Bill Gardner is hinting that if he’s re-elected next week as New Hampshire’s secretary of state – his 22nd two-year term as the state’s top election official – it will likely be his swan song.
“It could be,” Gardner told the Monitor on Thursday.
“I have a special reason why I want to do this one,” Gardner explained, referring to his bid for another two-year term.
“I wouldn’t have the same reason for the next one,” he added.
That “special reason” is the upcoming 100th-anniversary celebration of New Hampshire’s status as the first-in-the-nation primary. The Granite State held its first presidential primary in 1916, but it wasn’t until four years later that the state’s contest led off the presidential nominating calendar.
“Of the 10 primaries that I’ve done, I think if we do this one right and we have the appropriate celebration about it, it just makes it stronger for whoever comes after this,” Gadner said, looking ahead to his eventual successor.
“I would like to be the secretary of state during this one,” he concluded.
Gardner, known nationally as one of the chief guardians of New Hampshire’s treasured primary status, is also the longest-serving secretary of state in the nation.
He’s now facing his most challenging re-election bid in decades, from fellow Democrat Colin Van Ostern. The 39-year-old Van Ostern, a former executive councilor and 2016 Democratic gubernatorial nominee, wasn’t even born when the now-70-year-old Gardner was first elected as secretary of state.
Van Ostern has called for modernizing the office and doing “a better job of protecting the rights of every voter, and every local official who helps make our elections work well.”
New Hampshire’s one of just a handful of states where the secretary of state is chosen by the legislature. That happens next week, when all 424 re-elected and newly-elected state senators and representatives are scheduled to be sworn in, and then immediately vote for state officers.
Most Republican state lawmakers appear to be backing Gardner. But now there are a lot more Democrats in the legislature, after the party convincingly regained control of both chambers in the Nov. 6 election, and most appear to favor Van Ostern.
Gardner was a Democratic state representative when he was first elected secretary of state 42 years ago. But his once stellar reputation has taken a severe hit the past two years with many Democrats.
They are furious over his participation last year on President Donald Trump’s controversial and now disbanded voter fraud commission and his support for two GOP-sponsored bills passed into law the past two years that tighten the state’s voter eligibility requirements, which many Democrats characterize as voter suppression measures.
In the race for New Hampshire GOP chair, Steve Stepanek says he’s had “a number of very positive discussions” with Gov. Chris Sununu.
NEW: If Bill Gardner is re-elected next week as NH’s secretary of state, he appears to be hinting that his 22nd two-year term as the Granite State’s top election official may be his last. “It could be,†Gardner told @ConMonitorNews on Thursday.#NHPolitics pic.twitter.com/SQ9IZOpkzf
— Paul Steinhauser (@steinhauserNH1) November 29, 2018
While the two-year post will be voted on by the Republican State Committee at its annual meeting Jan. 26, Sununu – as the defacto head of the party – will have great influence on choosing the next chair.
Stepanek told the Monitor that he and Sununu agree on the future direction of the party.
“The governor’s indicated to me that he wants to work very closely with the state party going forward and that’s a very exciting prospect,” Stepanek said. “I’m looking forward to working with the governor on a number of areas.”
While the businessman from Amherst, who served five terms as a state representative and was co-chairman of Donald Trump’s 2016 presidential campaign in New Hampshire, sounded confident of his chances, Stepanek said he’s not taking anything for granted.
“I will say that I will never take anything for granted and I always run my campaigns like I’m five points behind, which I’m continuing to do. I will never say that everything’s a lock,” he said. “I’ve got a lot of hard work to do, a lot of phone calls to make. And I hope on Jan. 26 that I am the choice of the party, but anything can happen and I am not going to let up one little bit.”
It’s not clear if Sununu will endorse a candidate in the race or remain neutral.
While the governor won re-election in this month’s election, Republicans lost their majorities in the state House of Representatives and Senate, as well as the Executive Council. And the party failed to win back either of the state’s two congressional seats.
An important reason is that the NHGOP was vastly outraised and outspent, by its Democratic counterpart. The New Hampshire Democratic Party also built up a large campaign organization in advance of the midterms that the Republican state party failed to match.
As first reported by the Monitor, Sununu held a closed-door meeting in Concord on Monday night with top Republican State House leaders and top state party officials, as well as Stepanek and others considering bids for NHGOP chair.
Former state party vice-chairman Matt Mayberry, one of the potential contenders who attended the meeting, announced the next day that he wouldn’t seek the job.
“I respect Matt. I respect his abilities,” Stepanek said. “I told him point blank that I want him involved as we go forward. He has tremendous contacts, networking skills, and I want to obviously tap into that and make him part of the winning team as we go into 2020.”
Longtime Granite State-based Republican strategist Mike Biundo, a veteran of numerous GOP presidential campaigns, was also seriously considering a bid for party chairman. But he joined Mayberry on Tuesday in announcing he wouldn’t seek the office.
“I also know and respect Mike Biundo,” Stepanek said. “I look forward to talking to Mike as well and working very closely with him.”
Two years ago – weeks after winning the governorship – Sununu endorsed former state Sen. Jeanie Forrester as state party chairwoman.
In late June of this year, Forrester abruptly resigned, with the party badly trailing the Democrats in fundraising and coming off a slew of special legislative election defeats.
Vice chairman Wayne MacDonald took over as interim chairman. He’s also mulling a bid for the full-time job.
So is WNTK radio talk show host Keith Hanson.
Rep. Tulsi Gabbard returns to New Hampshire this weekend.
Gabbard – who was re-elected earlier this month to a fourth term in Hawaii’s 2nd Congressional District, is considered a potential Democratic presidential contender.
The 37-year old Iraq War veteran and progressive lawmaker will speak Saturday at a forum in Concord sponsored by Rights and Democracy NH.
As first reported by the Monitor, on Sunday, Gabbard will headline a meet and greet event with Rockingham County Democrats at their headquarters in Exeter. She will also meet with members of the New Hampshire Young Democrats.