Republican leadership condemns Ashland candidate as 'despicable racist'

The state Republican Party has rejected as a "despicable racist" an Ashland man who is running for the New Hampshire House of Representatives as a Republican on a pro-white platform.

Ryan J. Murdough, in a letter to the editor of the Concord Monitor published on Sunday, urged readers to "preserve their racial identify," contending, "Affirmative action, illegal and legal non-white immigration, anti-white public school systems and an anti-white media have done much damage to the United States of America and especially New Hampshire."

He called on "white people in New Hampshire and across the country to take a stand."

State Republican Party Chairman John H. Sununu "found the letter to be disgusting and has immediately issued an order barring this imposter from using any party resource to promote his candidacy," said party spokesman Ryan Williams.

"Mr. Murdough is a despicable racist," said Williams. "His racist views are abhorrent and he is not welcome in the New Hampshire Republican Party."

The state party does not endorse candidates in primary elections, but does provide candidates access to voter lists, candidate training and to the state party staff to answer questions, Williams said.

"He is barred from any of those forms of assistance," said Williams. "We are exploring further sanctions against him."

Murdough, whose residency and voter registration as a Republican were confirmed by the Ashland town clerk’s office yesterday, says he is the state chairman of American Third Position, which he says, "is a political party that stands for the interests of white Americans." He identifies himself as the New Hampshire state chairman of the party, which was formed earlier this year.

A Facebook link from Murdough’s page connects to an online forum on the American Third Position website. There, he is identified as a 30-year-old "senior moderator" who joined the forum in February.

On a Twitter post, he describes himself as "an unapologetic, unafraid White Christian father and husband."

Ryan J. Murdough is not to be confused with Henniker Police Chief Ryan H. Murdough, who has said people sometimes mistake him for the other Murdough.

Williams said the state GOP’s records show Murdough was an undeclared voter in 2008.

"He has obviously changed his voter registration to misrepresent himself and get his name on the ballot," Williams said. "We consider Murdough a fraud and an imposter."

Williams said the state GOP has contacted the Grafton County Republican Committee and activists "to inform them of Mr. Murdough’s disgusting views and urge them to defeat him in the Sept. 14 primary."

Williams said both major political parties occasionally have "a few bad apples running for office."

He noted that a man arrested in 2003 for making threats against then-Gov. Craig Benson is now running for the state Senate as a Democrat.