http://www.politickernh.com en http://www.politickernh.com/brianlawson/4848/senate-dems-hold-fundraiser It has been only five weeks since the election, but the senate Democrats are already looking ahead to the 2010 election. On December 16 the Democratic Senate Caucus will be holding a fundraiser at the Capitol Grille in Concord. Democratic Senate Caucus Fundraiser Senate Democrats Local Fri, 05 Dec 2008 11:38:00 -0500 Brian Lawson 4848 at http://politicker.com http://www.politickernh.com/brianlawson/4847/former-nh-ap-reporter-now-white-house A former reporter for The Associated Press in New Hampshire and Ohio has landed one of the top political news reporting positions in Washington, D.C. The AP announced earlier this week in an internal memo that Phil Elliott will now be covering the White House for the international news bureau. Elliott covered the New Hampshire primary for over a year and then covered the general election in Ohio. http://www.politickernh.com/brianlawson/4847/former-nh-ap-reporter-now-white-house#comments Associated Press Craig Stevens GreenMountainPolitics1 Mike Allen Phil Elliott Politico reporter Local Fri, 05 Dec 2008 11:16:00 -0500 Brian Lawson 4847 at http://politicker.com http://www.politickernh.com/brianlawson/4846/senate-gop-announces-leadership State Sen. Peter Bragdon (R-Milford), the Republican leader, has named state Sens. Bob Odell (R-Lempster) and Mike Downing (R-Salem) to be the deputy Republican minority leaders for the upcoming legislative session. "Senator Downing and Odell are true leaders and they will bring to the table a style of politics that will help us accomplish our goals in the minority," Bragdon said in a press release.  "Senator Odell has years of experience working on the Finance and Ways and Means committees, while Senator Downing brings to the table experience with the retirement issues that will be facing the state in the next two years." Bob Odell Mike Downing Peter Bragdon Senate Republicans State Senate Local Fri, 05 Dec 2008 10:37:00 -0500 Brian Lawson 4846 at http://politicker.com http://www.politickernh.com/brianlawson/4839/gregg-sununu-pacs-report-latest-fundraising-numbers The federal political action committees of U.S. Sen. Judd Gregg (R-Rye) and U.S. Sen. John Sununu (R-Waterville Valley) have filed their post-election financial reports with the Federal Election Commission. Gregg's PAC, titled White Mountain PAC, reported that it ended the latest fundraising period with $74,131 cash on hand, while Sununu's Daniel Webster PAC ended the period with $42,930 in the bank. US Senate Daniel Webster PAC John Sununu Judd Gregg PACs State Senate White Mountain PAC Thu, 04 Dec 2008 16:46:00 -0500 Brian Lawson 4839 at http://politicker.com http://www.politickernh.com/brianlawson/4838/d-allesandro-says-stars-aligned-expanded-gaming State Sen. Lou D'Allesandro (D-Manchester) said that he thinks this legislative session is the best opportunity to pass bills that would expand gambling in New Hampshire. "If there is any chance that we can get expanded gaming in the state it's this year," D'Allesandro told PolitickerNH.com. "The stars have aligned to allow the legislature to look at ways to bring in new revenues to the state." http://www.politickernh.com/brianlawson/4838/d-allesandro-says-stars-aligned-expanded-gaming#comments budget deficit expanded gaming gambling Lou D'Allesandro New Hampshire budget deficit State Budget Local Thu, 04 Dec 2008 15:15:00 -0500 Brian Lawson 4838 at http://politicker.com http://www.politickernh.com/brianlawson/4837/kenney-hold-fundraiser-military-analyst Former gubernatorial candidate Joe Kenney is planning to hold a fundraiser to honor his 14 years in the state legislature. Kenney, a former state senator, retired this year to mount an unsuccessful campaign against Gov. John Lynch (D-Hopkinton). http://www.politickernh.com/brianlawson/4837/kenney-hold-fundraiser-military-analyst#comments David Hunt Fundraiser Joe Kenney John Lynch Governor Thu, 04 Dec 2008 14:55:00 -0500 Brian Lawson 4837 at http://politicker.com http://www.politickernh.com/brianlawson/4835/state-senate-committee-assignments-announced The State Senate has finalized its committee assignments for the upcoming legislative session. With the retirement of six state senators, most committees will have a new chairman and one committee is comprised entirely of new state senators. Three Republican state senators were picked to be committee chairmen. State Sen. Bob Odell (R-Lempster) is chair of Ways & Means, John Gallus (R-Berlin) will be chair of Wildlife & Agriculture and state Sen. Bob Letourneau (R-Derry) was picked to be chair of the Transportation & Interstate Cooperation committee. All three senators held the same