On Air News Read for September 20, 2017

Yesterday’s Primary Election in the Queen City produced some interesting results, though I must admit I, your humble political prognosticator, predicted almost every outcome, many of them in my out loud radio voice.

My chief prediction that Mayor Ted Gatsas would finish a relatively close second to challenger Joyce Craig was spot on.  With fifty eight hundred votes, or fifty two point seven percent, Craig bested Gatsas’ four thousand nine hundred eighty seven, or forty five point four percent.   Democratic plant Joshua Dallaire received seventy one votes and perennial candidate Glenn Ouellette tallied one hundred thirty eight to account for the remaining fraction of a percent of ballots cast.

Following the results, Craig issued a statement, apparently to everybody but us, saying she was energized by the results.  Quote:

“Residents of Manchester said loud and clear that they are ready for a change in the mayor’s office. We have a lot of work to do, and we will keep knocking doors, making phone calls, and having conversations with voters across the city to succeed in November.”

Also in response, the N H Democratic Party issued a statement hailing the results, noting that Craig was the first woman in city history to win a primary and saying they not only spelled doom for Gatsas, but for Republicans statewide.

Party boss Ray Buckley, among other things, said that Craig’s first place finish, was proof that voters quote: 

“sent a clear message that they want a fresh approach to politics…If tonight is any indication of things to come in 2018, Governor Sununu and Republicans across the state should be very worried.”

We’ve linked to the entire statement.

By the way, the statement also said the city was founded in seventeen fifty one.  It wasn’t.  Manchester became a city and started electing mayors in eighteen forty six, but who cares about facts these days.

For his part, Gatsas remained positive about his prospects in November, issuing a statement saying quote:  

“I look at tonight with great optimism given that I outperformed my primary performance two years ago. I look forward to the next 40+ days of hard campaigning, meeting voters, and talking about the issues that matter.  This will be a hard-fought general election where the contrast between our visions for Manchester will be clear.”

Overall voter turnout was down by more than ten percent versus the primary two years ago, where Gatsas led the field with five thousand one hundred eighty eight votes, or forty two percent.  Despite the significant decline in turnout this primary over last, Gatsas only lost two hundred one votes versus two thousand fifteen.  His opposition lost almost one thousand hundred.

In other primaries around the city:

The race for alderman in Ward One will feature incumbent Kevin Cavanaugh, who received one thousand fourteen votes, and former Ward Three school board member Christopher Stewart who received five hundred seventy five.  Jeff Nyhan received one hundred fifty one votes.

In Ward Two, Will Stewart dominated the five person field in the race for alderman, scoring five hundred ninety one votes.  Former school board member Bob O’Sullivan was a distant second with two hundred forty eight.  Ryan Richman finished third with one hundred eighty two.  Welfare Commissioner Paul Martineau was fourth with one hundred sixty five votes and Tom Svoleantopoloulos was last with eighty eight.

In Ward Four, challenger Steve Mathieu placed first over incumbent Alderman Christopher, throw grand-mama out of her house, Herbert two seventy three to two thirty one.  Jason Hodgdon finished with one hundred seven votes.

In Ward Six, Elizabeth Ann Moreau was elected alderman to fill the vacancy created by the resignation of Nick Pappas.  She received five hundred thirty seven votes to Peter Macone’s four hundred forty one.  Ryan Van Orden finished with one hundred seventy nine votes.  Moreau and Macone will duel again for the seat in November.

For School Board, incumbent Dan Bergeron received five hundred sixty five votes and will face challenger Jon DiPietro, who received four hundred sixty one.  Ernesto Pinder finished third with seventy five. 

In Ward Seven, Alderman Bill Shea received four hundred two votes to Brenda Noiseux’s two hundred thirty two.  Brian Cole was third with eighty five votes.

In Ward Eight, John Cataldo surprised the field placing a strong second with four hundred fifty eight votes to first place finisher, former Alderman Betsy DeVries’ five hundred five votes.  Ed Sapienza, tallied two hundred ninety nine votes.

In Ward Nine, former Fire Chief James Burkush edged incumbent Barbara Shaw by seven votes, three eight four to three seventy seven.  Michael Ricker placed third with one hundred sixteen votes.

In Ward Eleven, former Alderman Russ Ouellette topped incumbent Normand Gamache one ninety five to one sixty two.  Andre Rosa was a close third with one hundred forty eight and former Ward Twelve Alderman Armand Forest finished fourth with fifty six votes.

Finally, in Ward Twelve, incumbent Alderman Keith Hirschmann received three hundred ninety four votes to Hassan Essa’s two hundred eighty nine.  State Rep. Joel Elber was third with one hundred ten votes.  Jonathan Barret was fourth with fifty two.

In the race for school board, Constance Van Houten led the field with three hundred fifty seven votes.  Kelly Ann Thomas finished a close second with three hundred twenty three.  Former State Rep. Carlos Gonzalez garnered one hundred fifty votes.

In the Republican Primary for State Rep. in Ward Eight, Albert MacArthur, Jr. bested fireman Andy Parent four hundred to three twenty.  He’ll face Democrat school board member Erika Connors in the General Election. 

Lots to discuss.  Stay tuned.

News from our own backyard continues after this.

Parents at Souhegan High School are seething over a Social Studies assignment.   Sources, who forwarded the assignment to Girard at Large, say some parents believe it was given to probe which kids come from conservative or Republican families and which come from liberal ones.

These are the questions Freshman students had to answer, with either STRONGLY DISAGREE, UNDECIDED or STRONGLY AGREE:

1. I support a constitutional amendment allowing voluntary prayer in public schools.
2. Monuments to the Confederacy should be removed from public places.
3. A private business should be able to deny services to a customer based on private businesses beliefs (ex: religious beliefs, sexual orientation beliefs, etc).
4. I support the ability for a woman to have an abortion if she chooses.
5. The Government should raise minimum wage.
6. 

   Warburton: Needs time

   I favor lower taxes even if it means a cut to government spending for social programs (welfare, Social Security, etc…

7. I support the death penalty.
8. I support increased gun control, (expanding background checks to cover sales on-line and at gun shows).
9. A photo ID should be required to be able to vote.
10. The National Security Agency (NSA) should be able to listen to phone calls and read e-mails of US citizens without a warrant if they believe the person may be involved in terrorist activities.

S A U 3 9 Superintendent Peter Warburton replied to our inquiry on Friday saying he needed a little time to investigate.  When, or if, we get the results, we’ll let you know what they are.

That’s NEWS from our own backyard!  Girard at Large hour ___ is next!