Home » News » Politics » Granite Status
John DiStaso, the New Hampshire Union Leader's senior political writer, began writing "Granite Status" in 1982. His influential reports on behind-the-scenes politics in the first-primary state are must reading every Thursday for insiders from Concord to Washington, D.C. Watch for "Granite Status" updates on UnionLeader.com whenever New Hampshire political news breaks.
Recent Granite Status
0
John DiStaso's Granite Status: NH Dems 'welcome' back Scott Brown with 'Desperado' web ad
0
John DiStaso's Granite Status: Equipment manufacturers hire prominent NH attorney to fight dealers 'bill of rights'
7
John DiStaso's Granite Status: Just who is looking to build a New Hampshire casino?
0
John DiStaso's Granite Status: Gabrielle Giffords' gun control advocacy group critical of Ayotte in new radio ad
July 25. 2012 12:45PM
John DiStaso's Granite Status: Sens. Ayotte, McCain, Graham to visit Merrimack to warn about defense sequestration
WEDNESDAY, JULY 25, UPDATE: ASHOOH WEIGHS IN. Restauranteur Chuck Rolecek of Bedford has picked up the endorsement of former congressional candidate Rich Ashooh in his bid for the District 4 Executive Council seat.
Ashooh, also of Bedford, ran for the 1st District U.S. House seat in 2010, losing to Frank Guinta and finishing closely behind second-place finisher Sean Mahoney in the Republican primary.
He is also well-known in the business and charitable communities.
Ashooh said Rolecek“brings the right mix of executive experience, fiscal conservatism, and proven leadership to the Executive Council. I know he will work to keep government small and responsive to its citizens, hold bureaucrats accountable to taxpayers, and help move our state in a more prosperous direction.”
Rolecek is running for the council seat being vacated by the retiring Raymond Wieczorek. Also running in a GOP primary are Hillsborough County Treasurer Bob Burns of Bedford and state Sen. Tom DeBlois of Manchester.
Chris Pappas of Manchester is the lone Democrat in the race.
(Earlier updates and the full July 19 Granite Status follow.)
WEDNESDAY, JULY 25, UPDATE: DNC CHAIR IN STATE FRIDAY. As we reported last week, Democratic National Committee Chair Debbie Wasserman Schultz is headed back to New Hampshire on Friday as a surrogate for President Barack Obama.
We now have details of four events focusing on maintaining the Medicare program, “ensuring a secure retirement for our seniors and what’s at stake for Granite State seniors in this election,” the Obama campaign says.
The campaign says Wasserman Schultz will talk about on Mitt Romney as well as U.S. Reps. Frank Guinta and Charlie Bass and the two GOP candidate for governor, all of them, the campaign says, support replacing the current Medicare system with a “voucher” program or a state-run system.
Wasserman Schultz, who owns a vacation home in Newbury, will hold a news conference in Concord at 11:45 a.m. and grassroots events at the Obama campaign offices in Portsmouth at 9:45 a.m., in Laconia at 1:45 p.m. and in Plymouth at 3 p.m.
Separately from the Obama campaign, she will wrap up her visit at a fund-raiser for the New Hampshire Democratic Party at the home of Bill and Kathy Gillett in Manchester.
(Earlier updates and the full July 19 Granite Status follow.
)WEDNESDAY, JULY 25, UPDATE: CONCERNED ABOUT CUTS. Sen. John McCain will return to New Hampshire with Sen. Lindsey Graham and join New Hampshire Sen. Kelly Ayotte next week in an event focusing on their efforts to prevent massive cuts in defense spending as a result of sequestration slated to take place next year.
McCain, R-Ariz., Graham, R-S.C., and Ayotte will stop at defense contractor BAE Systems' facility in Merrimack on Tuesday as part of their “Preserving America's Strength” series of town hall-style meetings in Florida, North Carolina, Virginia as well as New Hampshire.
All three senators are members of the Senate Armed Services Committee and earlier this year joined with Sens. Jon Kyl, R-Ariz., John Cornyn, R-Texas, and Marco Rubio, R-Fla., in introducing the “Down Payment to Protect National Security Act of 2012.”
The bill replaces the approximate $110 billion in across-the-board federal spending cuts for 2013 with savings derived from a federal employee pay freeze and employee attrition.
(Earlier updates and the full July 19 Granite Status follow.)
TUESDAY, JULY 24, UPDATE: THE “GOOD ANSWER.” “4RG,” a political action committee set up by conservative activist and former Newt Gingrich state campaign director Andrew Hemingway a few months ago, is out with its first web ad, and it's a bit controversial.
It features video footage of a recent event held by Democratic candidate for governor Maggie Hassan in Goffstown.
She's asked by an audience member: “How can you beat a Republican opponent in this state this year?”
And just as she begins to answer, another audience member shouts out:
“You can beat 'em with a bat! You can beat 'em with your hands! You can beat 'em with your feet!”
To which Hassan replies, “That's a good answer.”
She then goes on to say the GOP candidates for governor “have been siding with (House speaker) Bill O'Brien and the Tea Party legislature on their divisive agenda and policies that hurt middle class families.”
She says she is working to support candidates “who will be wonderful, terrific progressive legislators.”
The ad accuses Hassan of “playing destructive partisan politics,” and portrays GOP candidates Kevin Smith and Ovide Lamontagne in a positive way, supporting such things as “affordable health care,” lower taxes and more jobs.
Hassan campaign manager Matt Burgess said Hassan was clearly not serious when she said, “Good answer” to the bat, feet and hands comment.
“Someone attempted to make a humorous comment about the importance of working hard in this election but Maggie continued to talk about her forward looking vision for New Hampshire and the stark contrast between the Republicans agenda that will take us backwards as a state,” Burgess said.
“4RG,” which stands for “For A Republican Governor,” is not backing either Smith or Lamontagne, but, as the name says, is committed to getting a Republican governor elected and has been critical of Hassan and her Democratic primary foe, Jackie Cilley, on Twitter.
(Earlier updates and the full July 19 Granite Status follow.)
TUESDAY, JULY 24, UPDATE: FIRST LADY FUND-RAISER. When First Lady Michelle Obama comes to New Hampshire on Aug. 2, in addition to attending grassroots events, she will be featured at a high-dollar fundraiser for the Obama campaign in the Lakes Region.
Long time state Democratic activists Gary and Meg Hirshberg will host the $2,500-to-$10,000 luncheon at their home in Holderness.
Other host committee members are key Democrats Susan Almy, Mary Breasted, Michael Bronner, Martha Fuller Clark and Geoffrey Clark, Bea and Woolsey Conover, Nancy and Bill Dailey, Jim Demers, Audrey and Tim Fisher, Marcy and Robert Garriott, Sylvia Richards-Gerngross, Kathy and Bill Gillett, Carola Lea, Kate Miller and Jim Putnam.
