Carl Johnson endorses Joe Kenney for governor

Former state Senator Carl Johnson formally endorsed Senator Joe Kenney for governor during a reception at Mame's Restaurant this week. Kenney, a Republican from Wakefield in Carroll County, is expected to formally announce his candidacy for governor June 12.

The two men served together in the N.H. Senate for three terms.

Repeating Kenney's campaign theme Johnson remarked, "Keep New Hampshire New Hampshire and we're going to do that with Senator Kenney's leadership. Certainly he's got the leadership to go on to better the state."

"Governor Lynch has gone with the liberal party and now is part of the tax and spend we in New Hampshire have been concerned about," Johnson said.

Kenney served four terms in the House and three terms in the Senate as the District 3 State Senator. He is an active duty in the Marine Corps Reserve, and has served in Iraq during Operation Desert Storm and Operation Iraqi Freedom. He worked his way up from Private to Lt. Col.

According to Kenney, "Lynch may be a nice guy, in fact, that's the problem he's too nice to stand up to his party and we are becoming northern Massachusetts. I want to keep New Hampshire, New Hampshire. I am not afraid of a challenge in my first race for a House seat I lost in the primary and came back and won as a write in candidate against a guy who was on the ballot as both an R and a D. Being Governor is about having the leadership and strength to say no sometimes and take a position and John Lynch is too nice to take a stand."

"I'm not going to support additional spending in state government," Kenney added. "We need to be sure we set priorities in state government."

Regarding the Johnson endorsement, Kenney said, "I am proud to have the endorsement of Senator Johnson. He is a great american and a fellow veteran and I know he has a lot of supporters here in his district. When I served with Carl Johnson I could count on him for conservative votes and someone who stood up for New Hampshire. He's someone who understands how New Hampshire works."

Kenney said he does not believe we currently have a "New Hampshire budget". His campaign will focus on the spending in Governor Lynch's budget and his lack of prioritizing as well as the changes in our states social fabric and loss of parental rights.