As retired Executive Councilors Chris Sununu and Colin Van Ostern battled for the state’s top position in a drawn-out race Tuesday night, almost a dozen candidates waited to see if they’d gain a spot on the next “board of directors” for the new governor.
Only Manchester Democrat Chris Pappas held a commanding lead in his race for the District 4 seat, which includes parts of Bow. With 83 percent of precincts reporting, Pappas held a 5,000 vote lead over GOP challenger Joseph Levasseur
All other races remained too close to call.
In other local races, District 1 incumbent Republican Joseph Kenney and District 2 Democrat Andru Volinsky had the upper hand with between 58 and 80 percent of precincts reporting.
In District 3, Republican Russell Prescott was ahead with half of the precincts reporting, and in District 5, incumbent Republican councilor Dave Wheeler was in the lead with 39 percent of precincts reporting.
If Pappas holds on to win, he said he has a particular interest in bringing commuter rail to New Hampshire and continuing to address the opioid addiction crisis.
He also stresses the non-partisan character of Executive Council proceedings, which was formed in colonial times due to distrust of the government.
In New Hampshire, it has continued as the only body of its kind still existing in the United States to oversee the spending of taxpayers’ money.
To represent the council’s first district – the northern half of the state – Kenney was ahead of Democratic challenger Grafton County Commissioner Mike Cryans as of press time.
With 59 percent of precincts reporting, Kenney was up eight points over Cryans.
Kenney said he would focus on the state’s 10-year transportation plan and general infrastructure improvements for the state, including cybersecurity and technology updates.
And in the Concord to Keene area, District 2, Concord lawyer Volinsky and Farmington state Sen. Sam Cataldo were in a tight race late Tuesday night.
As of press time and with 67 percent of precincts reporting, Volinsky led Cataldo 51-49 percent, a lead of about 2,000 votes.
While Cataldo said he was interested in taking the position to act as a “stop-gap” for the Governor, Volinsky took a more unique approach.
In contrast to the traditionally non-partisan aspirations for Executive Councilors, Volinsky has been open about the progressive values he wants to bring to the seat in order to better maximize spending state funds.
Several of these proposals could be interpreted as policy proposals for non-legislative body.
These include prioritizing contracts with companies that provide fair wages and are committed to protecting the environment, and if possible, are providing New Hampshire jobs.
Volinsky has also said his previous dealings in public funding for education would inform his choice on appointees for state board of education members and the education commissioner.
Other Executive Council candidates – including incumbents Kenney and Pappas – have pushed back on councilors making decisions using partisan ideology.
Volinsky, though, has already faced resistance for just running. He said in a previous interview that several senior legislators voiced the opinion that it was their turn to serve on the Executive Council, which has been a retiring ground of sorts in the past.
As a newcomer, though, Volinsky said that if elected, he plans to take on the role seriously and he would relinquish some of his current duties in order to better serve as a councilor. These include reducing his law practice workload and resigning from leadership positions at Bernstein Shur, where he currently leads the firm’s Manchester office.
Volinsky said he would also adjust what kind of cases he takes in order to maintain ethical integrity, including any that oppose a state agency head he helped appoint – or, of course, the attorney general.
Mainly, he said, “I won’t sue the state anymore.”