has been a legal Swiss Army knife in a career that included work on the prosecutorial team that fought post-conviction appeals by convicted murderer Pamela Smart.

Border sniping

You could see this coming. Executive Councilor Cinde Warmington, D-Concord, has never been shy about throwing elbows — hardly surprising as she's the only Democrat on the five-person body.

When Warmington, a Democratic candidate for governor, began to rail over the deployment of N.H. National Guard troops to the Texas border, Sununu blew the ref's whistle.

Warmington questioned National Guard Adjutant General David J. Mikolaities about whether his troops would obey an order of the Texas National Guard even if it violated federal law.

State officials said this latest deployment will begin in March.

The Guard's estimate is the major costs will include $400,000 for meals, about $280,000 for troop pay and $50,000 for travel.

Sununu previously sent guard troops to the southern border twice in support of federal troops.

This deployment of 15 troops is to back up the efforts of Texas Gov. Greg Abbott, who has openly defied the Biden administration to further secure the border.

"We follow the rules and laws of that state or the federal government, whichever precedes. We are not concerned about anything about that," Mikolaities said.

Warmington asked, "Are you in a position to evaluate if an order is in violation of federal law?"

Sununu said he wouldn't tolerate an "open debate."

Warmington said this request could have gone before the council, but Sununu chose to act unilaterally and make this move without seeking the body's support.

"This is not an opportunity for you to campaign. This is not campaign time," Sununu snapped.

Warmington shot back, "This is not a campaign. This is our national guard."

Duck, duck, Craig

The Republican Governors Association has joined the party of GOP candidates for governor hammering Democratic candidates Joyce Craig and Warmington in accusing both of supporting sanctuary state policies.

During a recent interview on WMUR-TV's "Close Up" program, Craig ducked the question not once, but three times.

Here's the first:

Host Adam Sexton: "If the government or federal government asked you as governor to take in migrants, would you welcome them here?"

Craig: "So again, the bipartisan border security proposal and deal that was proposed last week provided for security of the border, prevention of fentanyl coming into our country and provided a path for those seeking asylum. We need to work with our federal government to ensure that we put forward proposals like that that help individuals and secure our borders."

Laconia closing set

At long last, Administrative Services Commissioner Charles Arlinghaus confirmed that the state will close March 13 on the $21.5 million sale of the former Laconia State School property to a Manchester-based development group that has plans to locate housing and commercial development on the parcel.

Executive Councilor Ted Gatsas, R-Manchester, has been pressing Sununu and Arlinghaus for several months to finalize negotiations or pull the plug on this deal.

Ironically, Gatsas said he will not be present for the champagne toast, as he'll miss the next council meeting.

"I will be there," Arlinghaus deadpanned.

For more than a decade, Councilor Joe Kenney, R-Wakefield, has labored in the shadows trying to bring Laconia city officials, taxpayers, state agency skeptics and business leaders together on a future vision.

"I never lost faith, but no question, this had a lot of twists and turns," Kenney said. "I've been telling city officials for a while now that soon it's all on you. You have to make this happen and bring to completion what you want to see there."

Key bills move ahead

The Senate quickly endorsed several key bills last week.

—New building aid program (SB 342): This would create a new $30 million-a-year building aid program that gives all school districts per-pupil grants to pay for school construction work. Sen. Tim Lang, R-Sanbornton, is championing this one.

The Senate initially passed it, 14-10, and it went to the Senate Finance Committee for further review.

—Early screening program (SB 352): Senate Majority Leader Sharon Carson, R-Londonderry, is carrying this bipartisan bill to create a $5 million pilot program of cancer screening for current and retired firefighters.

The Senate passed it over to the House on a 24-0 vote.

—Election list purge: Sen. Kevin Avard, D-Nashua, authored a measure (SB 490) that would purge the voter rolls every five years to remove those who haven't voted in previous elections. Under current law the list is purged every 10 years.

The Senate passed it on a voice vote.

Getting personal

At the end of the day, the State Senate is a small, tight-knit fraternity, so it shouldn't be surprising that those in both parties can get emotional about helping others overcome adversity.