The Granite Status first reported on the First Lady's visit last week. Other stops have not yet been disclosed by the Obama campaign.
(Earlier updates and the full July 19 Granite Status follow.)
MONDAY, JULY 23 UPDATE: MONDAY, JULY 23, UPDATE: SMITH'S NEW ADS, CLINTON FOR MAGGIE. Republican candidate for governor Kevin Smith will release his second television ad of the campaign later this week, the Granite Status has learned.
The ad continues to focus on his pro-business message and economic plan.
The 30-second spot, which will air on cable television targeting Republican primary voters, begins with an announcer saying, “Politicians give us empty rhetoric, while New Hampshire's economy continues to struggle. Kevin Smith, conservative Republican for governor, has a real plan to put us on the right track.
Smith then says: “I want to see New Hampshire become the most economically competitive state in the country. And, we'll do that by cutting our business taxes, by delivering health care more affordably, lowering our electric rates, keeping more young people here."
The Smith campaign launched its first television ad on July 9. This new spot extends the campaign's “substantial, statewide cable ad buy, and continues to reinforce Smith's message of turning New Hampshire into the most economically competitive state in the country,” the camapign says.
The campaign says Smith “has proven to be the most substantive candidate in the race offering a detailed approach to cutting business taxes, streamlining government, lowering health care costs, and reducing electric rates.”
Smith today released a new radio ad in which he takes a veiled swipe at GOP primary foe Ovide Lamontagne.
“New Hampshire's economy is struggling, and empty rhetoric from perennial candidates and career politicians can't fix it,” an announcer says. “Thankfully, Kevin Smith, conservative Republican for Governor has a plan to change that.”
Also, Democratic candidate for governor Maggie Hassan has announced that former President Bill Clinton will endorse her candidacy at a rally on Wednesday in Nashua.
Hassan volunteered for Clinton when he ran for President in 1992 and 1996 and strongly supported Hillary Clinton over President Barack Obama in the 2010 New Hampshire presidential primary.
(Earlier updates and the full July 19 Granite Status follow.)
MONDAY, JULY 23, UPDATE: HE GOT HELP. In the Mitt Romney campaign web and television ads that received national attention last week, a blunt Jack Gilchrist of Gilchrist Metal Fabricating in Hudson tells President Barack Obama that he, his father and his son _ and not the government _ built his company.
But as it turns out, Gilchrist did receive some government help for his business, albeit a long time ago.
In 1999, Gilchrist Metal received $800,000 in tax-exempt revenue bonds issued by the New Hampshire Business Finance Authority “to set up a second manufacturing plant and purchase equipment to produce high definition television broadcasting equipment,” according to a New Hampshire Union Leader report at the time.
The federal government allocates to each state a certain amount of tax-exempt bonding capacity each year for business and housing loans.
Because the bond buyers do not pay federal taxes on the interest, the interest rate for the borrower is typically lower than that of standard bank financing.
Last year, Gilchrist Metal also received two U.S. Navy sub-contracts totaling about $83,000 and a smaller, $5,600 Coast Guard contract in 2008, according to a government web site that tracks spending.
The Romney camp released a web ad featuring Jack Gilchrist last Thursday after Obama had said a week earlier that “if you were successful, you didn't get there on your own” and added, “If you were successful, somebody along the line gave you some help.”
"If you've got a business," Obama said, "you didn't build that. Somebody else made that happen."
Romney called the comments insulting to private business people and Gilchrist, in the initial web ad, said, “My father's hands didn't build this company? My hands didn't build this company? My son's hands aren't building this company? Did somebody else take out the loan on my father's house to finance the equipment? Did somebody else make payroll every week or figure out where it's coming from? President Obama, you're killing us out here. Through hard work and a little bit of luck, we built this business. Why are you demonizing us for it?”
The ad, and Jack Gilchrist, received national political media attention. On Friday, the Romney campaign turned the 1:40 web ad into a 30-second television ad.
Jack Gilchrist said today his message is not “compromised” by the fact that he received the proceeds of tax-exempt bonds made possible by the federal government. He said the legal fees totaled about $12,000, wiping out any financial advantage he gained as a result of the lower interest rate.
“It was a loser and I wish I had never done it,” he said. “I bought some equipment with it.”
But he did not shy away from the fact that he has utilized government programs.
He also said his company received a U.S. Small Business Administration loan totaling “somewhere south of” $500,000 in the late 1980s.
He said his business has also received matching funds from the New England Trade Adjustment Assistance Center (NETAAC), which is federally-funded.
Gilchrist said about 10 percent of his company's contracts are defense-related.
“It's a small piece,” he said. “But we do business with a plethora of industries and certainly defense is one of them.
“Defense business is a good way to help the economy. But the President wants to cut the crap out of the defense budget.
“I'm not going to turn a blind eye because the money came from the government,” he said. “As far as I'm concerned, I'm getting some of my tax money back.
“I'm not stupid, I'm not going to say 'no.' Shame on me if I didn't use what's available,” he said. “As a matter of fact, right now, I'm driving on a road.
“So, no,” said Gilchrist, “I don't feel as though I've compromised anything or misled anybody.”
The Romney campaign also stands by the ad.
“President Obama has demonstrated that he doesn't understand how the economy works and that he doesn't believe in our free market system,” said Romney spokesman Ryan Williams.
“The President has denigrated business owners by telling them that they 'didn't build' their own successful companies, arrogantly dismissed the challenges facing our economy by saying the private sector is 'doing fine,' and promoted disastrous policies that have killed jobs.”
Williams pointed out that a new Rasmussen poll today showed that 72 percent of likely voters believe people who start small businesses are primarily responsible for their success or failure.
As Romney hosted a small business roundtable in California Monday, Obama spokesman Lis Smith said, “Mitt Romney continues to criticize President Obama by taking his words completely out of context -- all while sitting with small business owners who built their enterprises through their own initiative but with some help along the way. As CEO of Bain & Co, he even negotiated a $10 million federal bailout to keep the company afloat. Mitt Romney's attacks may be unfair, but his events and own actions actually prove the President's point that while businesses are built through hard work and initiative, we're all in this together.”
(Earlier updates and the full July 19 Granite Status follow.)
FRIDAY, JULY 20, UPDATE: EVENT CANCELLED. The Barack Obama campaign has called off an event planned for 3 p.m. Friday at its Manchester headquarters due to the shooting in Colorado.
Mitt Romney held a planned event in Bow but dispensed with campaign rhetoric and addressed the tragedy instead (see story elsewhere on UnionLeader.com).
Earlier updates and the full July 19 Granite Status follow.
THURSDAY, JULY 19, UPDATE: FORMER OHIO GOV., DNC CHAIR RETURNING TO NH. To answer Mitt Romney's 11:30 a.m. visit to Bow on Friday (see item below), President Barack Obama's New Hampshire campaign is bringing former Ohio Gov. Ted Strickland to New Hampshire continue the push for Romney to release additional tax returns.
