Write-In Candidates

Three candidates in Belknap County, including an incumbent county commissioner, are pursuing write-in campaigns in Tuesday's primary election in hopes of winning a place on the general election ballot in November.

When Commissioner Richard Long of Belmont sought to file for election as a Republican he discovered that because he was registered as an Independent he could not enter the GOP primary. Nearly two years ago Long, a retired banking executive, was appointed to represent District 2 (Barnstead, Belmont, Gilmanton, Sanbornton and Tilton) on the Belknap County Commission when the seat fell vacant with the passing of Gordon Bartlett in September 2006. When the County Convention, which consisted of 17 Republicans and 1 Democrat, Representative John Thomas (R-Belmont) declared "we will replace a Republican with a Republican."

Long said yesterday that "I had always been a registered Republican, but six or seven or maybe eight or ten years ago I got sick of being hounded to death. I said 'I've had it' and filed as an Independent." Barred from the Republican primary ballot, Long has taken two detours to ensure that he appears on the general election ballot. "I collected the 150 signatures to get on the general election ballot as an Independent and I'm running a write-in campaign in the Republican primary to run as a Republican in November," he said.

Since no other Republican filed for the commission from District 2, Long need only poll ten write-in votes or write-in votes equal to 10-percent of the total Republican primary vote, whichever is smaller, to win the nomination. If Long succeeds he will face Democrat Dick Shannon of Sanbornton in November. He explained that although the signatures assured him a place on the general election ballot, he calculated that mounting a write-in campaign in the primary would heighten awareness and lend momentum to his candidacy in November.

"I've already got the job. I just want it back," Long remarked, "and I've committed a lot of money to this campaign — $42 — to print cards saying 'please write me in.'"

In Meredith, Elliot Finn intended to enter the Republican primary for the seat in the House of Representatives opened by the retirement of incumbent Bruce Heald. A close friend of former state Senator Carl Johnson, Finn said that when he complained about the machinations of state government, Johnson told him "if you don't like what's happening, why don't you run?" He said that he was reluctant to run against either of the two Republican incumbents — Stephen Nedeau and Heald.

"I've been registered undeclared most of my life," Finn said, "and three days after the deadline to change registration before the primary I met Bruce Heald, who told me he was retiring and urged me to run." Like Long, Finn decided to run a write-in campaign in the primary to seek a spot on the Republican ticket and at the same time try to collect enough signatures get on the general election ballot as an Independent.

Nedeau is seeking re-election while Richard Juve, who has led the initiative to adopt SB-2 in Meredith, filed for the second slot on the Republican primary ballot. "Chances are I won't win one of the two places on the ticket," Finn conceded. "Since I'm a non-entity, it's a tough row to hoe."

Nevertheless, Finn has printed lawn signs and 1,000 brochures to distribute at the polls. "I'm not going to sit by and let things go by," he said. "At least people will have heard of me. I'm optimistic."

Liz Merry of Sanbornton, a native Canadian who became a United States citizen on July 4, 2007, stepped into the breach when Democrat Gail Morrison of Sanbornton decided to leave the New Hampshire House of Representatives to run for Register of Deeds in Belknap County, opening a place on the ticket. Local Democrats first courted Merry's husband Martin, who instead recommended his wife. Since the filing period had closed, Merry had no alternative but to launch a write-in campaign.

"Liz never does anything half-baked," said Martin Merry. "We are running a very vigorous write-in campaign. We are canvassing both Sanbornton and Tilton, distributing brochures, and putting up signs." He said that they have printed facsimile ballots with instructions about to cast a write-in ballot. "We're handing material to Democrats and Republicans," he said. If Merry's write-in campaign succeeds, she will join Stanley Robinson of Tilton on the Democratic ticket for the two seats in District 6 (Sanbornton and Tilton).

Liz Merry has been out of town and was unavailable for comment.