Rich Girard Gains 1st Endorsements from Queen City Citizens
Gains Backing of Former State Reps With Ties to N.H. Right to Life Movement
MANCHESTER, NH — Rich Girard finally received an endorsement from a voter in the city he is vying to lead. On July 15th, his campaign website announced that former State Rep. Barbara Hagan is backing him.
While other citizens of Manchester may have endorsed Girard, none was listed on his campaign website before the Hagan nod was presented to the public. His three previous endorsements, posted online and ballyhooed to the press, were from people who were not from the Queen City, or associated with Manchester’s political scene.
In a statement posted to the Girard for Mayor website, Hagan noted Girard’s role in opposing the proposed merger of Manchester’s Catholic Medical Center with Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center back in 2019.
New Hampshire Right to Life was opposed to the merger of D-H and the medical group that CMC is part of, as D-H provides abortion services.
The Girard campaign states that Hagan once served as chair of the New Hampshire Right to Life organization, on whose board she served as a “long-time member.” The organization’s website currently doesn’t list her as an officer or board member.
Never mind. The following day, the Girard campaign announced the endorsement of Kathleen Souza, another former State Rep from Manchester, who does currently serve as a trustee for Right to Life’s Granite State chapter. That made five endorsements overall.
“Kathy” Souza also was part of the movement opposing the D-H merger with CMC. She became Girard’s second endorsement from a prominent Queen City resident.
Rich Girard expressed his gratitude for Souza’s support.
“Kathy distinguished herself in the legislature, not just on the issue of Life, but also on matters of election law as a member of the Election Law Committee and many others. She is dedicated to her causes and tireless in her work. Its [SIC] an honor to have her join our fight to fix what’s wrong with our city.”
Girard’s previous endorsements came from former politicians who do not live in the City of Manchester. They are former U.S. Senator Robert “Cryin’ Bob” Smith, failed U.S. Senate candidate Brig. Gen. Dan Bolduc (USA-Ret’d.), and former State Senator Jim Rubens, who represented west-central New Hampshire in the Lebanon-Hanover area for two terms.
Victoria Sullivan has more than her share of endorsements from prominent politicians who are not from Manchester, most notably New Hampshire State Senate President Chuck Morse, New Hampshire Speaker of the House Sherman Packard, and former U.S. Senator Kelly Ayotte.
Sullivan also does not lack support from the anti-abortion community.
Kelly Ayotte, who describes herself as “Pro-Life,” played a prominent role in an abortion law case when she served as the Attorney General of New Hampshire.
As A.G., she rose to national prominence when she defended the Granite State’s Parental Notification Prior to Abortion Act. When the act was declared unconstitutional by the New Hampshire Supreme Court, the state turned to the federal courts to uphold it.
Inheriting the case after Governor John Lynch appointed her attorney general, Kelly Ayotte argued Ayotte v. Planned Parenthood of Northern New England before the U.S. Supreme Court. She won a unanimous though narrowly construed decision from the High Court, the last written by Sandra Day O’Connor, the first woman appointed to The Supremes.
Kelly Ayotte is a heavy-hitter, and some Inside the Beltway sources say she may be considering a run to regain her Senate seat in 2022. Sources say she has shunned Rich Girard since his 2014 sexting scandal.
The quality of Rich Girard’s endorsements, which are sparse, is not the real issue. More importantly, Victoria Sullivan has been endorsed by prominent Queen City office holders and Girard has not.
Sullivan’s Queen City citizen endorsements including Ward 12 Alderman Keith Hirschmann, School Board member-at-large Joe LaChance, State Rep Larry Gagne, and State Rep Mark McLean (Wards 8+9).
Neither former Mayor Ted Gatsas or Alderman-at-Large Joe Kelly Levasseur, the top vote-getter in municipal elections other than Joyce Craig, have made an endorsement.
Gatsas took himself out of the running for mayor in late June, while most Queen City pundits doubt that Levasseur will gamble on losing elective office by taking on Joyce Craig in a contest he’s sure to lose.
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