The Granite Staus also learned Thursday that Democratic National Committee Chairwoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz will be in New Hampshire next Friday, July 27, to talk about the July 30 anniversary of Medicare and what Democrats view as Republican efforts to dismantle it.
Wasserman Schultz will be headlining several grassroots events, which have yet to be announced specifically, focusing on the program.
She will wrap up her visit on July 27 at a fund-raiser for the New Hampshire Democratic Party at the home of Bill and Kathy Gillett in Manchester.
“Cutting Social Security and Medicare would have real implications for thousands of Granite Staters, and it's time for Mitt Romney to come clean about the details of his secret plan to cut Social Security and Medicare to pay for his proposed tax cuts for the wealthiest Americans,” said Holly Shulman, communications director for the Obama campaign in New Hampshire.
Stickland, who lost a close reelection bid to current Republican Ohio Gov. John Kasich in 2010, will visit the Obama campaign office in Manchester at 3 p.m.. He "will deliver a clear message to Governor Romney: Release your tax returns," the Obama campaign said.
"Strickland will discuss the choice in this election between a President who is fighting to bring jobs from overseas back to America and to reduce the deficit by closing the loopholes that allow millionaires and billionaires to avoid paying their fair share, and Mitt Romney, who believes that the wealthiest should be able to play by a different set of rules than the middle class and whose own tax plan encourages outsourcing," said the Obama campaign.
Strickland was last in the state in May to campaign for Obama.
The state Republican Party, meanwhile, said former Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty, a potential Romney running mate, will be in the state on Aug. 11 for an "Ice Cream and Candidates Summer Social" in Manchester.
(The full July 12 Granite Status follows.)
THURSDAY, JULY 12: THE SUNUNU FACTOR. One might have thought that this time, perhaps John Henry Sununu went too far.
After he said on a conference call on Tuesday that President Barack Obama should "learn how to be an American," the question arose of whether our lovable former governor would be long for the Mitt Romney campaign.
Even though he quickly backtracked and then apologized a bit later for comments he said were meant to question Obama's commitment to American free enterprise, would Sununu finally be muzzled, or maybe even let go?
Far from it. By all accounts, the Romney campaign didn't mind a bit that Sununu drew attention to the message it's been trying to push all week - that Obama views business success as a product of government help and that he has rewarded his friends and allies with big government grants.
At least for a day, Sununu drew attention from the mounting pressure on Romney to release 10 to 12 years of tax returns and from the continued attention Romney is getting from Obama and some in the media regarding exactly when he left Bain Capital.
The campaign also notes that while Sununu apologized for his "American" comments about Obama, the President has not apologized for campaign Deputy Communications Director Stephanie Cutter's comment last week that Romney may have committed a "felony" by signing Securities and Exchange Commission documents as the chief executive of Bain after he had said he actually left the firm.
One Republican, invoking a baseball analogy, said Sununu "Has been throwing brush back pitches, but he finally beaned somebody and cleared the benches."
But did Sununu hurt Romney? Apparently not.
After the "American" comments, Sununu was immediately booked with three top talk/news show hosts: Sean Hannity, Larry Kudlow and Wolf Blitzer.
In a story yesterday headlined, "John Sununu, Mitt Romney's Best/Worst Surrogate," Sununu's old friend and former top political sidekick, Dave Carney of Hancock, told The Washington Post, "(Sununu) is not your milquetoast metrosexual talking-point surrogate. I would take Sununu on my side over a dozen pretty talking heads every day. Rough edges and all."
State Republican National Committeeman and former state Republican Party Chairman Steve Duprey said, "He takes the battle to Obama in direct, clear and simple language. Everyone in this business goes off message from time to time, and some, like Vice President (Joe) Biden, only hit message by accident."
Rush Limbaugh lauded Sununu. Even former General Electric CEO Jack Welch praised him on Twitter.
Donald Trump tweeted: "John Sununu was more right than he even knew yesterday - @BarackObama indeed needs to "learn how to be an American."
But Democrats are not upset that Sununu is on the loose.
State Democratic National Committeewoman and former state party Chair Kathy Sullivan said Romney "liked the idea of Sununu becoming a distraction, as Romney doesn't want to release those tax returns.
"So what better way to distract?" asked Sullivan. "Send out the ethically challenged former governor who has a history of calling Democrats vermin and of calling gay marriage garbage - he'll be sure to say something so outrageous that it will take everyone's minds off what Mitt is hiding."
Sullivan said Sununu "is hurting more than he is helping Romney, and therefore helps Obama. Outside of the base, people don't like that sort of visceral nastiness.
"Shame on you, John Sununu, and shame on Mitt Romney for not having the courage to stand up and say, 'No, John, he is an American, he is a patriot, and you can go back home to New Hampshire and be quiet now."
NHDP Chairman Raymond Buckley parlayed the Sununu comments into a fundraising email yesterday.
Its title: "John Sununu said what?"
"Seriously?" asks Buckley.
Ah, like old times around here.
__
KELLY'S CHANCES. In the end, Sen. Kelly Ayotte probably won't be Romney's running mate.
But take it from us, Ayotte truly was under very serious consideration for a long time and in a much more serious way than most thought when the process started.
A local Republican said Romney and his wife, Ann, truly like and feel comfortable with her, believe she is a smart, sharp woman and are impressed by her willingness to go wherever and do whatever the campaign has asked as a surrogate.
"She's on the list because Mitt Romney put here there, not because some consultant did," this Republican said. "I don't think she's going to get it, but she's been in it longer than I thought she'd be."
A prominent state Democrat said Wednesday that if Kelly Ayotte really is a friend of Romney and a potential Romney running mate, she should tell him to release "10 or 12 years" of his tax returns.
"Her life story and we're quite sure her tax history is being thoroughly vetted," said Democratic National Committeeman Peter Burling. "We're asking her to tell us how many years of tax returns has she handed over to the Romney people."
That, he said, "would establish through her a standard of how many years of tax returns the Romney people think are important in judging a candidate.
"Disclosure of the last 10 or 12 years of his income taxes will help us resolve some of the questions about his relationship to Bain Capital at any given moment, after 1999 and his Cayman accounts, his offshore investment accounts, and it will be an important guide to the voters to what policies he will pursue when it comes to offshore taxation," Burling said.
"We're asking for the same type of transparency from Mitt Romney that we're sure he is asking from all of his potential vice presidential candidates."
Romney, by the way, will be with Ayotte tomorrow at Coastal Forest Products in Bow for a campaign event.
__
CHALLENGING BRAGDON. At the State House, Senate President Peter Bragdon is being challenged to a series of four Lincoln-Douglas-style debates by District 11 GOP primary opponent Dan Dwyer.
"I am sure you agree with me that the citizens of District 11 deserve to know how we stand on the issues," Dwyer wrote.
