November 15, 2008
Union Leader
MANCHESTER – John Lynch is “the worst governor the state has ever had,” former Gov. John H. Sununu told members of the Seacoast Federated Republican Women meeting yesterday in Portsmouth.
Later, explaining his opinion to a reporter, Sununu cited a $250 million state budget deficit; what he called the erosion of family values in the last legislative session; and Lynch’s failure to persuade lawmakers from his own party to vote for his constitutional amendment on education.
“A deficit that size is huge and makes it impossible to do anything else worthwhile,” Sununu said. “The deficit and the education issue are the two biggest issues in New Hampshire.
Sununu, a Republican, said Lynch, a Democrat, has maintained his popularity because the GOP hasn’t run a serious candidate against him.
Sununu said 12 years of former Democratic Gov. Jeanne Shaheen and Lynch has resulted in failure to do anything to address the education issue.
On Nov. 4, New Hampshire voters elected Shaheen to replace Sununu’s son — U.S. Sen. John E. Sununu, R-N.H. — on Capitol Hill. In the weeks since Sen. Sununu lost that race, speculation has been rampant that he will run for governor in two years.
Contacted about Sununu’s remarks, Lynch’s press secretary, Colin Manning, said: “Governor Lynch has been focused on bringing people together to address the shortfall in revenue being caused by the downturn in the national economy, and that is what he will continue to do to make sure we have a balanced budget and continue to make New Hampshire a place of opportunity for all our citizens. We’re facing an unprecedented economic situation in this country, and now is not the time for partisan attacks because that is not really going to solve anything.”
Democratic Party Chairman Raymond Buckley called it laughable that the former governor would criticize Lynch. When then-Gov. Sununu left office, Buckley said, the state was saddled with its largest deficit ever to that point.
Likewise, Buckley said, Sununu should not criticize any governor or anyone else about education funding. If Sununu had fully funded a $50 million education plan when he was governor, there never would have been the Claremont lawsuit that has dominated legislative attention for the past 18 years, Buckley said.
“It’s shocking Governor Sununu would even bring up education,” Buckley said. “I was there. Maybe he doesn’t remember, but I do, and so do the people of New Hampshire.”
The senior Sununu said yesterday he wanted to remind Republicans the election cycle is every two years in New Hampshire.
“Republicans have to redefine Republican principles in a way people understand,” he said. “We have to remind people how special this state is.
“I’ve talked to a lot of Republican leaders in the state and have encouraged them to address Republican principles and issues, and if they need an old has-been like me to put these issues on the table, then I will do it.”
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Note: Some of the commenters on the above article at the UL website are completely out of touch with (or purposely obfuscating) the facts. Governor Benson left NH with an $80M SURPLUS in 2004. NH now faces an $800-$1BILLION deficit as a result of the last two terms of Governor Lynch, according to Charles Arlinghaus of the Josiah Bartlett Center for Public Policy. NH’s deficit was the sole creation of the current Democrat-controlled legislature.
Jeanne Shaheen instituted the first broadbased tax and was ready to support an income tax when she was governor.