Above, Republicans gathered Friday at the Sheraton in Nashua for the First-in-the-Nation Leadership Summit kickoff. DAMIEN FISHER photo

By DAMIEN FISHER, InDepthNH.org

NASHUA — Fault lines in the Republican Party appeared early Friday as the state GOP’s First-in-the-Nation Leadership Summit kicked off.

Karoline Leavitt, the Republican who ran a losing Congressional campaign against incumbent Democrat Chris Pappas, blamed her party for the loss. 

“There is a disconnect that continues to take hold between the national Republican party and the Republican grassroots voters,” Leavitt said.

Leavitt used her spot on a Young Republican Panel to complain about the millions spent on negative ads in her primary. That spending from other Republicans helped doom her run in the general election, she said.

Hundreds of state Republicans gathered at the Sheraton in Nashua to see presidential candidates and party leaders for what was supposed to be a celebration of the principles that bind them; “preserving freedom, limited government, and unlimited opportunity for all.”

But there are sore spots in a party trying to navigate a future that likely includes the divisive former President Donald Trump. As Leavitt used her panel spotlight to complain about fellow Republicans, her primary opponent Matt Mowers worked the conference room, talking to attendees. 

The day before, Mowers used his Twitter account to take a shot at Leavitt for being among the “lousy candidates for their districts” who lost in the 2022 elections.

Trump is not scheduled to attend the two-day event, but even in his absence he dominated the event. Former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie got boos from the audience when he told the crowd he does not want Trump to be the party’s nominee. Christie is vocal that Trump is unfit for office and said there is a good chance he will be convicted of one of the 91 pending felony charges before the presidential election.

“We can’t nominate nor elect a convicted felon to be president of the U.S. and I’m pretty clear about that,” Christie said.

State Sen. Tim Lang, R-District 2, said the current disunity in the party stems from Trump’s false claims that the 2020 election was stolen. That topic can turn heated, but Lang is confident the divisions can be healed.

“I think time will bridge that gap. I do think the people who truly believe there was fraud in that election cycle will ultimately come around,” Lang said. “I don’t think there’s a person who can resolve that message.”

Theresa Negron, a Nashua Republican, said everyone in the party agrees on the basic GOP principles even if they disagree on some points right now. 

“It’s like your family, your family has distinct personalities in your family unit, but we all come from the same mother and father,” Negron said.

It’s unrealistic to believe GOP voters will all coalesce around one candidate in unison, she said. At some point, voters will need to decide which candidate to back, and that will mean tradeoffs on particular issues.

Among the presidential candidates speaking this weekend are Christie, North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgam, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, Ambassador Nikki Haley, entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy, Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson, South Carolina Gov. Tim Scott, and former Vice President Mike Pence.

Despite the array of choices, many think Trump will end up with the nomination, though not everyone at the conference was comfortable saying so on the record. Actor Kevin Sorbo, T.V. ‘s Hercules and one of the planned speakers, told InDepthNH.org it is Trump’s nomination.

“I think it’s gonna be Trump either way,” Sorbo said.

The other candidates all have positives to offer, he said, but he does not see any of them stopping Trump from getting the nomination.