Bragdon said he just received the letter yesterday and will "take a look at it and at scheduling. My understanding is that in Lincoln-Douglas debates, the answer to each question is 40 minutes, so I'll have to see if that's what he's proposing."
__
ST. HILAIRE BACKS OVIDE. Dan St. Hilaire is not running for the Executive Council again, but he remains a key Concord-area Republican and as former Merrimack County Attorney, has law enforcement ties.
So his endorsement was a coveted one, and he's thrown his support to Ovide Lamontagne.
St. Hilaire called Lamontagne "a principled conservative and a business leader who understands the importance of creating a pro-jobs business environment while keeping our taxes low and our budget balanced."
St. Hilaire was elected to the council in 2010 and is leaving after one term because the makeup of District 2 was drastically changed during redistricting to favor the Democrats.
He is the second Executive Councilor to endorse Lamontagne, joining fellow outgoing councilor Ray Wieczorek, who is retiring.
St. Hilaire also serves on the Concord City Council as mayor pro tem. He previously was a prosecutor for the city of Concord.
__
TORY ON ICE. Tory Mazzola would have loved to have remained in politics through the upcoming election, but the offer from Bauer Performance Sports in Exeter was apparently too attractive for him to pass up.
We've learned Mazzola, who resigned as executive director of the New Hampshire Republican Party earlier this week, has accepted a top post, effective Aug. 6, as the company's global communications manager.
Bauer Performance Sports is the world's leading developer and manufacturer of ice hockey, roller hockey and lacrosse equipment. It says its products are available in over 45 countries.
Mazzola is known as a huge hockey fan who played since childhood and remains involved, including playing in the Congressional Hockey Challenge, a charity game between members of Congress and lobbyists.
Before joining the NHGOP, Mazzola worked at the National Republican Congressional Committee as northeast press secretary where he helped Charlie Bass and Frank Guinta, as well as GOP candidates in about a dozen other states.
He previously worked on Capitol Hill as communications director for U.S. Sen. John Ensign and U.S. Rep. Bill Shuster, R-Pa.
__
CILLEY POLL: CLOSE RACES. A poll by the Benenson Strategy Group commissioned by Democratic candidate for governor Jackie Cilley shows a razor close race shaping up between her and primary foe Maggie Hassan.
The poll, completed in mid-June but released this week by the campaign, shows Cilley and Hassan tied at 20 percent, with military man Bill Kennedy at 10 percent and 50 percent undecided.
It shows that 34 percent of Democratic primary voters know enough of Hassan to rate her, while 29 percent know enough to rate Cilley.
Cilley's net favorability is a plus-25 percent, while Hassan's favorability is a plus-24 percent.
In short, this race is truly wide open with many voters left to decide.
Benenson conducted 400 interviews with likely Democratic primary voters. The margin of error is 4.9 percent.
__
$5 MILLION AND COUNTING. The four major candidates for the state's two seats in the U.S. House have raised a combined total of $5 million with about three-and-a-half months to go before the general election Nov. 6.
Guinta, Carol Shea-Porter, Ann McLane Kuster and Bass had a total of $3.3 million on hand as of June 30 for the big push through late summer and into the fall.
Second-quarter filings with the Federal Election Commission, which were due on Sunday, July 15, showed Democratic 2nd District candidate Kuster leading the way with nearly $1.3 million on hand. She raised $483,572 in the second quarter and a total of nearly $1.9 million so far in the 2012 election cycle.
Kuster has spent a total of $784,735 so far in the campaign, her report says.
2nd District incumbent Bass raised $261,445 in the second quarter and raised $1.29 million so far in the campaign. He has spent $501,127 so far in the campaign and lists $912,790 on hand.
Democratic former Rep. Shea-Porter, challenging Republican incumbent Guinta, reported raising $200,852 in the second quarter, for a total of $612,042 so far in the campaign. She has spent $356,582 and lists $312,458 on hand as of June 30.
Guinta's campaign received $256,021 between April 1 and June 30. His campaign has raised $1.24 million so far in the 2012 cycle.
Guinta's campaign reported spending $427,152 so far in the campaign and having $478,133 in total disbursements, including spending $41,500 on loan repayment. His campaign has $846,190 on hand.
__
PAC PERCENTAGES. The U.S. House hopefuls received a combined total of $391,174 from political action committees during the second quarter and $1.8 million from PACs overall in the campaign so far, their campaign finance reports show.
The quarterly PAC amount is about half of the total they raised from April 1 to June 30. And overall, since the beginning of the 2012 election cycle, the candidates have raised about 36 percent of their money from PACs.
Bass's campaign received 57 percent of its second-quarter contributions from PACs, while only 19 percent of the contributions to Kuster, came from PACs.
So far in the 2nd District campaign, 64 percent of Bass's overall contributions, and 16 percent of Kuster's, came from PACs.
__
McLAUGHLIN BACKS CILLEY. Former state Attorney General Phil McLaughlin, who had considered running for governor earlier this year, endorsed Cilley for governor this week, saying, "there is nothing fancy about her. She's a work horse, she's smart, and she's rooted in this state. She pledges nothing but straight talk, an open mind and a willingness to confront New Hampshire's future."
McLaughlin was attorney general from 1997 to 2002. He also served on the Laconia City Council and school board and as Belknap County Attorney.
__
DISABILITY FORUM. Candidate forum season is in full swing, with two Democratic gubernatorial events so far this week and a Republican event slated for tonight.
Meanwhile, a group of advocacy groups for the disabled are joining to sponsor a forum on Sunday, July 29, at the Executive Court in Manchester at 1:30 to 3:30 p.m.
The Disabilities Right Center says Lamontagne, Smith, Hassan, and Cilley, as well as Kennedy and Republican Robert Tarr have confirmed their attendance.
Those interested in attending must register by July 25 and are able to submit questions, which will be reviewed by the organizers.
To register, visit www.ablenh.org/#!events.
__
ANOTHER GOP FORUM. Smith and Lamontagne are back at it tonight in New Castle.
State Sen. Nancy Stiles will moderate the Seacoast Republican Women forum at the town's recreation building. The 6:30 p.m. event is open to the public.
__
ANOTHER SPECIAL interest group is reserving air time for advertising this fall in the Manchester media market.
The conservative American Action Network said it is reserving $650,000 for time on "broadcast television for the Manchester media market" for advocacy ads.
Group spokesman Brook Hougesen called it an "initial investment."
AAN is a 501(c)(4) "action tank" that promotes "center-right policies."
It was co-founded by former U.S. Sen. Norm Coleman, R-Minn., and long-time national GOP operative Fred Malek.
__
HELPING BOUTIN. State Sen. David Boutin, R-Hooksett, said Manchester Mayor Ted Gatsas, Executive Councilor Wieczorek and Merrimack County Sheriff Scott Hilliard will co-chair his District 16 reelection campaign.
__
TAILGATE FOR GUINTA. Local business people and Republican activists will host a fund-raiser for U.S. Rep. Frank Guinta's reelection campaign at Northeast Delta Dental Stadium on Sunday, July 22.
