State House Dome: In NH, we don't pay to play

Jul. 22—WHEN IT COMES to presidential primary politics, New Hampshire residents do not pay to play.

Never have. Never will.

When First Lady Jill Biden came within one state's border of the rogue state of New Hampshire Friday afternoon, the beautiful people shelled out big bucks to see her at a Biden Victory Foundation event in scenic Provincetown, Mass.

The same was true whenever conservative high rollers wanted to see then-President Donald Trump up closer and personal than at his massive MAGA rallies.

One of the blessings of having the first-in the-nation primary is there is no price of admission for the greatest political show on Earth.

When you peel back the onion of byzantine campaign finance records to see where major presidential candidates get their money, you find the Granite State is far back in this race for bucks.

The Federal Elections Commission has not completed state-by-state donor breakdowns for President Joe Biden or Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, ex-Vice President Mike Pence and former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie.

There is enough data, however, to know that the bigger the state, the bigger the potential bankroll of super-wealthy donors.

Regardless of who the candidate is, the top giving states typically are California, Texas, New York, Florida and the candidate's home state.

For Trump, New Hampshire ranked as the ninth-lowest, giving him $36,762.

South Carolina Sen. Tim Scott has the second-biggest war chest in the GOP field behind Trump, but the latest available FEC reports had him with five New Hampshire donors totaling $320.

Ohio biotech entrepreneur and GOP hopeful Vivek Ramaswamy unveiled "Vivek's Kitchen Cabinet," which will pay supporters 10% of what they can raise in donations from others.

New Hampshire residents have given Ramaswamy $1,345.

North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum's state-by-state numbers aren't available.

He's been offering $20 gift cards to anyone who gives his campaign at least $1.

Experts differ on whether giving donors up to a $19 profit for their support is legal.

Ramaswamy and Burgum are both trying to reach the 40,000-donor mark needed to be allowed on the stage of the first GOP presidential debate on Aug. 23.

The only candidate to show off at least some N.H. fundraising prowess is former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley.

In five months, she has built a New Hampshire financial network that numbers 181 individuals.

Her $27,816 is competitive with Trump, and more than residents from 24 other states have given her.

Haley found some big donors here, including Grace and Ken Solinsky with $5,000 apiece, Andrews McLane of Bristol with $10,000, and Paul Somero of Foxbrook Holdings and self-employed execs Randall Parker and Richard Rosato, who each gave $500.

What's stunning about Trump here and nationally is the level of small-donor devotion.

He has received 977 checks from New Hampshire residents, including:

—Retiree Ian Englishmen, who has chipped in $2,187, with donations as small as $41.60;

—Denise Monteith of Wolfeboro, who has given $1,303 in checks as small as $21.60;

—Theresa Murphy of Derry, who has given $814, including a $9 check;

—Retiree R. John of Nashua, whose $1,217 in support included a $.99 check, and

—Diane Cothene of Concord, who provided $537, which included a check of five cents.

That's brand loyalty.

The band is back

The 2024 race for governor publicly began this weekend, but it has been in the works for months under the radar, in the event Gov. Chris Sununu took a pass on a fifth term.

Some were taken aback when former Senate President and 2022 Senate hopeful Chuck Morse didn't wait 10 minutes after Sununu's announcement to jump into the race.

Others questioned the strategy.

"He got himself a mention in the 10th paragraph of the story when if he had waited he would have gotten his own piece," said Greg Moore, state director of the fiscally conservative Americans for Prosperity.

Dave Carney, CEO of Norway Hill Associates, is already on board as Morse's chief adviser. The two had a private meeting in Salem on Tuesday the day before Sununu dropped the news.

Carney was chief of staff for Sununu's dad, former Gov. John H. Sununu, and followed him to the Bush White House, where he served as a key aide. Carney went on to be an adviser to many top politicos, including Texas Gov. Greg Abbott and ex-Gov. Rick Perry.

The worst-kept secret in New Hampshire politics has been that former U.S. Sen. Kelly Ayotte is poised to mount a run for governor. She was legal counsel to then-Gov. Craig Benson before she became attorney general.

Ayotte will have John Corbett at her side, a gifted operative who formed Jamestown Associates after working on Ayotte's 2016 reelection campaign.

His credits include media work for Sununu's campaigns in 2020 and 2022, and he also managed the successful GOP nomination campaign of Matt Mowers in the 1st Congressional District in 2020.

Ayotte had some ugly run-ins with Trump after she refused to endorse him in 2016. Many observers believe that and third-party spoiler Aaron Day were factors in her narrow upset loss to Democrat Maggie Hassan.

Since then, Ayotte received high marks from Trump insiders as the sherpa for the U.S. Supreme Court nomination of Neil Gorsuch before the U.S. Senate.

A prominent member of Trump's inner circle in New Hampshire, Bruce Breton of Windham, came out squarely for her last week.

