Governor hosting 100th birthday party for Laconia native 'Granny D' on Thursday

National political icon Doris "Granny D" HaddockGranny D turned 100 on Sunday and will be feted at the New Hampshire Statehouse, second floor, on Thursday, Jan. 28, from noon to 1:30 p.m., by the Governor John Lynch, former Governor Walter Peterson, Councilor Debora Pignatelli and Senator Martha Fuller Clark. The public in encouraged to attend.

Granny D has been at the forefront of the movement to pass public funding for elections nationally and in states across the nation including in New Hampshire. At 90, she walked across the country to call attention to the pressing need to take corporate influence out of the electoral process by promoting citizen-funded elections.

Last year, a group she founded, the Coalition for Open Democracy, was instrumental in the passage of a

bill in New Hampshire to establish the Citizen Funded Election Task Force. The Task Force is chaired by Senator Clark. Other members are: Senator Sharon Carson; Representatives Jim

Splaine, Bob Perry, and Kathleen Hoelzel; former Representative and Coalition for Open Democracy (COD)

Board Member Gordon Allen; former members of the 2008 Study Commission Professor Abigail Abrash-

Walton and former State Senator and gubernatorial candidate Jim Rubens; former State Senator and Executive

Councilor Peter Spaulding; Rob Werner of Americans for Campaign Reform, and attorney David Allen. Granny

D attends all meetings.

The task force is charged with writing proposals for specific citizen-funded elections legislation. The Task Force currently is planning an Electoral Reform for the New Century symposia with educational events on clean elections to take place in March, June and November.

Granny D lives in the woods between Dublin and Peterborough. She was born January 24, 1910 in Laconia, New Hampshire and attended Emerson College before marrying James Haddock. Doris raised two children during the Great Depression and later she worked at a shoe company for twenty years.

With her husband, Jim, Doris helped stop the planned use of hydrogen bombs in Alaska in 1960, saving

an Inuit fishing village at Point Hope. The couple retired in 1972, during which time Doris served on the

Planning Board of her town and was active in community affairs. She nursed Jim through 10 years of

Alzheimer’s disease until he succombed.

After the defeat of Senator McCain and Senator Feingold's first attempt to remove unregulated "soft"

money from campaigns in 1995, Doris became interested in campaign reform and led a petition movement. On

January 1, 1999, she laced up her sneakers and began a 3,200–mile odyssey across the country to demonstrate her concern for the issue, walking ten miles each day for fourteen months. Doris traveled as a pilgrim until given shelter, fasting until given food. With the unflagging generosity of strangers she met along the way, Doris never went without a meal or a bed. She trekked through more than 1,000 miles of desert, climbed the Appalachian Range in blizzard conditions and even skied 100 miles after an historic snowfall made roadside walking impossible. When she arrived in Washington D.C., Granny D was met by thousands of supporters representing a wide variety of reform groups. Several dozen members of Congress walked the final miles with her. Her epic journey has galvanized popular attention on a political system gone awry. For Doris, the walk was just a warm up.

It took two more years to gain passage of the McCain/Feingold bill, during which time Doris engaged in

walking fasts around the Capitol, organized rallies in many states and held demonstrations that twice landed her in DC jails.

In 2003, Doris had her eyes on the upcoming election so drove around the country on a 22,000 mile

voter registration effort targeting working women and disenfranchised groups. This trek was cut short in June

2004, when Doris heard that the presumed Democratic nominee for U.S. Senate in New Hampshire had dropped out of the race days before the filing deadline. 94 years old and still eager to "raise a little hell," Doris surprised everyone by deciding to challenge the Republican incumbent, Senator Judd Gregg. Although she was defeated in the election, her insurgent, grassroots campaign defied all expectations.

As Granny D continues to push for campaign finance reform, this great-grandmother of 16 is lauded for

her work. President Jimmy Carter says, “Doris Haddock is a true patriot, and our nation has been blessed by

her remarkable life.”

Senator John McCain says, “I believe she represents all that is good in America. She has taken up this

struggle to clean up American politics… Granny D, you exceed any small, modest contributions those of us

who have labored in the vineyards of reform have made to this Earth. We are grateful for you.”

Bill Moyers says, “Doris Haddock set out to walk across America to protest the betrayal of democracy

by money in politics. That mission she accomplished. …This is no “innocent” grandmother naively protesting a cause…Granny D is a seasoned activist, an eloquent speaker and writer and an acute observer of the world

around us.”

For more information on Granny D, see http://www.grannyd.com. For more information on the

Coalition for Open Democracy see coalitionforopendemocracy.org and for more information on the Citizen

Funded Election Task Force see http://www.gencourt.state.nh.us/statstudcomm/details.aspx?id=1996&rbl=

1&chkcs=1&chksc=1&txtbillnumber=HB513