Manchester Republicans Win Unprecedented Victory in Manchester Municipal Elections
JOE KELLY LEVASSEUR INSIDE FAVORITE TO BECOME NEXT CHAIRMAN OF THE BOARD — OPINION
MANCHESTER, NH — The November 7th municipal election was an unprecedented defeat for Queen City Democrats. The party-in-power not only lost the Mayor’s Office to tyro politico Jay Ruais, a carpetbagger corralled into the city race by the state GOP to give the Republicans a leg up in the 2024 gubernatorial race, but lost control of the Board of Aldermen, as Republican aldermanic candidates won seven of fourteen seats.
The 7–7 split means that, with Mayor Ruais voting during any ties, the Republicans will have a majority on organizational day, the day they are sworn into office and the 2024–25 Board of Mayor and Aldermen meet as a body for the first time after being inaugurated. The Board GOP also has a potential majority on key votes during the two years starting in January.
It is on organizational day 2024 that the Chairman of the Board of the Board of Aldermen will be elected, and that majority means great changes are in store.
Sources indicate that Joe Kelly Levasseur, who won his seventh consecutive term as alderman-at-large, is the favorite to become be the next Chairman of the Board.
Why JKL? He is the only Republican on the Board with more than two terms and apparently has the support of the six other Republicans who were elected along with him tonight to the 2024–25 Board.
Republican Majority
The 7–7 split gives the Republicans an effective parliamentary majority. Joe Kelly Levasseur, or another Republican Chairman of the Board such as obvious compromise candidate Ross Terrio should JKL prove too unpalatable to incoming Mayor Ruais and Queen City special interests whose backing every mayor needs to be successful, will effect dramatic change.
Democrats on the Board, who have been in power for a generation, will be stripped of power and put in the minority position, as the Republican aldermen are are appointed to take charge of committees.
The Mayor chooses Committee chairs and gives committee assignments to aldermen, while the Chairman of the Board of Aldermen picks the chairs of special committees and assigns aldermen to them. Both jobs will be in the hands of aldermen since the days of Mayor Ray Wieczorek and Chairman of the Board Dave Wihby in January 2000.
Seeing that Joyce Craig was rather ruthless towards Republicans Joe Levasseur and his erstwhile sidekick Keith Hirschmann in assigning committee seats when she was mayor, payback may very well be uppermost in JKL’s mind.
In addition to taking over committee and subcommittee chairmanships, with a Republican mayor and Board, it’s going to be Republicans and non-aligned conservatives who will be appointed to positions on Boards and Commissions.