The tailgate in the “Dinner Den” will begin at 12 noon, before the New Hampshire Fisher Cats play the Portland Sea Dogs at 12 noon.
The Sea Dogs are the Boston Red Sox affiliate.
Tickets are $100 per couple or $150 per family of four.
For tickets, contact Stephanie Salvagno at RSVP@teamguinta.com or 836-5620
John DiStaso is senior political reporter of the New Hampshire Union Leader and New Hampshire Sunday News. He can be reached at jdistaso@unionleader.com.Follow him on Twitter: @jdistaso.
Ashooh, also of Bedford, ran for the 1st District U.S. House seat in 2010, losing to Frank Guinta and finishing closely behind second-place finisher Sean Mahoney in the Republican primary.
He is also well-known in the business and charitable communities.
Ashooh said Rolecek“brings the right mix of executive experience, fiscal conservatism, and proven leadership to the Executive Council. I know he will work to keep government small and responsive to its citizens, hold bureaucrats accountable to taxpayers, and help move our state in a more prosperous direction.”
Rolecek is running for the council seat being vacated by the retiring Raymond Wieczorek. Also running in a GOP primary are Hillsborough County Treasurer Bob Burns of Bedford and state Sen. Tom DeBlois of Manchester.
Chris Pappas of Manchester is the lone Democrat in the race.
(Earlier updates and the full July 19 Granite Status follow.)
WEDNESDAY, JULY 25, UPDATE: DNC CHAIR IN STATE FRIDAY. As we reported last week, Democratic National Committee Chair Debbie Wasserman Schultz is headed back to New Hampshire on Friday as a surrogate for President Barack Obama.
We now have details of four events focusing on maintaining the Medicare program, “ensuring a secure retirement for our seniors and what’s at stake for Granite State seniors in this election,” the Obama campaign says.
The campaign says Wasserman Schultz will talk about on Mitt Romney as well as U.S. Reps. Frank Guinta and Charlie Bass and the two GOP candidate for governor, all of them, the campaign says, support replacing the current Medicare system with a “voucher” program or a state-run system.
Wasserman Schultz, who owns a vacation home in Newbury, will hold a news conference in Concord at 11:45 a.m. and grassroots events at the Obama campaign offices in Portsmouth at 9:45 a.m., in Laconia at 1:45 p.m. and in Plymouth at 3 p.m.
Separately from the Obama campaign, she will wrap up her visit at a fund-raiser for the New Hampshire Democratic Party at the home of Bill and Kathy Gillett in Manchester.
(Earlier updates and the full July 19 Granite Status follow.
)WEDNESDAY, JULY 25, UPDATE: CONCERNED ABOUT CUTS. Sen. John McCain will return to New Hampshire with Sen. Lindsey Graham and join New Hampshire Sen. Kelly Ayotte next week in an event focusing on their efforts to prevent massive cuts in defense spending as a result of sequestration slated to take place next year.
McCain, R-Ariz., Graham, R-S.C., and Ayotte will stop at defense contractor BAE Systems' facility in Merrimack on Tuesday as part of their “Preserving America's Strength” series of town hall-style meetings in Florida, North Carolina, Virginia as well as New Hampshire.
All three senators are members of the Senate Armed Services Committee and earlier this year joined with Sens. Jon Kyl, R-Ariz., John Cornyn, R-Texas, and Marco Rubio, R-Fla., in introducing the “Down Payment to Protect National Security Act of 2012.”
The bill replaces the approximate $110 billion in across-the-board federal spending cuts for 2013 with savings derived from a federal employee pay freeze and employee attrition.
(Earlier updates and the full July 19 Granite Status follow.)
TUESDAY, JULY 24, UPDATE: THE “GOOD ANSWER.” “4RG,” a political action committee set up by conservative activist and former Newt Gingrich state campaign director Andrew Hemingway a few months ago, is out with its first web ad, and it's a bit controversial.
It features video footage of a recent event held by Democratic candidate for governor Maggie Hassan in Goffstown.
She's asked by an audience member: “How can you beat a Republican opponent in this state this year?”
And just as she begins to answer, another audience member shouts out:
“You can beat 'em with a bat! You can beat 'em with your hands! You can beat 'em with your feet!”
To which Hassan replies, “That's a good answer.”
She then goes on to say the GOP candidates for governor “have been siding with (House speaker) Bill O'Brien and the Tea Party legislature on their divisive agenda and policies that hurt middle class families.”
She says she is working to support candidates “who will be wonderful, terrific progressive legislators.”
The ad accuses Hassan of “playing destructive partisan politics,” and portrays GOP candidates Kevin Smith and Ovide Lamontagne in a positive way, supporting such things as “affordable health care,” lower taxes and more jobs.
Hassan campaign manager Matt Burgess said Hassan was clearly not serious when she said, “Good answer” to the bat, feet and hands comment.
“Someone attempted to make a humorous comment about the importance of working hard in this election but Maggie continued to talk about her forward looking vision for New Hampshire and the stark contrast between the Republicans agenda that will take us backwards as a state,” Burgess said.
“4RG,” which stands for “For A Republican Governor,” is not backing either Smith or Lamontagne, but, as the name says, is committed to getting a Republican governor elected and has been critical of Hassan and her Democratic primary foe, Jackie Cilley, on Twitter.
(Earlier updates and the full July 19 Granite Status follow.)
TUESDAY, JULY 24, UPDATE: FIRST LADY FUND-RAISER. When First Lady Michelle Obama comes to New Hampshire on Aug. 2, in addition to attending grassroots events, she will be featured at a high-dollar fundraiser for the Obama campaign in the Lakes Region.
Long time state Democratic activists Gary and Meg Hirshberg will host the $2,500-to-$10,000 luncheon at their home in Holderness.
Other host committee members are key Democrats Susan Almy, Mary Breasted, Michael Bronner, Martha Fuller Clark and Geoffrey Clark, Bea and Woolsey Conover, Nancy and Bill Dailey, Jim Demers, Audrey and Tim Fisher, Marcy and Robert Garriott, Sylvia Richards-Gerngross, Kathy and Bill Gillett, Carola Lea, Kate Miller and Jim Putnam.
The Granite Status first reported on the First Lady's visit last week. Other stops have not yet been disclosed by the Obama campaign.
(Earlier updates and the full July 19 Granite Status follow.)
MONDAY, JULY 23 UPDATE: MONDAY, JULY 23, UPDATE: SMITH'S NEW ADS, CLINTON FOR MAGGIE. Republican candidate for governor Kevin Smith will release his second television ad of the campaign later this week, the Granite Status has learned.
The ad continues to focus on his pro-business message and economic plan.
The 30-second spot, which will air on cable television targeting Republican primary voters, begins with an announcer saying, “Politicians give us empty rhetoric, while New Hampshire's economy continues to struggle. Kevin Smith, conservative Republican for governor, has a real plan to put us on the right track.
