THE REPUBLICAN FIELD in the U.S. Senate will grow in the coming weeks, with two potential new entries shaking up this already very competitive race.
Wendy Long, 61, of Keene, told those at the Center Right meeting in Manchester last week that she’s getting ready to declare a bid.
A two-time nominee for U.S. Senate from New York, Long fell on her sword in that Democrat-dominated state, losing to Kirsten Gillibrand in 2012 and to Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer in 2016.
Although she has run for nothing in New Hampshire, she has long roots here. Born in Worcester, Mass., Wendy Elizabeth Stone grew up in New Hampshire.
A graduate of Dartmouth College, she has a resume that includes clerk to U.S. Supreme Court Clarence Thomas and press secretary for former New Hampshire U.S. Sen. Gordon Humphrey.
The Washington Post reported after the 2020 election that Long wrote in an email to other past clerks for Thomas that we “believe in our hearts (that it) was likely a stolen election,” and “President Trump would be determined to be the legitimate winner.”
Long, who endorsed Donald Trump for president in 2016, must be seen as a contender for Trump’s endorsement here.
Last week, Trump adviser Corey Lewandowski said he wasn’t bowled over by the $750,000 Senate President Chuck Morse has raised to lead all GOP candidates in early fundraising.
“$750,000 is a great haul, but this is a $20 million race,” Lewandowski told radio talk show host Jack Heath last week.
“Donald Trump’s endorsement will be the determining factor of who the Republican nominee is for the United States Senate. But I am firmly convinced, Jack, this field is not completed.”
In a key move Thursday, Long filed paperwork with the Federal Elections Committee to officially shut down her 2016 campaign in New York, a necessary step before she could file to run here.
The other likely GOP entrant is Vikram Mansharamani, an entrepreneur and investor from Lincoln.
Mansharamani already has signed on veteran New Hampshire political consultants Mike Biundo and Derek Dufresne of Ascent Strategic, and Rob Varsalone, a former senior adviser to ex-U.S. Sen. Kelly Ayotte and ex-Gov. Craig Benson.
If he gets in the race, Mansharamani will run as a political outsider against the political establishment.
YDC victims seek sit-down
David Vicinanzo, lead lawyer for the 500 victims of abuse while at the Youth Development Center, has asked for a private meeting with Attorney General John Formella and key senators before the Senate acts on the bill to create a $100 million fund.
The victims want to tell stories about the extent of emotional harm not covered under the House-passed bill, Vicinanzo said.
Ban exception looks done
The campaign to carve out an exception to the state’s ban on abortions after 24 weeks had a big breakthrough late Thursday night.
The Senate Judiciary Committee’s unanimous 5-0 vote all but guarantees the Senate will pass this bill (HB 1609) to permit abortions after six months in cases of a fetal anomaly “incompatible with life.”
Sens. Sharon Carson, R-Londonderry, Bill Gannon, R-Sandown and Harold French, R-Canterbury, will join Sen. Erin Hennessey, R-Littleton, and all Senate Democrats in support.
That’s 14 votes, clearly enough to get to the desk of Gov. Chris Sununu, who has vowed to sign it.
In January, the Senate rejected a fetal exception, 13-11.
Sen. Becky Whitley, D-Hopkinton, said this reversal came about after Lisa Akey, of Brookline, and others shared their tragic struggles.
Dems may be boxed in
House Republican leaders’ gambit to put the congressional redistricting plan of Gov. Sununu up for a hearing this Friday might have boxed in Democratic lawmakers.
Sununu’s plan would make the 1st Congressional District more Republican-leaning than it is now, by about 2% more.
The congressional map the House and Senate passed, which Sununu said he would veto, was about 8% more Republican than the current configuration.
So do Democrats take out the scorched-earth playbook and brand Sununu’s plan a “gerrymander” intended to unseat two-term Congressman Chris Pappas?
Or do they bite down hard and accept Sununu’s plan as the best one Pappas and Co. can hope to get?
The non-partisan Fair Maps Coalition said Sununu’s plan was a “good step forward” but clearly not enough.
“The newly proposed congressional districts (from Sununu) will force thousands more Granite Staters to switch districts than is necessary to achieve fair districts,” they said.
Ivermectin bill odds longer
State Rep. Melissa Blasek, R-Merrimack, has done well to get this far with her controversial legislation (HB 1022) to make New Hampshire the second state after Tennessee to allow ivermectin to be dispensed under a standing order without a prescription.
Last week, Juan Chamie, a senior data analyst from Cambridge, Mass., spoke about his work on the safety and use of the drug for COVID-19 in Peru and Brazil.
But the Senate Health Care Committee may decide Blasek’s bill is not needed.
Senate Majority Leader Jeb Bradley, R-Wolfeboro, repeatedly asked supporters whether ivermectin could be available to New Hampshire patients under a second bill.
The House already passed a related measure (HB 1466) to make it easier for pharmacists to dispense off-label drugs. Ivermectin was the leading reason.
Blasek is a co-sponsor of the off-label bill, which would require a health care provider to inform the patient about side effects of the medication and to consider how it fits in with drugs the person already uses.
Eye on gaming change
Officials with Churchill Downs last week denied charges from the New Hampshire Lottery that they have been illegally operating an unlicensed online gambling app and avoiding the payment of hundreds of thousands of dollars in state revenue.
The TwinSpires app is preferred by many horse racing gamblers. Lottery Executive Director Charles McIntyre said the app is operating in a massive gray area, and he has tried without success to get it to follow state laws.
