Jay Ruais Became National Guard Officer Despite Two Drunk Driving Arrests: Did Gov. Sununu Intervene to Get Him His Commission?
MANCHESTER MAYOR RACE — OPINION
MANCHESTER, NH — Republican Jay Ruais, candidate for mayor, admitted to having been arrested twice for driving under the influence in a New Hampshire Union Leader op-ed piece published on January 24, 2023.
Ruais claims that his second DUI arrest led him to join Alcoholics Anonymous and change his behavior, what a reasonable might describe as alcoholism. Like many recovering alcoholics, Ruais is proud of his recovery, and links it to his engagement in public service.
What is odd about Ruais’ confession is that it culminates with his joining the National Guard in 2020, when he was around 35 years old, an advanced age for someone joining the military for the first time. Ruais is an officer, and 35 is the cut-off age for joining the National Guard.
Despite his advanced age when joining the National Guard for the first time, Ruais under current standards was still eligible to become a commissioned officer. The prior age ceiling to become an officer was 32.
According to online sources, to become a National Guard officer, you “have to have to be eligible for a secret security clearance.” I myself have had a security clearance when I served in the regular Army in the 1980s, and cannot understand how someone with two drunk driving arrests could be commissioned as an officer, let alone gain security clearance.
Someone with a felony DUI conviction cannot join the military, but those with a misdemeanor drug bust can request an enlistment waiver. According to information from the Cornell Law School,
In processing conduct waiver requests, the Military Services will require information about the “who, what, when, where, and why” of the offense in question; and letters of recommendation from responsible community leaders, such as school officials, clergy, and law enforcement officials attesting to the applicant’s character or suitability for enlistment.
Jay Ruais had the political connections, apparently, to get himself a waiver despite his two DUIs.
Ruais’ Political Connections
From 2011–2013, Jay Ruais was a legislative assistant with then-Congressman Frank Guinta, who was Manchester’s mayor before being elected to the first of his two non-consecutive terms representing New Hampshire Congressional District 1. (A native of Salem, Ruais resided in CD-2, represented by Annie Kuster.) In 2015, he was identified as Guinta’s chief of staff during a campaign finance scandal.
By the time he served on Frank Guinta’s staff, he was sober, according to Ruais’ claims in the Union Leader.
Open Secrets lists Ruais as working as a lobbyist for the Arlington, Virginia-based Transportation Intermediaries Association from 2013 to 2022, the year the Salem native moved to Manchester, becoming a resident of the Queen City.
The DNA of a Carpetbagger
There is no evidence that Ruais has ever attended, let alone spoken at, a meeting of the Board of Mayor and Alderman or Board of the School Committee, or taken part publicly in any political activity in Manchester at all until he declared his candidacy for mayor in 2023.
Jay Ruais is the very model of a carpetbagger candidate, someone who has been groomed by others higher up in the political food chain to run for elective office in a city he has little connection to. Those groomers include Frank Guinta for one, Ruais’ one “true” connection to Manchester.
The other groomers likely are Kelly Ayotte, who is rumored to have backed Ruais in order to have an ally in the Manchester’s mayor’s office to help her in her 2024 gubernatorial campaign.
Another likely groomer is Governor Chris Sununu, who endorsed Jay Ruais within one day of his officially launching his campaign in February 2023. Sununu’s endorsement effectively eliminated any other Republicans, such as failed mayoral candidates Rich Girard and Victoria Sullivan, from throwing their hats into the race.
Did Sununu Help Jay Ruais?
The question is, in light of the odd situation of a man arrested twice for drunk driving, did Governor Sununu help Jay Ruais get his officer’s commission in the New Hampshire National Guard?
The New Hampshire state National Guard is under the dual control of the state adjutant general and the governor. The adjutant general is appointed by the state governor in New Hampshire.
In 2018, Sununu appointed Brigadier Gen. David J. Mikolaities as the 26th Adjutant General of the State of New Hampshire. (His post carries the rank of Major General.)
Was Ruais’ joining the New Hampshire Guard part of the grooming process for repositioning the former Congressional staffer for a future career in elective politics? And was he abetted in this process by Governor Sununu?
