Giuda retiring from Senate, endorses Lang; DeVoy also running

State Sen. Bob Giuda said Thursday he is retiring after serving in the Legislature’s upper chamber for six years and he immediately threw his support to fellow Republican state Rep. Tim Lang.

Former Belknap County Commissioner Dave DeVoy, also a Republican, announced last week that he is running for the Senate in the newly configured Senate District 2 which, due to redistricting, is very different from the district that Giuda represented for three terms.

“I’m 70 years old,” Giuda said of his decision to retire, adding that he also wanted to spend more time with his wife who suffered a brain aneurysm in 2017 and has been in a skilled nursing facility ever since.

Giuda, a conservative Republican who served three terms in the state House before running for the state Senate, pointed to a constitutional amendment limiting the state’s eminent domain powers, the establishing of the Housing Appeals Board, and his work on behalf of constituents as work that gave him the greatest satisfaction.

Recently Giuda has been outspoken in his opposition to what he saw as the Belknap County Delegation injecting a political agenda in the operation of the county-owned Gunstock Area. He spearheaded a measure, passed by the Senate, to have members of Gunstock Area Commission, elected by the voters rather than chosen by the delegation. That measure, however, died Thursday in a conference committee vote.

Lang, of Sanbornton, is in his third term representing Sanbornton and Tilton in the state House.

He chairs the House Fish and Game Committee, and also serves on the House Ways and Means Committee, as well as on the Joint Legislative Committee on Administrative Rules that has oversight authority for rules proposed and adopted by state agencies.

“I have a similar ideological approach to Sen. Giuda,” Lang said. “I think government should take as little as possible to deliver services.”

DeVoy said his experience of six years as a Belknap County Commissioner had given ample preparation for the challenges he would face in the Senate.

He said the contest between him and Lang should be “based on the experience of what we have done.”

Giuda said he was endorsing Lang because of his experience in the House and especially his time serving on the Ways and Means Committee which reviews and makes recommendations about the state budget. Giuda served on that committee when he was was in the House from 2001 to 2006. He then served on the Senate Ways and Means Committee when he got to the upper chamber.

In addition to his wish for more personal time, Giuda said redistricting played a major role in his decision not to seek another term.

The new Senate district boundaries put Giuda’s town of Warren in Senate District 1 which stretches all the way to the U.S,-Canada border and is made up of communities that he has never represented or campaigned in before.

Lang described the new District 2 as “more Lakes Region focused.” It consists of 12 communities, including Laconia, Gilford, and Belmont, which were previously in Senate District 7.