New Hampshire Republicans

Although 2008 saw the fall of several Republican heavyweights, it also gave birth to a group of Republicans who will shape the party, and New Hampshire, in 2009.

Below you will find a list of the top ten Republicans to watch for in the upcoming year.

The New Hampshire Republican Party has announced that its state committee will meet in mid-January to select a chairman.

Yesterday, in an email to Republicans, Chairman Fergus Cullen said that the meeting will be held on Jan. 17 at Bedford High School.

For Immediate Release
December 19, 2008

Statement from NHDP Chair Ray Buckley on New Hampshire Supreme Court Dismissal of GOP Appeal

Concord-Below is a statement from New Hampshire Democratic Party Chair Ray Buckley regarding today's Supreme Court dismissal of a New Hampshire Republican Party appeal:

The chairman of the Belknap County Republicans said that the county has begun to become more Democratic, but argued that Republicans can still be competitive in the county.

"You can't argue against the numbers, but I'm not ready to say it's shifted blue. I think our message needs to be articulated better," Frank Tilton told PolitickerNH.com last week in an interview.

Last weekend the Sullivan County Republicans re-elected their chairman and elected members to the state committee.

Last Saturday, the Sullivan County Republicans selected Harry Gale of Sunapee to be their chairman for the next two years. Gale is a former state representative from Sunapee and is also Sunapee's town and school district moderator. This will be Gale's second term as county chairman. Ernie Bridge was elected vice chairman, David Roark and Margaret Drye were elected co-secretaries and Chris Vinci will be the treasurer.

A group of Republican activists have announced that they are postponing a meeting because of the recent ice story.

The meeting, titled "GOP Positive Look Forward," was scheduled to take place on Monday at Saint Anselm College but will now be held at a later date.

"It is appropriate under the circumstances that our focus be on our friends, families and neighbors, and taking care of their immediate needs first," Republican activist Jim Merrill wrote in an e-mail. "The response to this event has been tremendous, and we will be rescheduling the event to bring us all together to discuss next steps for the NHGOP."

It took almost two hours Thursday night for the Rockingham County Republicans to elect 77 members to the Republican State Committee.

Over the past two weeks, Republican county committees having been meeting to elect people who will vote next month to determine who will become the next chairman of the New Hampshire Republican Party. Currently only former Gov. John H. Sununu is running for chairman.

New Hampshire Republican Party Vice Chairman Wayne MacDonald says that outgoing party Chairman Fergus Cullen worked "tirelessly" for the party and did the best job he could in light of recent problems within the party.

Cullen has decided not to run for a second term as party chair and former Gov. John H. Sununu has announced that he will run for the post. So far, Sununu is the only declared candidate for the position.

MANCHESTER--Mayor Frank Guinta decided to pass on a question about whether he will run for re-election in 2009 but said that he would make an announcement "at the appropriate time."

Guinta, mayor of the largest city in New Hampshire, is often mentioned by Republicans as a potential statewide candidate, or congressional candidate, in 2010. If Guinta decided to run in 2009 he would be running for his third-term as mayor.

"Right now I'm putting my energy into being mayor of Manchester but at the appropriate time I'll make known my intentions for the future," Guinta told PolitickerNH.com.

LACONIA--Former Gov. John H. Sununu, who is running for chairman of the New Hampshire Republican Party, said that the state party should focus on spending its resources on the 2010 state elections and not the 2009 local elections.

When asked whether the state party would help Republican candidates who might be participating in local non-partisan elections, Sununu was undecided.