July 28, 2008 - 11:02am

News

Three-way GOP primary for 3rd state Senate district seat

By Brian Lawson, PolitickerNH.com Reporter

State Sen. Joe Kenney's (R-Wakefield) decision to run for governor has set-off a three-way Republican primary to capture the 3rd state Senate district seat.

The primary features three former state representatives who hope to move up to the upper chamber: Sam Cataldo (R-Farmington), David Babson (R-Ossipee) and William Denley (R-Wakefield). The Republican nominee will face Judge Bud Martin (D-Center Sandwich).

Erik Taylor, former chairman of the Carroll County Republicans and a consultant with Elevare Communications, said the key to the primary are the "boros."

"You have to win the ‘boros.' You need to do well in Wolfeboro, Moultonborough and Tuftonboro. They vote in primaries and if you do well there you're well positioned to win." Taylor added, "it's important to have a candidate from Carroll County. If you're not from the county the people in Carroll County would be concerned about that."

In the 2006 general election Kenney was re-elected by 448 votes and carried the "boros" by wide margins.

Both Babson and Cataldo said they are running on a fiscal conservative message.

"I'm running to maintain the New Hampshire advantage," Babson said. "It's time to get back to New Hampshire being the envy of New England."

Cataldo said his platform includes reducing America's dependence on foreign oil and "returning New Hampshire back to the people."

"It's time to send out an SOS: Save our State," Cataldo said.

Despite the perception that voters do not pay attention to politics in the summer, Cataldo and Babson have been busy organizing supporters.

Cataldo holds a weekly meeting with volunteers and will hold a picnic in August for the public.

While, Babson has also been organizing supporters and said he is running a grassroots operation.

Cataldo urged the candidates to unite after the primary. "We need to understand that whoever wins the other two will need to help 100 percent. That's the Republican way."

The three men will see the fruits of their labor on Sept. 9 when Republican voters go to the polls.

Mr. Denley was unavailable for an interview.

Brian Lawson is a PolitickerNH.com Reporter and can be reached via email at brian.lawson@politickernh.com.

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Comments

BOLO: Republicans with nothing but Empty Rhetoric

posted by Empty Rhetoric Police

BE ON THE LOOK OUT:

WARNING COMING TO A NEIGHBORHOOD NEAR YOU!

Everyone be on the look out for Republican Candidates who will be out in force this election season filling you all with empty rhetoric!

"LET'S Keep New Hampshire New Hampshire!"

Let's see, the New Hampshire that didn't raise the minimum wage for 10 years under Republican control? The New Hampshire that couldn't define an adequate education despite being told to? The New Hampshire that let the State House fall to pieces? (the leaks in the roof required employees to cover their desks with tarps on the weekends as to not destroy their computers!) The New Hampshire that didn't require our children to be provided with kindergarten?

Hummm? I saw that New Hampshire and I didn't like it!

"SAVE OUR STATE! SOS" Hummm? That is along the lines of the "Take Back Vermont" and we all know how that turned out!

What does our state need saving from?

"The Democrats raised spending 17%"

No, it was more like 10.8% which is only 5% per year over the last 2 years. Bigger question, how much did inflation increase over the same time? The truth is, Gov Benson increased spending more that Gov Lynch has.

"We are one broad based tax from being Massachusetts" Blah Blah Blah!

I have yet to see a Democrats running on a platform of creating a sales or income tax (they might be out there, I just have not seen or heard from them)

"We are spending money like it is on a credit card and they didn't even have public hearings on it" Blah Blah Blah!

The school building bonding issue had three public hearings. The bonding will only be used if the other funding revenues come up short.

So, please be advised, you will not hear any real issues being discussed this year, only Empty Rhetoric!

07/28/08 5:27 pm

Propaganda Police

posted by Concerned Taxpayer

The TRUTH is that Governor Benson left us an $82 million surplus and Lynch has burned through that and a couple of hundred million more. The TRUTH is that Lynch and his fellow travelers in the legislature have just paid the mortgage with a credit card to "balance" the budget with an $80 million bond and will need to bond two or three times that if they can bamboozle the electorate to keep them in power for another session. The Democrats are systematically dismantling everything that makes NH NH. They are destroying the NH Advantage by setting us up for an income or sales tax. The TRUTH is that the spending is up 17.5% as compared to the last Republican budget increase of 2.8%.

Kindergarten is the responsibility of cities and towns and the state has no business mandating it without paying for it. New Hampshire was built on local control not state control. If the people vote against public Kindergarten their word should be final. The people did not come up with the education mandates, an unelected court did. It's time the people were put back in charge. And that means electing Republicans, cutting this bloated budget, and putting education funding decisions back in the hands of the people's elected representatives. That's the TRUTH!

07/29/08 7:29 am

FYI

posted by pinko

Mr. Taylor - 448 votes isn't much of a victory. Empty Uniform Joe Kenney didn't exactly win a landslide re-election.

Bud Martin will.

07/29/08 3:55 pm

Anti-Strafford County bias?

posted by Hauk

"It's important to have a candidate from Carroll County. If you're not from the county the people in Carroll County would be concerned about that."

Wow. I'll take Taylor's word for it as a statement of fact (even if he might have something to gain as chair of the Carroll County Republicans). I've always thought it was a little over-the-top the way some people refuse to vote for a candidate who was born out-of-state. Now xenophobia extends to those from beyond county lines? It shocks me that people wouldn't vote for the best candidate in the primary because he or she is from a different county.

Guess Sam Cataldo better look elsewhere for employment. And Bill Denley only has a snowball's chance in hell for the nom, since Wakefield's barely in Carroll County (he's practically from Rochester!).

07/29/08 4:03 pm

correction

posted by Hauk

FORMER chair of the Carroll County Republicans....

07/29/08 4:06 pm

Good grief!

posted by NH

Empty Rhetoric Police should have changed his name to:

"I'm a Democrat and always concerned with things that are none of the state's business!"

The state should have nothing to do with the schools.
Neither should judges.

The state has no business mandating kindergarten and I'd like to see the towns stand their ground on that one!

We were the most prosperous state with the minimum wage we had. We were #3 in education, and #1 for safety.

We've already lost part of our good bond rating and the other rankings will sink further if Dems stay in.

We ALWAYS had SURPLUSES under our GOP governors and Benson left $82M EXTRA which they pi**ed through immediately.

We didn't have all these social bills that Democrats use to pander to SPECIAL INTEREST GROUPS like gays, unions, abortionists, etc ad nauseum, and we never had all these little tax increases that added up to a lot.

The Democrats have not only put us in debt they've desecrated the NH Constitution and everything they've done is ILLEGAL.

Throw the bums out! Let's get the ADULTS back in control again.

07/30/08 2:34 pm