Candidates Head To Secretary of State’s Office To File To Run

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By PAULA TRACY, InDepthNH.org

CONCORD – It’s the busy season at the Secretary of State’s Office right now with candidates of all shapes and sizes and numbers of supporters cramming into the little office on the second floor of the State House to sign up to run for office.

All candidates for state office from legislator to U.S. Senator have until Friday, June 12 at 5 p.m. to sign up for a two-year term which will begin next year.

As of the end of business, Friday, more than 200 candidates for state office had filed.

So far, some of the candidates who have filled out the paperwork with fanfare have been Kelly Ayotte, running for re-election as governor as a Republican, and former Executive Councilor Cinde Warmington, running again for governor as a Democrat – both signed last Thursday – and Scott Brown who is running for U.S. Senate as a Republican, who signed last Wednesday, which was the first day to sign up.

All Executive Council members are running for re-election.

After the huge drop of mail came from town and city clerks across the state where some candidates can also file, only an hour after hordes of Chris Pappas supporters lined the hallways and chanted support for the District 1 Congressman and candidate for the U.S. Senate, Edmond Laplante Jr. of Richmond also filed for that same seat as an Independent. The seat is being vacated by U.S. Sen. Jeanne Shaheen, D-NH.
There was no big fanfare Laplante, but it was colorful.

Dressed in Revolutionary War garb, he was accompanied by two supporters, Megan Schmidtt of Concord and Donna LaClair of Loudon, who held signs for him as he sat down to fill out the paperwork.

A mechanic of more than 40 years, Laplante said the Constitution is not a tool for politicians to “fix” society, nor a shortcut to impose new ideas, according to his website.

“It is a set of restraints – written to limit power, define jurisdiction, and protect the people from those who govern. When the government follows it faithfully, things tend to work. When it ignores it, no amount of experience or good intentions can prevent damage,” his website states.

All candidates are signing up for two-year terms with the exception of the U.S. Senate, which is a six-year term.

On Wednesday, John E. Sununu is expected, likely with supporters, to sign up at 1 p.m.
So far, the largest turnout of supporters has been for Pappas.

Addressing reporters, Pappas said Monday this is about building a campaign from the “bottom up” without Political Action Committee money.

He said he would always try to make “the smart call with respect to policy, that is something that I believe I have done over the course of my time in Congress. I’ll continue to do that as New Hampshire’s next Senator.”

Most candidates for major office take the opportunity in front of the cameras to say a bit about their hopes and answer a few questions before leaving the office to be greeted by supporters.

Pappas was expected at noon but got to the State House at 11:50 a.m., made brief remarks and then left fairly quickly.

A young man in a red Adidas shirt, who said his name was “Jacob” came running around the hallway on the first floor of the State House near the stairs photographing Pappas leaving the building and encountered a Pappas supporter who tried to block him by holding a Pappas sign in his face, slowing the man down.

Video showed that the two had a brief physical altercation in which the man in red was pushed up against the wall.

“Seriously why did you body check me dude?” he said to the Pappas supporter who also was not identified.

“Nobody body checked you, bro,” said the Pappas supporter, holding a sign.

“Dude you put a shoulder into me,” the man said.

The Pappas supporter said “there is a bunch of witnesses.”

“Dude, all of these witnesses are politically motivated,” the man said.