| September 18th, 2009 POLITICAL STANDING for September 18, 2009 Every week Political Standing tracks who is up or down in New Hampshire politics UP Ted Gatsas: The big winner of the week crushed his opponents in the Manchester Mayoral primary this week. He should be position to be the next mayor of the state's largest city -- and the state's biggest Republican office holder. Kelly Ayotte: The Republican U.S. Senate candidate had many things go her way this week. A Rasmussen Poll suggested she has an eight point lead in a head to head with her Democratic rival. She picked up a good New Hampshire person to run campaign operations. Paul Hodes was personally calling John DiStaso to push dirt on her. Sean Mahoney gets in the race and if there is a three-way contest she walks away the nominee. And the Washington Post says her race is the most likely to go to Democrats -- a plus because it is with two weeks to go in her crucial fund-raising period and days before her Washington fund-raisers. (Surely, Hodes will use this ranking for fund-raising also, but she needs it more.) Mark Roy: Looking back Roy gets a pat on the back for pulling out a tough primary win to advance in the Manchester Mayoral race. Looking ahead he'll need a swift kick somewhere else. Sean Mahoney: At Wednesday night's Republican fund-raiser Mahoney was the man of the moment. He is shaking up this race something serious. Plus, this week we learned he won "the David Carney primary." John Lynch: After a bad summer Lynch out-smarted the SEA this week and took back the debate. Ann McLane Kuster/ Colin Van Ostern: Absolutely the perfect match for both sides. John E. Sununu: The former U.S. Senator returns to New Hampshire this week filling a room with hundreds wishing him well. And did you see that Rasmussen poll showing that in a head to head with Lynch he loses just 48-43? Interesting. DOWN Fergus Cullen: The former state Republican Chair must love to stick a finger in the eyes of Republicans. His Union Leader column praising Democrat Bobby Stephen ahead of the election was ballsy. It also angered a lot of Republicans. Had Stephen won, Fergus would get the up arrow. But Stephen lost and Fergus takes the down arrow as the representative for all Republicans who supported Stephen. Ted Gatsas will not forget you. Bobby Stephen: In the end the candidate is the one to blame. He ran a general election strategy in the primary and for that he deserved to lose. He needed Democrats on board and that's why he hired the former Executive Director of the state Democratic Party to run his campaign. Smart move. Then he bought the Democratic voter file. Smart move again. Then he forgot it all and took advice every night from the former Union Leader editorial page editor. Bad move in the primary. Alex Lee: He resigned his post as Merrimack County Democrats Chair this week after his own committee threatened to kick him out with a vote. They claim he was destroying the committee by not organizing the last two monthly meetings or holding fund-raisers. He calls it a cabal. Either way he lost some power this week, but he certainly won't lose his voice. Ovide Lamontagne: Who is this guy again? By week's end it was unclear if Sean Mahoney's entry in the U.S. Senate race said more about how vulnerable Mahoney thought Ayotte is in a primary or if it said more about whether he believes Lamontagne will actually run. Last week Ovide was the "Ayotte alternative" and going forward he'll have to fight for that title. Jennifer Horn: Charlie Bass signaled again this week that he is very likely to run for his old Congressional seat. It is unclear if this will change Horn's plans to run and face a primary against him, but if she stays in these continued Bass comments hurt her fund-raising tremendously. Gary Smith: He seemed to put Lynch on the ropes a few weeks ago, but now he is the one not looking good. And as the Concord Monitor reported Friday, look out behind you because your own colleagues at the prison may abandon you for another union. Joseph Dauben: The suspended Young Republican official is down so much he is going down (extradited) to Texas. Back To News |
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Paid for by Ted Gatsas for Mayor. B. Rivard, Fiscal Agent PO Box 6655, Manchester, NH 03108 603.623.0220
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