Mayor-elect Mike Bordes is no stranger to Granite State politics

LACONIA — Mayor-elect Mike Bordes’ journey to City Hall was a long time coming, and began a long ways away.  

The three-term state representative jumped into the race ahead of the Municipal Election. Bordes made his announcement during the annual Bean Family Barbecue this summer in Gilford. It’s a large and jovial gathering each year where Republican hopefuls frequently declare their intention to seek elected office.  

He made the decision to run for mayor in much the same way he did about the Statehouse: friends and neighbors encouraged him to do so. 

Bordes narrowly defeated Ward 1 Councilor Bruce Cheney on Nov. 4, securing his spot in the city's political history. A native of Long Island, Bordes has spent the past 10 years on Lake Winnipesaukee, working in the private sector and the political realm.

His story began in Smithtown, New York, almost two hours outside Manhattan by car on a good day. Bordes grew up there in a house with two parents and, much later, a younger sister. He went to high school, and was surrounded by a family steeped in a history of public service, both as police officers and firefighters in the city.

“My whole family, from my grandfather down, were FDNY and NYPD, so I grew up in a law enforcement and firefighter family — my grandfather served in the Marines,” he said. “My dad and mother got married at a young age and had me. I’ve got a sister, she’s 13 or 14 years younger than me.”

They grew up in a middle-class neighborhood with lots to do. He said childhood was fun.  

“After I lost my uncle on 9/11, I became very involved and very pro-law enforcement and firefighters,” he said. “I always was, but it really took me up a notch.” 

And it was from Smithtown Bordes began making his own way in the world, one car ride at a time. He spent his younger professional years traveling into Manhattan to work in nightclubs — Bordes was a professional disc jockey, and frequently hosted shows on SiriusXM Radio.

“I worked in Manhattan for years, so I would commute via car,” he said. “Sometimes, to go 40 miles would take me 3.5 hours each way, but I made it work.

“I worked in a lot of New York City nightclubs, I had shows on Sirius Satellite Radio. I did a bunch of mix shows on probably about seven channels over the course of 10 years,” he said. “After that, I did shows on Music Choice, which is on cable television. I worked and produced with a lot of artists.”

Bordes got into music listening to the radio — Saturday Night Dance Party on Hot 103 with DJ Glenn Fisher — who he became good friends with over the years, a radio personality who "worked with Madonna, he worked with everybody.” The pair became friends, and Bordes started working in the music industry himself.

“I was kind of like a ghost-producer, a ghost-remixer and stuff. I did team up with the KLUBJUMPERS and we did some commercial records, too,” he said. 

But the music industry isn’t what it used to be, particularly in the streaming era, and Bordes began to pivot when he realized the good times might no longer roll. Working for various school districts and Head Start programs in the Long Island area as an information technology professional, Bordes learned the ropes of what would later become his livelihood. And that’s what he does today — independent IT consulting from his home in Ward 6, where he’s lived for the past three years. Before that, he called Ward 1 home.

“Everybody with a laptop is now a DJ, a producer, all this stuff,” he said. “The money isn’t there anymore.”

An avid boater, it's no wonder Winnipesaukee would later become his home. He heard talk of its waters while still in Long Island, and thus began a love affair with New Hampshire, where he vacationed annually for about 13 years, renting the same place on Paugus Bay and trailering, initially, a personal watercraft to the lake.

“A few weeks later I trailered my jet ski up, and I stayed at the Christmas Island Hotel, at the time,” he said. “I fell in love with the place, and it just became a routine every year.” 

The high taxes on income and property in New York helped Bordes make his decision to live up north permanently.

“I decided it was time to get out,” he said. 

“You’re just taxed to death in New York, so I came to the Live Free or Die state.

“We’re on the boat almost every day in the summer, that’s my getaway,” he said. “I don’t do drugs, I’m not a heavy drinker, I like to be out on the boat and enjoy the lake."

And he’s built a life in the Granite State. He’s engaged to a woman he met through mutual friends, and he’s got a daughter. Now, he’s become highly engaged in state politics, though his interest in the political began in New York.

Bordes, while still living on Long Island, worked on Lee Zeldin’s first campaign. Zeldin, a former state lawmaker and representative of New York’s 1st District to Congress, now serves as the head of the federal Environmental Protection Agency. 

“I was volunteering like crazy,” Bordes said. 

That drive carried through as he traveled north, where he volunteered assistance to the campaigns of both former Gov. Chris Sununu and sitting Gov. Kelly Ayotte.

Outside of his professional life in IT and in politics, you can probably catch Bordes on the lake or on the highway, driving between his many commitments. If you see him on the road, he’s most likely listening to Journey or the Eagles, the classics.  

“I was heavily involved in the dance music scene back in the day, because of the New York City nightclubs,” he said. “Personally, I like classic rock. I know it’s a bit different than what I worked in.” 

His favorite order from a local restaurant?

“Obviously, a good prime rib.”