Education Commissioner Frank Edelblut of Wilton got style points for telling reporters that Wednesday was "the governor's day" and he wasn't going to interfere with it by making his own political splash.

All signs point to Edelblut joining this race. When he does, at his shoulder will be Brent Littlefield, the Maine-based political consultant who nearly pulled off the New Hampshire upset of the century in 2016, when Edelblut narrowly lost in the primary to Sununu.

Littlefield was the chief architect of Maine Gov. Paul LePage's victories and former Congressman Bruce Peloquin's. His national credits include the Fred Thompson presidential campaign.

Who's coming off bench?

With Sununu hanging it up, speculation is heating up on who could come off the GOP bench to run for higher office in 2024.

Sources in Washington and New Hampshire last week added a new and intriguing name to the mix in the 1st Congressional District: Attorney General John Formella.

Formella's existing five-year term as AG runs through March 2025. All indications have been he'll remain in a role he enjoys very much.

Ex-Executive Councilor Russ Prescott of Durham, a 2022 1st CD candidate, already has been laying the groundwork for a potential repeat bid next year.

GOP consultant Mike Biundo has signed on to assist him. Biundo was the campaign consultant for former state Rep. Tim Baxter's run for the same seat in 2022.

Nadeau's move no shock

While it was not public, Superior Court Chief Justice Tina Nadeau did not surprise Sununu by announcing she would retire Sept. 29.

Nadeau was the first in this role to have a fixed term, which would have run into 2026.

When Sununu named her to the latest term in 2021, she talked about leaving in the fall of 2023 after she turned 60, the minimum age to retire in the judicial branch.

"I felt like 33 years on the bench and three terms (12 years) as chief was a good time for me to move on to another role," Nadeau said during an interview.

That's 35 years in public service, counting a stint as the late Gov. Steve Merrill's legal counsel.

Judges' conduct rules and personal ethics often prevent them from playing an active role in the community.

Nadeau's passions will include working with All Rise, the National Association of Drug Court Professionals, the New England Association of Recovery Court Professionals (as second vice president), the National Center for State Courts and the Opioid Task Force in her home city of Portsmouth.

Promotion within at HHS

When Health and Human Services Commissioner Lori Shibinette of Northfield, a Sununu confidant, decided to move on, some thought the governor would look to bring in a hungry new national face to lead the state's largest agency.

After giving Deputy Commissioner Lori Weaver of Concord a lengthy tryout as interim commissioner, Sununu decided he had the leadership of the future already in place.

Last week, Sununu nominated Weaver to her own four-year term at $162,000 a year.

Ex-senator is a volunteer

The Land and Community Heritage Investment Program got its wish when Sununu nominated former state Sen. and ex-GOP candidate for governor Jeanie Forrester to fill a board vacancy.

As a state senator, Forrester had served on the board for two terms. After she lost to Sununu in 2016, he made sure she become the chairman of the Republican State Committee.

Forrester now serves as town administrator in Tilton.

GOP staff head leaving

It's not a shock but still a loss for the Republican State Committee to have Elliot Gault step down as executive director.

Gault twice stepped in to lead the GOP operation and worked a stint in the governor's office.

"I'm proud of everything we have accomplished during my tenure from our first special election win in 2019, to being the only state in the nation to have our state house do a complete Democrat-to-Republican flip, to maintaining those majorities in 2022," Gault said. "I look forward to continuing to be active and help Republicans win in 2024."

The intriguing end to that statement leads one to believe Gault will take some campaign role for the next election.

He worked on Ayotte's reelection campaign in 2016.

"I found him to be one of the nicest, decent operatives I've ever worked with on the Republican side," said Senate Democratic Leader Donna Soucy.

State Chairman Chris Ager announced Philip Jasak has moved over from a role on the state Senate staff to be the GOP's finance director.

Insurance for veteran's dog

Hassan recently shared with a Senate committee her work to obtain insurance coverage for Duchess, the service dog of veteran Tim Carignan of Lyman.

She got the problem fixed, using the Puppies Assisting Wounded Service members for Veterans Therapy Act (PAWS Act), a bipartisan bill co-written by Hassan that became law in 2021.

Center joins national

The Josiah Bartlett Center for Public Policy has joined the Competitiveness Coalition, a group advocating for "light-touch regulation and tax policies that put consumers first."

Former U.S. Sen. Scott Brown of Rye leads the coalition, which includes the Competitive Enterprise Institute, the Goldwater Institute, Americans for Prosperity, and the National Taxpayers Union.

"New Hampshire's thriving high-tech industry is a significant and growing player in the state's economy, and the Bartlett Center is happy to have such strong allies fighting against heavy-handed and misguided policies that stifle opportunities for companies to innovate and contribute to a free-market economy," said JBC President Drew Cline.

Cline recently became an inaugural signer of the new Freedom Conservatism Statement of Principles published on July 13.

Other signers include Washington Post columnist George Will, historian Wilfred McClay, and Americans for Tax Reform founder Grover Norquist.

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