Smith then says: “I want to see New Hampshire become the most economically competitive state in the country. And, we'll do that by cutting our business taxes, by delivering health care more affordably, lowering our electric rates, keeping more young people here."
The Smith campaign launched its first television ad on July 9. This new spot extends the campaign's “substantial, statewide cable ad buy, and continues to reinforce Smith's message of turning New Hampshire into the most economically competitive state in the country,” the camapign says.
The campaign says Smith “has proven to be the most substantive candidate in the race offering a detailed approach to cutting business taxes, streamlining government, lowering health care costs, and reducing electric rates.”
Smith today released a new radio ad in which he takes a veiled swipe at GOP primary foe Ovide Lamontagne.
“New Hampshire's economy is struggling, and empty rhetoric from perennial candidates and career politicians can't fix it,” an announcer says. “Thankfully, Kevin Smith, conservative Republican for Governor has a plan to change that.”
Also, Democratic candidate for governor Maggie Hassan has announced that former President Bill Clinton will endorse her candidacy at a rally on Wednesday in Nashua.
Hassan volunteered for Clinton when he ran for President in 1992 and 1996 and strongly supported Hillary Clinton over President Barack Obama in the 2010 New Hampshire presidential primary.
(Earlier updates and the full July 19 Granite Status follow.)
MONDAY, JULY 23, UPDATE: HE GOT HELP. In the Mitt Romney campaign web and television ads that received national attention last week, a blunt Jack Gilchrist of Gilchrist Metal Fabricating in Hudson tells President Barack Obama that he, his father and his son _ and not the government _ built his company.
But as it turns out, Gilchrist did receive some government help for his business, albeit a long time ago.
In 1999, Gilchrist Metal received $800,000 in tax-exempt revenue bonds issued by the New Hampshire Business Finance Authority “to set up a second manufacturing plant and purchase equipment to produce high definition television broadcasting equipment,” according to a New Hampshire Union Leader report at the time.
The federal government allocates to each state a certain amount of tax-exempt bonding capacity each year for business and housing loans.
Because the bond buyers do not pay federal taxes on the interest, the interest rate for the borrower is typically lower than that of standard bank financing.
Last year, Gilchrist Metal also received two U.S. Navy sub-contracts totaling about $83,000 and a smaller, $5,600 Coast Guard contract in 2008, according to a government web site that tracks spending.
The Romney camp released a web ad featuring Jack Gilchrist last Thursday after Obama had said a week earlier that “if you were successful, you didn't get there on your own” and added, “If you were successful, somebody along the line gave you some help.”
"If you've got a business," Obama said, "you didn't build that. Somebody else made that happen."
Romney called the comments insulting to private business people and Gilchrist, in the initial web ad, said, “My father's hands didn't build this company? My hands didn't build this company? My son's hands aren't building this company? Did somebody else take out the loan on my father's house to finance the equipment? Did somebody else make payroll every week or figure out where it's coming from? President Obama, you're killing us out here. Through hard work and a little bit of luck, we built this business. Why are you demonizing us for it?”
The ad, and Jack Gilchrist, received national political media attention. On Friday, the Romney campaign turned the 1:40 web ad into a 30-second television ad.
Jack Gilchrist said today his message is not “compromised” by the fact that he received the proceeds of tax-exempt bonds made possible by the federal government. He said the legal fees totaled about $12,000, wiping out any financial advantage he gained as a result of the lower interest rate.
“It was a loser and I wish I had never done it,” he said. “I bought some equipment with it.”
But he did not shy away from the fact that he has utilized government programs.
He also said his company received a U.S. Small Business Administration loan totaling “somewhere south of” $500,000 in the late 1980s.
He said his business has also received matching funds from the New England Trade Adjustment Assistance Center (NETAAC), which is federally-funded.
Gilchrist said about 10 percent of his company's contracts are defense-related.
“It's a small piece,” he said. “But we do business with a plethora of industries and certainly defense is one of them.
“Defense business is a good way to help the economy. But the President wants to cut the crap out of the defense budget.
“I'm not going to turn a blind eye because the money came from the government,” he said. “As far as I'm concerned, I'm getting some of my tax money back.
“I'm not stupid, I'm not going to say 'no.' Shame on me if I didn't use what's available,” he said. “As a matter of fact, right now, I'm driving on a road.
“So, no,” said Gilchrist, “I don't feel as though I've compromised anything or misled anybody.”
The Romney campaign also stands by the ad.
“President Obama has demonstrated that he doesn't understand how the economy works and that he doesn't believe in our free market system,” said Romney spokesman Ryan Williams.
“The President has denigrated business owners by telling them that they 'didn't build' their own successful companies, arrogantly dismissed the challenges facing our economy by saying the private sector is 'doing fine,' and promoted disastrous policies that have killed jobs.”
Williams pointed out that a new Rasmussen poll today showed that 72 percent of likely voters believe people who start small businesses are primarily responsible for their success or failure.
As Romney hosted a small business roundtable in California Monday, Obama spokesman Lis Smith said, “Mitt Romney continues to criticize President Obama by taking his words completely out of context -- all while sitting with small business owners who built their enterprises through their own initiative but with some help along the way. As CEO of Bain & Co, he even negotiated a $10 million federal bailout to keep the company afloat. Mitt Romney's attacks may be unfair, but his events and own actions actually prove the President's point that while businesses are built through hard work and initiative, we're all in this together.”
(Earlier updates and the full July 19 Granite Status follow.)
FRIDAY, JULY 20, UPDATE: EVENT CANCELLED. The Barack Obama campaign has called off an event planned for 3 p.m. Friday at its Manchester headquarters due to the shooting in Colorado.
Mitt Romney held a planned event in Bow but dispensed with campaign rhetoric and addressed the tragedy instead (see story elsewhere on UnionLeader.com).
Earlier updates and the full July 19 Granite Status follow.
THURSDAY, JULY 19, UPDATE: FORMER OHIO GOV., DNC CHAIR RETURNING TO NH. To answer Mitt Romney's 11:30 a.m. visit to Bow on Friday (see item below), President Barack Obama's New Hampshire campaign is bringing former Ohio Gov. Ted Strickland to New Hampshire continue the push for Romney to release additional tax returns.
The Granite Staus also learned Thursday that Democratic National Committee Chairwoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz will be in New Hampshire next Friday, July 27, to talk about the July 30 anniversary of Medicare and what Democrats view as Republican efforts to dismantle it.
Wasserman Schultz will be headlining several grassroots events, which have yet to be announced specifically, focusing on the program.
She will wrap up her visit on July 27 at a fund-raiser for the New Hampshire Democratic Party at the home of Bill and Kathy Gillett in Manchester.
