Candidates Set: Meet the GOP Avengers

The New Hampshire candidate filing period closed with neither a bang nor a whimper Friday the 13th, but there was a clatter with another matter: Republicans are challengers to Democrats in every major office in 2014.

Meet the Democratic incumbents: U.S. Sen. Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH), U.S. Reps. Carol Shea-Porter in the 1st District and Annie Kuster in the 2nd District, and Gov. Maggie Hassan.

Now meet the GOP avengers: Well, they are many. And, besides "Obamacare" resounding in their political-scape, the question is a familiar one: Are Granite Staters better off than two years ago? Or six years ago?

The list of candidates at Secretary of State William Gardner's office is long and varied.

The U.S. Senate race in New Hampshire has garnered national attention for one of the challengers, a former Massachusetts senator and recent New Hampshire transplant, Scott Brown.

The candidate field for the GOP nomination is 10 strong, starting with Brown, former state Sen. Jim Rubens, and former U.S. Sen. Bob Smith, the latter getting the endorsement of conservative activist and former candidate Karen Testerman.

Other GOP Senate hopefuls filed are: Gerard Beloin of Colebrook, Robert D'Arcy of Keene, Miro Dziedzic of Windham, Mark W. Farnham of Lebanon, Bob Heghmann of Wolfeboro, Walter W. Kelly of Lancaster, Andy Martin of Manchester.

The race for the Democratic nomination for governor features the incumbent, Governor Hassan, with two little-known candidates: Ian Freeman of Keene and Clecia Terrio of Manchester. Freeman, actually, is well-known – as a liberty activist and support of the Free State Project, the group of Libertarian-minded Americans who see New Hampshire as the best place in the country for liberty to flourish.

Hassan's GOP challengers are Daniel Green of Pittsfield, Andrew Hemingway of Bristol, Walt Havenstein of Alton, and Jonathan Smolin of Alton. Havenstein, who just aired his first television ads this week, has collected some establishment GOP support so far.

There are numerous legislative primary races to watch in a Legislature in which the House of Representatives has 400 seats. 

Democrats this session enjoyed majority control. At least two state representatives have expressed interested in wielding the House Speaker's gavel, now that Portsmouth Democrat Terie Norelli is not running for re-election. State Rep. Laurie Sanborn, R-Bedford, and Rep. Stephen Shurtleff, D-Concord, are two of the would-be Speaker candidates (the House, when it re-organizes after the general election in November, selects its Speaker).

The only major elected leader in the state on the ballot unopposed at this point is Senate President Chuck Morse, a Republican from Salem.

In the 1st Congressional District, Shea-Porter looks to defend the seat from four GOP candidates: former Congressman Frank Guinta of Manchester, Dan Innis of Portsmouth, Brendan Kelly of Seabrook, and Everett Jabour of Barrington.

In the 2nd District, Kuster will cruise to the Democratic nomination and then face off with one of four GOP candidates: Marilinda Garcia of Salem, Gary Lambert of Nashua, Jim Lawrence of Hudson, and Mike Little of Concord.

The state primary is Sept. 9.

The general election is Nov. 4.

Declarations of intent for independent candidates filing for the General Election include:

• P. Gardner Goldsmith of Amherst for U.S. Senate
• Brian H. Chabot of Nashua for 2nd Congressional District
• John D. Shea of Nelson for Governor