GOP Sen. Judd Gregg says that he’ll run again in 2010, although our friends at the indispensable Blue Hampshire aren’t convinced of his sincerity. While Gov. John Lynch would top many lists of “dream candidates” to take on Gregg, this scenario doesn’t seem especially likely. Who else could or should run against Gregg? And in the event of a Gregg retirement, who do you see stepping up for the GOP?
29 thoughts on “NH-Sen: Statewide Recruitment Thread”
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I was impressed by Steve Marchand. Would Paul Hodes risk his House seat?
and keep up the coat-tail dragging, haha.
Governor Lynch should be hounded relentlessly until he gives in to run for Senate against either Gregg or an open seat should Gregg retire.
I think Steve Marchand, the mayor of Portsmouth who ran for Senate before Jeanne Shaheen came back, would be a good choice to run for the governor’s seat should it become open.
By far our strongest candidate beyond Lynch.
He win, too.
Hodes is the best choice for us–in terms of electability and ideology. And his CD has gotten so blue at this point, it should be an easy hold.
Sununu is possible for the Republicans. He still has a surprisingly large cash balance. Lynch, Hodes, and Marchand with Carol Shea-Porter in reserve on our side. If CSP ran, her own seat would be iffy. She’s a stronger candidate than most people think but the uncertainty combo of winning the Senate seat and retaining the House seat make the others safer and therefore better picks.
If Lynch is as advertised, Hodes is probably our best bet.
Btw, Gregg ranks 13th among class of 2010 Republican Senators in cash on hand. Four have pretty pathetic totals: McCain ($13,931); Brownback ($31,320); Coburn ($69,090); and Bunning ($175,095). The only others with less are Lisa Murkowski ($327,352) who could be a victim of Palinmania in a primary and Bob Bennett of Utah ($259,592).
Steve Marchand would be a respectable candidate. I wouldn’t want to give up either of the House seats to an uphill challenge.
Socially progressive and not a fiscal fool. While that is the mark of most of the country now, it is especially what New Hampshire likes.
And if he actually spoke up in the Senate lord knows we need a fiscally sane person in the Senate… 10 trillion plus in debt and absolutely no one talking about addressing it on either side of the aisle.
run for Governor, with his 80% approval rating, and Steve Marchand, formerly a mayor of Portsmouth, one of the more conservative major cities in the state if I”m not mistaken, can run for Governor at age 36 and serve a couple of terms.
First, the Republicans:
* I do not think Gregg will run again. However, his actions lately have left me convinced that he is sly enough to keep the door open. First, he praised a few of Obama’s picks, including Hillary Clinton. This is most out of character for him. Secondly, Gregg, a chief negotiator of the bailout, himself bailed out of being on the oversight panel. What do these actions have in common? They are that of a man who took a long look at John E. Sununu’s run, and Susan Collins’ run, and decided that if he’s going to run he needs to be Juddy Collins. Gregg, by the way, will be a very difficult nut to crack. Ranking them as candidates, I would put Gregg above Sununu Junior, who himself is above Bass and Bradley. However, and this is a biiiig however: the last time Gregg had a tough race on his hands was 1992. This time, he will have a tough race on his hands, and with a state demographic that is much more blue than 18 years ago.
* John H. Sununu, bizarrely, just took over the reins at the NHGOP. Now, John H.’s wife, a very long time ago, did the same while he saddled up for a senate run. I wonder if John H.’s chairmanship exists simply so that he can micromanage John E.’s second senate run for Gregg’s vacated seat and “do it right” this time?
Now, the Democrats:
* John Lynch: I think it is a bad mistake to assume from Lynch’s deserved high approval ratings that he would have an easy time getting this seat. He does not govern or campaign in a partisan manner, and this seat cannot be won without getting partisan, especially if Gregg is the nominee and/or Sununu Senior is NHGOP Chair. Additionally, Lynch is not beloved by the Democratic base due to ongoing education funding issues I won’t bore you with here. Finally, Lynch, while a good, stable, competent governor in many respects, is no progressive. And I think a strong argument can be made that the US Senate could really use some more progressive voices. There is also no indication that Lynch is interested.
* Paul Hodes: a strong contender with a progressive voice who could raise the necessary money and win. And we would be lucky to have a voice such as his in the Senate. And his seat in the House could be picked up without too much trouble by Jay Buckey or Katrina Swett or Molly Kelly, to name just a few.
* Carol Shea-Porter: I am surprised at how little discussion in the thread so far was given to her for this seat. Despite not taking PAC money and having a huge target on her back from the NRCC as one of the few races they thought they could win in ’08, she handily went on to re-election against Jeb Bradley, and even increased her vote percentages in some of the redder, and voter-rich areas of her district. If a true grassroots progressive like Carol can win under such difficult circumstances, certainly, she won’t have much trouble campaigning in CD2, which has both more Democrats and more progressive Democrats in it. The question for me is whether she would want to raise the kind of money needed for a Senate run. That can’t be fun.
To sum up, I would be thrilled to have either Shea-Porter or Hodes replace Gregg.
Now, if Hodes/CSP/Lynch are not interested, and Gregg still runs, then, playing God, I would try to recruit Stonyfield Yogurt founder Gary Hirshberg.
There’s also Steve Marchand, though I am hoping he will run for governor whenever Lynch moves on.