Ovide Lamontagne, a conservative activist and 1996 Republican gubernatorial nominee, said yesterday he will run for the U.S. Senate seat being vacated by New Hampshire Sen. Judd Gregg.

Lamontagne plans to make his candidacy official today with filings to the Federal Election Commission. He also plans to unveil a new website, ovide2010.com.

The 52-year-old Manchester attorney said he will focus on fiscal and defense issues in a campaign based on conservative principles.

"Getting our fiscal house in order is the first order of business," Lamontagne said last night.

Lamontagne said federal spending is out of control. His goal would be to bring the federal budget into balance and pay off the country's debt "so our children don't inherit it."

Lamontagne said he believes in states' rights to decide issues including health care and gay marriage. The election will give people a chance to decide if they support the federal bailouts of the auto industry and financial markets or agree with him that government has overreached, he said.

"It's important for government to be in a position to sustain a recovery for a long period of time. Government does that by letting the private sector create jobs," he said.

Lamontagne said his second top priority will be to look at America's foreign policy in Afghanistan and Iraq.

"I have questions whether we are making a sufficient commitment in Afghanistan," he said. As violence in Afghanistan increases, "this administration is standing flat-footed."

Lamontagne said it appears more troops are needed to stabilize the country and ensure lasting peace.

Lamontagne said those issues will dominate his campaign - not the traditional social issues conservatives have as platforms, such as opposition to abortion and gay marriage. Lamontagne said he opposes abortion and believes marriage is between one man and one woman. He said he also supports the federal Defense of Marriage Act but believes states should decide whether to allow same-sex couples to marry, not Congress.

"It's a states' rights issue," he said. "That is the challenge for conservatives, that we don't overreach."

Lamontagne's two prior election bids were unsuccessful.

He failed in a GOP primary bid in 1992 to unseat then-U.S. Rep. Bill Zeliff in the 1st District congressional race. Democratic U.S. Sen. Jeanne Shaheen beat Lamontagne in 1996 to capture the first of her three two-year terms as governor.

He is a lawyer at Devine, Millimet & Branch in Manchester and serves as general counsel for Catholic Medical Center in Manchester.

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