State Sen. Rebecca Perkins Kwoka, D-Portsmouth, who is not often at a loss for words, choked up at the end of Thursday's session as she heaped praise on colleagues and staff from both sides of the aisle who flooded her with kindness and visits after her mother passed away.

"I can't thank you enough," she said.

Sen. Dan Innis, R-Webster, spoke about the helping hand that senators from both parties gave him on his bill (SB 355) that would require newborn screening for cytomegalovirus (CMV).

Innis said his nephew, Ethan, was born with the disease, and his mother, Heather, has led the campaign to make New Hampshire one of the few states to adopt this mandate.

"His life has been hell, as has been his parents'," Innis said, adding Ethan has turned 18 and is doing well. "Thank you from the bottom of my heart."

Car wars

For years, Executive Councilor David Wheeler, R-Milford, railed against Cannon Mountain General Manager John DeVivo's use of his state car more than 80% of the time for personal use.

As part of his employment deal, DeVivo was permitted to use the car to commute to and from his job in Franconia from Bethel, Maine, where he had lived. In 2011, he logged more than 18,000 personal miles on the car.

At the time, he was believed to be the only state official allowed to regularly garage his state car outside New Hampshire every night.

Before joining the state, DeVivo was a ski executive at the Sunday River ski resort in Maine.

On Thursday, the council approved Jace Wirth as the new mountain manager at an annual salary of $99,500.

State park officials confirmed that Wirth will use a state car like everyone else — for state travel only.

Wirth, who comes from Steamboat Springs, Colorado, starts his new job in mid-March.

Farm aid is official

Agriculture Commissioner Shawn Jasper had a good week.

The former House speaker and Hudson Republican has spent the past year searching for aid to help farmers devastated by the frosts and floods of 2023.

As we first reported, Sununu and Business/Economic Affairs Commissioner Taylor Caswell had recommended using $8 million in federal American Rescue Plan Act grants to deliver farm aid.

With council and fiscal committee approval, Jasper said he will get farmers 50% of their grant amounts by March 1 so they can buy fertilizer and seed in time for growing season.

His staffers will then "true up" the total grants given to eligible farmers by May 15.

"Speed was of the essence here and I'm glad ARPA would have been available to get this out as soon as possible," Jasper said.

Had he sought farm aid through the legislative process, it might not have happened until June or July.

"This would not have done anybody any good," said Jasper, a former egg farmer.

Senate Democratic hopefuls

The Democratic Party got more candidates to try to make pickups in the State Senate this fall.

They convinced Matt McLaughlin of Bedford to retry versus Sen. Denise Ricciardi, R-Bedford, in District 9.

Ricciardi won their first battle in 2022.

In District 2, Carlos Cardona of Laconia has agreed to take on first-term State Sen. Tim Lang, R-Sanbornton.

The Granite Post News first reported Cardona's bid last week. he most recently served as national campaign manager for Marianne Williamson's presidential campaign.

New party candidate

Shaun Fife said he will be running for governor under the Maji Party.

"When your Constitution's foundation is resting on the Bible, you can stand tall," Fife wrote on the website promoting his candidacy.

Fife recently produced a one-hour blog from Loudon talking about his platform, which would include removal of federal funding.

As a third-party candidate, Fife needs to gather enough signatures from registered voters to get his name on the November general election ballot.

Tourism director ekes by

The council narrowly approved, 3-2, another four-year term for Travel and Tourism Director Lori Harnois of Concord.

Councilors Wheeler and Kenney opposed Sununu's move to reappoint her.

Vets wait list whittled

Commandant Kim MacKay was pleased to report that the once-huge waiting list of veterans trying to get into the New Hampshire Veterans Home has been cut down to only 10.

The perfect storm of COVID-19 and a chronic workforce shortage forced the Tilton home for a time to close a significant residential wing in its complex.

MacKay said another 40 other applications will be coming into the pipeline soon.

The senior on the waiting list for the longest time — dating to September 2022 — will soon move in, she said

The delay was due in part to the fact the vet was already housed at another nursing facility, state officials said.

State loses two

Both parties mourned the recent passing of 18-term State Rep. Sharon Nordgren, D-Hanover, and former Executive Councilor Peter Spaulding, R-Hopkinton. They were both old-school politicians focused more on getting things done than showing off or scoring political points.

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