Does 3rd-Party Site Soliciting 3-Way Debate Questions Violate NH Election Law?
Rich Girard Denies Knowing Owner of Manchestermayor.com— OPINION
MANCHESTER NH — Rich Girard told Manchester Ink Link that he didn’t know who was the owner of manchestermayor.com after bringing its existence to their attention. The site asks Manchester residents to sign a petition calling for a pre-primary debate with the three candidates for mayor.
So far, forty-two people have signed the petition. The first reference I can find to it is a post by former Ward 8 Alderman Mike Porter, who — according to a screenshot of Jimmy Lehoux’s “Ward 8 News & Views” Facebook page — posted a link to the site on August 21st.
It’s hard to believe Girard, who has been called a liar during the 2021 mayoral campaign, is actually telling the truth when he says that he doesn’t know who is behind the site, but hey! Anything is possible.
That the site is touted by Porter, a Girard ally, on a Facebook page overseen by Girard ally Lehoux (who boots people off the page including this author if he doesn’t like what they are saying about his political allies) may just be a coincidence.
Both Porter and Lehoux (formerly a School Board member representing Ward 8) participated in School Board member-at-large Rich Girard’s political jihad against Ward 2 School Board member Dave Scannell. In attacking Scannell for leaking a letter that revealed the student’s name, both ignored Girard’s apparent violation of state law when he contacted a Central High School girl using the Manchester School District email system. Girard then named her publicly on his public access TV show (again in apparent violation of law) in what many saw as a public shaming.
After Scannell admitted to leaking a letter to the press from the girl’s lawyer threatening legal action against Girard, Porter and Lehoux were among those who piled on Scannell in a Republican-led effort to shift the onus for outing the girl’s name from Girard to Scannell.
The Ward 8 crew of Girard allies that dogged Scannell included former police officer Jim Gaudet, who was arrested for physically assaulting his daughter. Scannell eventually resigned from the School Board.
So, news of the website just happened to come out of Ward 8? O.K. That doesn’t mean Porter or Lehoux had anything to do with it, or even know who put the site up. And maybe Rich Girard is right, that he doesn’t know who is behind the website.
Truthiness Problem
What is more troubling than Girard’s ongoing “Truthiness” problem is that the alleged third-party site may be coordinated with the Girard for Mayor campaign, thus possibly represents a New Hampshire election law violation.
Manchester Ink Link reports:
According to ICANN, the website was created on Aug. 9 and the owner used Perfect Privacy LLC as a registrar, a website hosting company in Jacksonville, Fla.
Ostensibly, the site exists to gather questions from Queen City citizens for a debate between Girard and Joyce Craig and Victoria Sullivan, even though no such debate has been scheduled, or is likely to ever happen.
The site seems to be dedicated to anonymity. It says, “Only your first name and Ward number will be published” and features questions from people like “Jim” from Ward 8. (Could this Jim be Girard ally Jim Gaudet? Who knows?)
What is the sense of that, unless to hide who is actually doing the asking?
Why obscure who is asking the questions, unless it is to discourage inquiries that may reveal a Girard for Mayor connection among those doing the asking?
A factor mitigating in favor of the opinion that Rich Girard is not involved in the website is that it’s construction is so poor, the candidate’s face is obliterated by a big banner title.
What are the factors that signify Rich Girard just MIGHT be connected to the site?
Well, for one thing, he’s the only candidate who wants a three-way debate.
Who What When Where — and Why?
WHY? is the last of the Five W’s of Journalism.
Rich Girard is the sole candidate who has proposed — let alone shown any interest in — a three-way debate between Mayor Craig and her two challengers. Neither Craig or Sullivan has agreed to debate Girard, either in a three-way platform or one-on-one.
There were rumors in July that Girard and Sullivan would debate on Joe Kelly Levasseur’s public access TV show. That never came to pass, and likely never will as at the beginning of August, Girard accused Sullivan of slurring French- Canadians and demanded she apologize for it.
Of French-Canadian heritage, Richard Henri Girard claimed to be offended.
In response, the Sullivan for Mayor campaign’s chief consultant called Girard a liar over his charge Sullivan had engaged in French-Canadian bashing.
It was pointed by her campaign, in denying any malicious intent on her part, that Victoria Sullivan is part French-Canadian.
(I believe that Sullivan was not putting French-Canadians down as an ethnic group in her remarks, though to many of Franco-American (French-Canadian) heritage, including myself, those remarks were deemed to be insensitive. I feel she should apologize.)
However, what reasonable person would assume that Victoria Sullivan would engage Rich Girard in a primary debate after their dustup over the incident, which was more than a simple contretemps. Who would debate a liar?
The day after accusing Sullivan of putting down French-Canadians, Girard published “Debate Requests Snubbed by Craig, Sullivan” on his blog on Girard at Large, the website of his defunct radio talk show.
Four days later, someone unknown to Rich Girard (if he can be believed ) launched a website, an anonymous website that covers up the names of everyone involved, including the so-called Manchester citizens signing the petition and asking questions.
This site bears the hallmarks of a Girard for Mayor product, in my opinion.
This brings us to a more important issue:
A reasonable person might ask two questions: Is this supposed third-party website actually linked to the Girard for Mayor campaign, and if so, does it violate New Hampshire election law?
