LACONIA — State Rep. Norm Silber was elected Wednesday as the new chairman of the Belknap County Republicans, unseating Alan Glassman, who held the post for a decade.
GOP state committee members from the county voted 17-3 for Silber and selected Rep. Paul Terry as vice chairman, David Strang as treasurer and Priscilla Bean as secretary.
“We want a new day and a new approach for the Belknap County Republican Committee,” Silber said.
“The main activity of the Belknap County Republicans for many years has been limited to a summer cruise on the Mount Washington on Lake Winnipesaukee.
“It seems to me, and I’ve worked in a whole variety of organizations over many years, that the organization should be doing more in community service, more in fundraising, more in recruiting good solid Republican candidates and more in supporting Republican candidates running for office whether in partisan or nonpartisan races.”
Silber also said Glassman is one of several RINOs — Republican in Name Only — in the local GOP group.
For his part, Glassman and several other local representatives rejected the RINO pejorative, saying they adhere to Republican principles and there should be room for differing views.
Glassman presided over a successful election cycle in which county voters supported Republicans up and down the ballot and voted out the only two Democrats in the 18-member county legislative delegation.
He said there was a feeling of nastiness in the race for chairman.
“My philosophy is I treat people equally,” he said.
“We want to get Republicans elected. That is the goal. The way to do that is to raise money and have events wherever we can.
“The cruise is the main event and we spend a lot of time making sure it is going to be successful.”
(1) comment
When the county Republicans elect Silber, a staunch supporter of the avowed racist and conspiracy theory advocate Dawn Johnson as their leader, it's just one more indication of the approaching end of the Republican party as we know it. Jennifer Horn was one of the first to abandon this sinking ship, by no means will she be the last.
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