ROCKWELL MOMENT:
Norman Rockwell, the 20th Century American painter and illustrator, is famous for capturing everyday American Life on canvas and last Tuesday, as I entered Ward 3 to vote, I experienced my own rockwellian moment! The Disnard School Auditorium had been transfixed into an election precinct with neatly installed voting booths, registration tables, updated checklists and appropriate signage – everything was in place serving as a perfect reflection on everyday American life!
I was especially struck by the sense of tradition and tightness demonstrated by the election officials – not only was everything in tip-top shape, but the election personnel were ready to do their duty. My second observation was that elections’ in Ward 3 Claremont are very much family events. The Ward Clerk (Brenda Saunders) had her granddaughter (Elyse Gagnon) working as a ballot clerk; the two moderators overseeing cast ballots was former County Commissioner Donald Fontaine and his son Don, a retired Claremont police captain; two of the Checklist Supervisors were Ann and Melissa Richmond (mother & daughter); and to round things out, two of the other ballot clerks were sisters (Marcelle Obymako & Claire MacDonald). Then just to make the image complete, their brother (Joe LaPointe) and his wife arrived to vote to make it truly a family event. While I’m sure this was replicated throughout New Hampshire, it was (for me) a moving Rockwell moment and testimony of Americans exercising their right and doing their duty
WIN / LOOSE:
Maggie Hassan and Ovide LaMontagne, after the dust settled last week, emerged as victors and their respective party’s candidate for governor. Former Senator Hassan ended with a strong showing over her nearest rival former Senator Jackie Cilley who had been thought to be rising in the polls during the final weeks. Senator Hassan did exceptionally well in her home county of Rockingham and equally well in Hillsborough County. While Jackie Cilley had some of the most passionate supporters and creative commercials, her opponent’s decision to run a centrist campaign that included a steady approach of fundraising and building an organization proved successful. Locally, Jackie Cilley did very well in Lebanon and won two of the three wards in Claremont, however that was not enough to offset Maggie Hassan’s big win in heavily populated Hillsborough and Rockingham counties. Now a question being asked is will Hassan be able to replace the funds she spent in the primary to beat back the Cilley surge.
Meanwhile, on the Republican side – Ovide LaMontagne easily won the gubernatorial primary over his 35 year old challenger Kevin Smith, who from all accounts appears to have a very promising future in conservative party politics. Lamontagne was described, by MSNBC pundit Chris Matthews, as a class act in the way he handled his defeat to Kelly Ayotte for the United States Senate. His reputation of being a nice and good man is well founded. Ovide is what the old mémères would describe as someone who’s “mother taught him well” – i.e. manners and politeness. An interesting side bar is, if successful, Mr. LaMontagne will be New Hampshire’s first governor elected of French-Canadian ancestry. Although several, over the years, have tried and run for the office (e.g. Bussière, Raiche, Grandmaison), and while franco-americans account for about 35% of the state’s population, New Hampshire has never elected a governor of French-Canadian ancestry. Interestingly, since Franco-Americans have traditionally been democrats, perhaps having a candidate running this time as a republican might make a difference – then again maybe it just says such things as ethnic politics have run their course.
CT VALLEY SCENE:
Representative David Pierce, from Etna, won the democrat nomination for the new State Senate District 5 seat over his challenger former Representative Sandra Harris. While she won her hometown of Claremont, David Pierce made an extremely strong showing in his home community of Hanover.
On the Republican side – Representative Joe Osgood trounced his opponent Cynthia Coolidge Howard to be the Republican Party’s senate nominee in November. Both Pierce and Osgood have pledged to run campaigns based on issues and policies for New Hampshire’s future. Certainly, it has been a long time since we’ve had two candidates with such divergent and opposite views regarding New Hampshire’s future. It should prove to be a very interesting and informative campaign.
PERSONAL NOTE:
When I woke up last Tuesday morning, I was unopposed running for the New Hampshire House of Representatives; however by the end of the day I discovered I now have two opponents – Richard Madigan, a retired banker, and Gerry Donatelli, a musician! While they came up short of securing the necessary write in votes to be placed on the Republican ballot, they did each get 150 residents/voters in Ward 3 to sign a petition in order to be on the November ballot as independent candidates. These petitions were submitted to the NH Secretary of State’s Office a couple of weeks ago.
So while I’m disappointed and torn about not getting an opportunity to run unopposed – having two opponents certainly fits nicely into the American image of a Norman Rockwell moment –that is (of course) assuming that I win in November.
So stay tuned!