The gambling company insists TwinSpires is in full compliance, regulated by the federal Interstate Horse Racing Act.
Churchill Downs already has announced it is shutting down its online business in the next six months, because heavy competition kept it from being profitable enough.
WMUR was first to report on this controversy.
Here are two key points to add to the mix.
In 2021, when the Legislature passed the law to permit betting on randomly selected past events, known as historic racing, Churchill Downs worked behind the scenes to kill it.
Now it’s one of the main reasons Churchill Downs is moving to buy the most lucrative charitable gaming hall in the state, the Chasers Poker Room in Salem.
Lisa and David Withrow own the site, which has been banging out sold-out events for charities week after week.
“It’s incredibly successful,” Senate President Morse said during a recent interview.
Churchill Downs is studying whether to move into a vacant KMart store to create a mega-sized charitable gaming venue.
Keep in mind the lottery approves all license holders for these charitable gaming operators.
As part of that Salem transfer, McIntyre could require a a financial probe to turn up just how much TwinSpires made from New Hampshire gamblers that should be turned over to the state.
COVID case bump is back
Hospitalization and deaths remain low, but New Hampshire is seeing the same spike of COVID-19 infections as many Northeast states.
Over the past week, the seven-day average of cases is 236 a day, a 52% increase.
The test positivity rate is at 5.6%, just over the 5% benchmark that experts say indicates a state has the virus under control.
Sununu cool on rental bill
The House Municipal and County Government Committee meets Monday to make a decision on a Senate-passed bill to make it illegal for a town to ban short-term rentals (SB 249).
The bipartisan bill grew out of a looming fight before the New Hampshire Supreme Court on an ordinance in Conway that would block a resident from operating an Airbnb in town.
The mayors of Manchester, Nashua, Concord and Portsmouth have all come out against it.
Sununu threw cold water on the idea.
“I am afraid of the long-term implications, and I don’t like telling towns what they can or can’t do,” Sununu said.“I haven’t seen the final version of the bill, but right now, anything that bans the towns from having flexibility, you are going down the wrong path.”
Winner, loser in road plan
Lawmakers representing Merrimack are notoriously persistent.
Former Senate President and lobbyist Peter Bragdon was a trailblazer, the first to achieve the removal of one of three exit ramp tolls in town on the Everett Turnpike.
Now that all three tolls are being dismantled, state transportation officials got into the 10-year highway plan (HB 2022), giving to the town the ownership of Continental Boulevard, a feeder road between the turnpike and Route 101A.
The town’s campaign to take this section out of the plan rests with Senate Finance Committee Chairman Gary Daniels, R-Milford, the senator representing Merrimack.
Daniels also is eying a potential rematch with former Sen. Shannon Chandley, D-Amherst, who had her own Merrimack ramp toll victory.
It appears Coos County leaders will have less success with a request to add the renovation of Golf Links Road in Dixville Notch to the plan.
Rep. Edith Tucker, D-Randolph, said this project being part of the plan would help developers of the nearby Balsams Resort, who have been finalizing a financial package to bring back this historic hotel.
Transportation Commissioner Victoria Sheehan said supporters should seek a separate bill for this construction work once a source of money is found.
The road was in previous 10-year plans, but when it came time to begin construction on it in 2017, a previous Balsams funding plan fell apart.
A My Pillow fight
Sununu’s stand-up act at the Gridiron Club dinner included a playful swipe at the My Pillow products of founder Mike Lindell. Sununu said they were all “crap” and that’s why they were in Trump hotels.
The quip got less attention than Sununu’s riff on Trump himself, but Lindell sure took notice.
“He is a liar. He is about as bad as they come,” Lindell told Boston radio talk show host Howie Carr on Monday.
Sununu had panned Lindell’s visit to Manchester last month. While in New Hampshire, Lindell spoke about the voter fraud conspiracy he has said cost Trump the White House.
“He badmouthed me in the media before I even got here,” Lindell said.
“He is probably part of the biggest crime in history. I sent him my pillows myself and wrote him a note. I said, ‘With your views on the election, you are not going to be able to sleep very good at night but these may help.’”
House reshapes ballot plan
The House Election Laws Committee last week voted, 11-9, in favor of a controversial plan to require that those without identification be given an affidavit ballot.
Under the plan, these votes would be counted, but those who then fail to show proof of eligibility to vote would have their ballots tossed out.
The House votes this Thursday on proposed changes, the first being to put the plan off until next Jan. 1, so it won’t apply in the 2022 election.
The Senate bill (SB 418) would issue these to everyone without an ID; the House-amended bill would give them only to those who registered to vote on Election Day.
Rep. Ross Berry, R-Manchester, also altered the plan to give these voters seven days to come up with proof of eligibility; the Senate bill gave them 10 days.
Henry Klementowicz with the American Civil Liberties Union of New Hampshire said as amended the bill still would fail to hold up in court.
“Our elections have been proven time and again to be safe, secure, and reliable — and this unconstitutional bill has absolutely no place in the Granite State,” Klementowicz said.
Housing fund goes ahead
Sununu’s $100 million housing fund cleared the fiscal panel Friday on an 8-2 vote.
Sens. Lou D’Allesandro, D-Manchester, and Cindy Rosenwald, D-Nashua, opposed it.
The panel also approved the first operating budget through June 2023 for running Hampstead Hospital once the state completes the purchase of this mental health complex.
Initially, the budget will be $9 million. The state will need to fill seven, new positions while folding in 14 current Hampstead employees.
The state’s next move is to hire a contractor to manage the project.