Rich Girard Suffers Humiliating Loss to Lou D’Allesandro in NH Senate Race
Former School Board Member’s Mayoral Hopes May Face Roadblock in Ted Gatsas — OPINON
MANCHESTER, NH — Former School Board Member Richard H. Girard was crushed by incumbent Lou D’Alessandro in the race for New Hampshire Senate District 20.
With 99% of the ballots counted, the Democrat D’Allesandro had racked up 9,693 votes, good for 58.0% of the total. The Republican Girard tailed behind the incumbent with 7,030 votes.
Sources say that Girard is planning to run for mayor of Manchester in 2023. Losing decisively in this Senate race likely will not deter him, as Girard has morphed into a perpetual candidate.
However, the rumor mill has it that Executive Councilor Ted Gatsas, who apparently has won his bid for reelection, is thinking of running for mayor again. Sources say Gatsas believes that he could defeated Mayor Joyce Craig in the 2021 election if it had been in the race rather than Victoria Wojdylak Sullivan.
For most of the year, the Queen City political grapevine has been buzzing that Joyce Craig will not run for reelection in 2023, creating an open field for Democrats and Republicans.
If Joyce Craig does decline to run for a fourth term, Ted Gatsas may decide to throw his hat in the ring. A Gatsas candidacy would block Rich Girard and Victoria Sullivan, who also reportedly is planning on making a third run for mayor, due to the amount of campaign cash the wealthy and well-connected Gatsas could raise.
However, if Craig does run again, it seems unlikely that Gatsas would risk the humiliation of being beaten by her. With 89% of the vote counted in the Executive Council District 4 race, Gatsas is winning with 52.2% of the vote, but that is hardly a commanding type of lead that heralds future success in a mayoral race.