positions in the last legislative session. You can find the complete list of assignments below. State Senate state senate committees Local Thu, 04 Dec 2008 14:21:00 -0500 Brian Lawson 4835 at http://politicker.com http://www.politickerma.com/jeremyjacobs/2057/newly-elected-reps-hear-dismal-economic-forecast-harvard-conference CAMBRIDGE - Forty newly elected members of Congress gathered Thursday morning to hear some of Massachusetts' finest economists discuss the current crisis and possible remedies. And one thing became clear very quickly: No one knows a surefire way out of the mess. The forum took place at the Institute of Politics at Harvard University's Kennedy School of Government as part of its four-day conference this week for recently elected members of Congress. It featured panelists with economic expertise from the Kennedy School, Harvard's economics department and Harvard's law school. Jeffrey Frankel, an economics professor at the Kennedy School and former member of President Bill Clinton's council of economic advisors, summed up the tone of the meeting in his opening remarks. "No one thoroughly understands the economic crisis," Frankel said. House Local Thu, 04 Dec 2008 12:40:00 -0500 Jeremy P. Jacobs 4836 at http://politicker.com http://www.politickernh.com/brianlawson/4834/packard-announces-house-gop-leadership House Republican leader state Rep. Sherman Packard (R-Londonderry) has announced his leadership team for the upcoming legislative session. Packard has decided to keep state Rep. David Hess (R-Hooksett) as the deputy republican leader. State Rep. Shawn Jasper (R-Hudson) will be the Republican whip and state Rep. Andrew Renzullo (R-Hudson) will be the deputy Republican whip. State Rep. Gene Chandler (R-Bartlett), who ran against Packard for House Republican leader, has been tapped to be the senior assistant Republican leader. Andrew Renzullo David Hess David Kidder DJ Bettencourt Eric Stohl Gene Chandler House Republican leadership House Republicans Jim Raush John Graham John Reagan Pam Price Shawn Jassper Sherman Packard State House Local Thu, 04 Dec 2008 11:48:00 -0500 Brian Lawson 4834 at http://politicker.com http://www.politickernh.com/brianlawson/4833/marchand-praises-richardson-pick A former supporter for Gov. Bill Richardson's (D-N.M.) presidential campaign said he is "excited" that President-elect Obama has selected Richardson to be the next secretary of commerce. Steve Marchand, a former mayor of Portsmouth, served as senior advisor to the Richardson campaign during the New Hampshire primary. http://www.politickernh.com/brianlawson/4833/marchand-praises-richardson-pick#comments President Barack Obama Bill Richardson Secretary of Commerce Steve Marchand Thu, 04 Dec 2008 10:56:00 -0500 Brian Lawson 4833 at http://politicker.com http://www.politickernh.com/brianlawson/4832/wendelboe-cullen-spat-spills-over-ul-comment-section An argument between New Hampshire Republican Chairman Fergus Cullen and Fran Wendelboe, head of the New Hampshire Reagan Network, has taken center stage in the online comment section of The Union Leader. The two were featured in today's Granite Status over allegations that Wendelboe is organizing an effort to replace state committee members with conservatives Republicans. It started earlier this week when Betsy Miller was replaced as the chair of the Merrimack County Republicans by Anne Copp, a prominent supporter of the Reagan Network. http://www.politickernh.com/brianlawson/4832/wendelboe-cullen-spat-spills-over-ul-comment-section#comments Ann Copp Betsy Miller Fergus Cullen Fran Wendelboe New Hampshire Reagan Network New Hampshire Republicans Union Leader Local Thu, 04 Dec 2008 10:52:00 -0500 Brian Lawson 4832 at http://politicker.com http://www.politickernh.com/dantescala/4829/how-pendulum-swung-new-hampshire-1960-2008 The “down time” after an election is a good time to take the long view of things. “How the pendulum swung,” starting today, is an extended look at how the Granite State has changed politically over the last half-century. Our “units of analysis,” to use the jargon of the political scientists, are the 10 counties of New Hampshire. We will take a look at how these counties have voted during the past thirteen presidential elections, from 1960 to 2008. http://www.politickernh.com/dantescala/4829/how-pendulum-swung-new-hampshire-1960-2008#comments Columnist Local Wed, 03 Dec 2008 21:21:00 -0500 Dante Scala 4829 at http://politicker.com http://www.politickernh.com/brianlawson/4826/gop-hold-positive-look-forward-meeting Two Republican consultants and the mayor of the largest city in New Hampshire have organized an invitation-only meeting for Granite State Republicans to get together and discuss ways to "move forward to 2010," PolitickerNH.com has learned. The meeting, being billed as a "Working Meeting: A Positive Look Forward," is being organized by Jim Merrill, Neil Levesque and Manchester Mayor Frank Guinta. It is scheduled to take place on December 15th at Saint Anselm College's New Hampshire Institute of Politics. http://www.politickernh.com/brianlawson/4826/gop-hold-positive-look-forward-meeting#comments Fergus Cullen Frank Guinta Jennifer Horn Jim Merrill John H. Sununu Judd Gregg Neil Levesque New Hampshire Republicans positive look forward Republicans meeting St. Anselm College Local Wed, 03 Dec 2008 18:23:00 -0500 Brian Lawson 4826 at http://politicker.com http://www.politickernh.com/brianlawson/4825/organization-day-tidbits Below are some tidbits from Wednesday's Organization Day and some interesting facts about the makeup of the House. Today the House and Senate met at the State House in Concord to finalize the leadership posts in each chamber. Organization Day State House State Senate Local Wed, 03 Dec 2008 15:57:00 -0500 Brian Lawson 4825 at http://politicker.com http://www.politickernh.com/brianlawson/4820/norelli-picks-party-caucus-leaders The New Hampshire House speaker picks the leaders for the political party caucuses and Speaker Norelli exercised that right earlier today. Norelli selected state Rep. Mary Jane Wallner (D-Concord) to be House Democratic leader and state Rep. Sherman Packard (R-Londonderry) will be the House Republican leader. Both Wallner and Packard were voted to those positions by their respective caucuses in November and Norelli decided not to override those votes. House Democrats House Republicans Mary Jane Wallner Sherman Packard State House Terie Norelli Local Wed, 03 Dec 2008 15:03:00 -0500 Brian Lawson 4820 at http://politicker.com http://www.politickernh.com/brianlawson/4819/house-positions-filled The New Hampshire House unanimously elected Karen Wadsworth for House clerk and Walter Sword to be the sergeant-at-arms. "It's always good to have a sergeant-at-arms whose last name is a weapon," House Speaker Terie Norelli (D-Portsmouth) joked. House Clerk Karen Wadsworth Sergeant-at-arms State House Walter Sword Local Wed, 03 Dec 2008 13:44:00 -0500 Brian Lawson 4819 at http://politicker.com http://www.politickernh.com/brianlawson/4818/legislature-elects-state-treasurer CONCORD--In a joint session, the New Hampshire legislature elected Catherine Provencher for another term as state treasurer. "I am deeply humbled and honored by your continued confidence in my abilities," Provencher said in a short speech before the legislature. Anne-Marie Irwin Catherine Provencher Harold Janeway state treasurer Treasurer Local Wed, 03 Dec 2008 13:35:00 -0500 Brian Lawson 4818 at http://politicker.com http://www.politickernh.com/brianlawson/4817/gardner-elected-secretary-state CONCORD-- Secretary of State Bill Gardner was unanimously elected to a 17th term as secretary of state. Gardner has been serving in the position since 1976 and is currently the longest service secretary of state in the country. http://www.politickernh.com/brianlawson/4817/gardner-elected-secretary-state#comments Bill Gardner Frederick Douglas John Parker Hale Secretary of State Local Wed, 03 Dec 2008 13:25:00 -0500 Brian Lawson 4817 at http://politicker.com http://www.politickernh.com/brianlawson/4816/norelli-elected-house-speaker-urges-bi-partisanship CONCORD--State Rep. Terie Norelli (D-Portsmouth) has been officially elected for a second term as House speaker and told House members that they would need to work across party lines to deal with the state budget. Norelli defeated state Rep. Sherman Packard (R-Londonderry) and state Rep. Robert Rowe (R-Amherst). Norelli received 230 votes, Packard received 104 votes and Rowe got 53 votes. State Rep. Chris Roberts received 3 votes and one ballot was left blank. http://www.politickernh.com/brianlawson/4816/norelli-elected-house-speaker-urges-bi-partisanship#comments bi-partisanship Chris Roberts Gene Chandler House Speaker Lucy Weber Robert Rowe Sherman Packard State House Terie Norelli Local Wed, 03 Dec 2008 12:33:00 -0500 Brian Lawson 4816 at http://politicker.com http://www.politickernh.com/brianlawson/4815/state-senate-leadership-becomes-official CONCORD-- The state senate elected state Sen. Sylvia Larsen (D-Concord) for another term as senate president. Larsen mentioned that the state senate is the first legislative body in the country to be majority female. http://www.politickernh.com/brianlawson/4815/state-senate-leadership-becomes-official#comments Kit Marshall Maggie Hassan Peter Bragdon Robert Buchholz State Senate Sylvia Larsen Local Wed, 03 Dec 2008 12:19:00 -0500 Brian Lawson 4815 at http://politicker.com