“Cutting Social Security and Medicare would have real implications for thousands of Granite Staters, and it's time for Mitt Romney to come clean about the details of his secret plan to cut Social Security and Medicare to pay for his proposed tax cuts for the wealthiest Americans,” said Holly Shulman, communications director for the Obama campaign in New Hampshire.
Stickland, who lost a close reelection bid to current Republican Ohio Gov. John Kasich in 2010, will visit the Obama campaign office in Manchester at 3 p.m.. He "will deliver a clear message to Governor Romney: Release your tax returns," the Obama campaign said.
"Strickland will discuss the choice in this election between a President who is fighting to bring jobs from overseas back to America and to reduce the deficit by closing the loopholes that allow millionaires and billionaires to avoid paying their fair share, and Mitt Romney, who believes that the wealthiest should be able to play by a different set of rules than the middle class and whose own tax plan encourages outsourcing," said the Obama campaign.
Strickland was last in the state in May to campaign for Obama.
The state Republican Party, meanwhile, said former Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty, a potential Romney running mate, will be in the state on Aug. 11 for an "Ice Cream and Candidates Summer Social" in Manchester.
(The full July 12 Granite Status follows.)
THURSDAY, JULY 12: THE SUNUNU FACTOR. One might have thought that this time, perhaps John Henry Sununu went too far.
After he said on a conference call on Tuesday that President Barack Obama should "learn how to be an American," the question arose of whether our lovable former governor would be long for the Mitt Romney campaign.
Even though he quickly backtracked and then apologized a bit later for comments he said were meant to question Obama's commitment to American free enterprise, would Sununu finally be muzzled, or maybe even let go?
Far from it. By all accounts, the Romney campaign didn't mind a bit that Sununu drew attention to the message it's been trying to push all week - that Obama views business success as a product of government help and that he has rewarded his friends and allies with big government grants.
At least for a day, Sununu drew attention from the mounting pressure on Romney to release 10 to 12 years of tax returns and from the continued attention Romney is getting from Obama and some in the media regarding exactly when he left Bain Capital.
The campaign also notes that while Sununu apologized for his "American" comments about Obama, the President has not apologized for campaign Deputy Communications Director Stephanie Cutter's comment last week that Romney may have committed a "felony" by signing Securities and Exchange Commission documents as the chief executive of Bain after he had said he actually left the firm.
One Republican, invoking a baseball analogy, said Sununu "Has been throwing brush back pitches, but he finally beaned somebody and cleared the benches."
But did Sununu hurt Romney? Apparently not.
After the "American" comments, Sununu was immediately booked with three top talk/news show hosts: Sean Hannity, Larry Kudlow and Wolf Blitzer.
In a story yesterday headlined, "John Sununu, Mitt Romney's Best/Worst Surrogate," Sununu's old friend and former top political sidekick, Dave Carney of Hancock, told The Washington Post, "(Sununu) is not your milquetoast metrosexual talking-point surrogate. I would take Sununu on my side over a dozen pretty talking heads every day. Rough edges and all."
State Republican National Committeeman and former state Republican Party Chairman Steve Duprey said, "He takes the battle to Obama in direct, clear and simple language. Everyone in this business goes off message from time to time, and some, like Vice President (Joe) Biden, only hit message by accident."
Rush Limbaugh lauded Sununu. Even former General Electric CEO Jack Welch praised him on Twitter.
Donald Trump tweeted: "John Sununu was more right than he even knew yesterday - @BarackObama indeed needs to "learn how to be an American."
But Democrats are not upset that Sununu is on the loose.
State Democratic National Committeewoman and former state party Chair Kathy Sullivan said Romney "liked the idea of Sununu becoming a distraction, as Romney doesn't want to release those tax returns.
"So what better way to distract?" asked Sullivan. "Send out the ethically challenged former governor who has a history of calling Democrats vermin and of calling gay marriage garbage - he'll be sure to say something so outrageous that it will take everyone's minds off what Mitt is hiding."
Sullivan said Sununu "is hurting more than he is helping Romney, and therefore helps Obama. Outside of the base, people don't like that sort of visceral nastiness.
"Shame on you, John Sununu, and shame on Mitt Romney for not having the courage to stand up and say, 'No, John, he is an American, he is a patriot, and you can go back home to New Hampshire and be quiet now."
NHDP Chairman Raymond Buckley parlayed the Sununu comments into a fundraising email yesterday.
Its title: "John Sununu said what?"
"Seriously?" asks Buckley.
Ah, like old times around here.
KELLY'S CHANCES. In the end, Sen. Kelly Ayotte probably won't be Romney's running mate.
But take it from us, Ayotte truly was under very serious consideration for a long time and in a much more serious way than most thought when the process started.
A local Republican said Romney and his wife, Ann, truly like and feel comfortable with her, believe she is a smart, sharp woman and are impressed by her willingness to go wherever and do whatever the campaign has asked as a surrogate.
"She's on the list because Mitt Romney put here there, not because some consultant did," this Republican said. "I don't think she's going to get it, but she's been in it longer than I thought she'd be."
A prominent state Democrat said Wednesday that if Kelly Ayotte really is a friend of Romney and a potential Romney running mate, she should tell him to release "10 or 12 years" of his tax returns.
"Her life story and we're quite sure her tax history is being thoroughly vetted," said Democratic National Committeeman Peter Burling. "We're asking her to tell us how many years of tax returns has she handed over to the Romney people."
That, he said, "would establish through her a standard of how many years of tax returns the Romney people think are important in judging a candidate.
"Disclosure of the last 10 or 12 years of his income taxes will help us resolve some of the questions about his relationship to Bain Capital at any given moment, after 1999 and his Cayman accounts, his offshore investment accounts, and it will be an important guide to the voters to what policies he will pursue when it comes to offshore taxation," Burling said.
"We're asking for the same type of transparency from Mitt Romney that we're sure he is asking from all of his potential vice presidential candidates."
Romney, by the way, will be with Ayotte tomorrow at Coastal Forest Products in Bow for a campaign event.
CHALLENGING BRAGDON. At the State House, Senate President Peter Bragdon is being challenged to a series of four Lincoln-Douglas-style debates by District 11 GOP primary opponent Dan Dwyer.
"I am sure you agree with me that the citizens of District 11 deserve to know how we stand on the issues," Dwyer wrote.
Bragdon said he just received the letter yesterday and will "take a look at it and at scheduling. My understanding is that in Lincoln-Douglas debates, the answer to each question is 40 minutes, so I'll have to see if that's what he's proposing."
ST. HILAIRE BACKS OVIDE. Dan St. Hilaire is not running for the Executive Council again, but he remains a key Concord-area Republican and as former Merrimack County Attorney, has law enforcement ties.
So his endorsement was a coveted one, and he's thrown his support to Ovide Lamontagne.
St. Hilaire called Lamontagne "a principled conservative and a business leader who understands the importance of creating a pro-jobs business environment while keeping our taxes low and our budget balanced."
St. Hilaire was elected to the council in 2010 and is leaving after one term because the makeup of District 2 was drastically changed during redistricting to favor the Democrats.
He is the second Executive Councilor to endorse Lamontagne, joining fellow outgoing councilor Ray Wieczorek, who is retiring.
St. Hilaire also serves on the Concord City Council as mayor pro tem. He previously was a prosecutor for the city of Concord.
TORY ON ICE. Tory Mazzola would have loved to have remained in politics through the upcoming election, but the offer from Bauer Performance Sports in Exeter was apparently too attractive for him to pass up.
We've learned Mazzola, who resigned as executive director of the New Hampshire Republican Party earlier this week, has accepted a top post, effective Aug. 6, as the company's global communications manager.
Bauer Performance Sports is the world's leading developer and manufacturer of ice hockey, roller hockey and lacrosse equipment. It says its products are available in over 45 countries.
Mazzola is known as a huge hockey fan who played since childhood and remains involved, including playing in the Congressional Hockey Challenge, a charity game between members of Congress and lobbyists.
Before joining the NHGOP, Mazzola worked at the National Republican Congressional Committee as northeast press secretary where he helped Charlie Bass and Frank Guinta, as well as GOP candidates in about a dozen other states.
He previously worked on Capitol Hill as communications director for U.S. Sen. John Ensign and U.S. Rep. Bill Shuster, R-Pa.
CILLEY POLL: CLOSE RACES. A poll by the Benenson Strategy Group commissioned by Democratic candidate for governor Jackie Cilley shows a razor close race shaping up between her and primary foe Maggie Hassan.
The poll, completed in mid-June but released this week by the campaign, shows Cilley and Hassan tied at 20 percent, with military man Bill Kennedy at 10 percent and 50 percent undecided.
It shows that 34 percent of Democratic primary voters know enough of Hassan to rate her, while 29 percent know enough to rate Cilley.
Cilley's net favorability is a plus-25 percent, while Hassan's favorability is a plus-24 percent.
In short, this race is truly wide open with many voters left to decide.
Benenson conducted 400 interviews with likely Democratic primary voters. The margin of error is 4.9 percent.
$5 MILLION AND COUNTING. The four major candidates for the state's two seats in the U.S. House have raised a combined total of $5 million with about three-and-a-half months to go before the general election Nov. 6.
Guinta, Carol Shea-Porter, Ann McLane Kuster and Bass had a total of $3.3 million on hand as of June 30 for the big push through late summer and into the fall.
Second-quarter filings with the Federal Election Commission, which were due on Sunday, July 15, showed Democratic 2nd District candidate Kuster leading the way with nearly $1.3 million on hand. She raised $483,572 in the second quarter and a total of nearly $1.9 million so far in the 2012 election cycle.
Kuster has spent a total of $784,735 so far in the campaign, her report says.
2nd District incumbent Bass raised $261,445 in the second quarter and raised $1.29 million so far in the campaign. He has spent $501,127 so far in the campaign and lists $912,790 on hand.
Democratic former Rep. Shea-Porter, challenging Republican incumbent Guinta, reported raising $200,852 in the second quarter, for a total of $612,042 so far in the campaign. She has spent $356,582 and lists $312,458 on hand as of June 30.
Guinta's campaign received $256,021 between April 1 and June 30. His campaign has raised $1.24 million so far in the 2012 cycle.
Guinta's campaign reported spending $427,152 so far in the campaign and having $478,133 in total disbursements, including spending $41,500 on loan repayment. His campaign has $846,190 on hand.
PAC PERCENTAGES. The U.S. House hopefuls received a combined total of $391,174 from political action committees during the second quarter and $1.8 million from PACs overall in the campaign so far, their campaign finance reports show.
The quarterly PAC amount is about half of the total they raised from April 1 to June 30. And overall, since the beginning of the 2012 election cycle, the candidates have raised about 36 percent of their money from PACs.
Bass's campaign received 57 percent of its second-quarter contributions from PACs, while only 19 percent of the contributions to Kuster, came from PACs.
So far in the 2nd District campaign, 64 percent of Bass's overall contributions, and 16 percent of Kuster's, came from PACs.
McLAUGHLIN BACKS CILLEY. Former state Attorney General Phil McLaughlin, who had considered running for governor earlier this year, endorsed Cilley for governor this week, saying, "there is nothing fancy about her. She's a work horse, she's smart, and she's rooted in this state. She pledges nothing but straight talk, an open mind and a willingness to confront New Hampshire's future."
McLaughlin was attorney general from 1997 to 2002. He also served on the Laconia City Council and school board and as Belknap County Attorney.
DISABILITY FORUM. Candidate forum season is in full swing, with two Democratic gubernatorial events so far this week and a Republican event slated for tonight.
Meanwhile, a group of advocacy groups for the disabled are joining to sponsor a forum on Sunday, July 29, at the Executive Court in Manchester at 1:30 to 3:30 p.m.
The Disabilities Right Center says Lamontagne, Smith, Hassan, and Cilley, as well as Kennedy and Republican Robert Tarr have confirmed their attendance.
Those interested in attending must register by July 25 and are able to submit questions, which will be reviewed by the organizers.
To register, visit www.ablenh.org/#!events.
ANOTHER GOP FORUM. Smith and Lamontagne are back at it tonight in New Castle.
State Sen. Nancy Stiles will moderate the Seacoast Republican Women forum at the town's recreation building. The 6:30 p.m. event is open to the public.
ANOTHER SPECIAL interest group is reserving air time for advertising this fall in the Manchester media market.
The conservative American Action Network said it is reserving $650,000 for time on "broadcast television for the Manchester media market" for advocacy ads.
Group spokesman Brook Hougesen called it an "initial investment."
AAN is a 501(c)(4) "action tank" that promotes "center-right policies."
It was co-founded by former U.S. Sen. Norm Coleman, R-Minn., and long-time national GOP operative Fred Malek.
HELPING BOUTIN. State Sen. David Boutin, R-Hooksett, said Manchester Mayor Ted Gatsas, Executive Councilor Wieczorek and Merrimack County Sheriff Scott Hilliard will co-chair his District 16 reelection campaign.
TAILGATE FOR GUINTA. Local business people and Republican activists will host a fund-raiser for U.S. Rep. Frank Guinta's reelection campaign at Northeast Delta Dental Stadium on Sunday, July 22.
The tailgate in the “Dinner Den” will begin at 12 noon, before the New Hampshire Fisher Cats play the Portland Sea Dogs at 12 noon.
The Sea Dogs are the Boston Red Sox affiliate.
Tickets are $100 per couple or $150 per family of four.
For tickets, contact Stephanie Salvagno at RSVP@teamguinta.com or 836-5620
John DiStaso is senior political reporter of the New Hampshire Union Leader and New Hampshire Sunday News. He can be reached at jdistaso@unionleader.com.Follow him on Twitter: @jdistaso.
