Kevin Hayes: Running for public office is an amazing & humbling experience

To The Daily Sun,

Voters of Gilford:

Thank you very much to all of you who supported my campaign for selectman. Your permission to place a sign on your property, your voluntary sign maintenance, your letters of support, and most important, your votes, are very much appreciated.

Due to the closeness of the results, a recount was held eight days after the election. The final results gave each of us a few more votes, but the margin basically remained the same.

Win or lose, running for public office is an amazing and humbling experience. People come out to support you and others campaign against you, sometimes without verifying the facts. You should check your ego at the door when you file to run, and you never know who is going to say something about you that may be untrue or minimally an unfair perception on their part.

Spending the day at the polls holding your sign reacquaints you with people you have not seen for a while and gives you a chance to catch up. Unless they are vocal about it, their vote is still their vote only, done in the privacy of the voting booth. I hope that with every election, more people come out to voice their opinion at the polls.

Kudos to those who worked at the polls all day and into the night, as the tally took time to calculate and check. The New Hampshire system of paper ballots works, especially when the need for a recount arises.

Thanks again for your support. When I was first elected to this position in 2008, the United States was on the verge of the financial crisis. The lesson learned from that first few years will serve the board well in the coming months.

I expect to be a selectman for all of the people of Gilford. My phone number is 527-6508 and my town email address is khayes@gilfordnh.org. Feel free to reach out.

Kevin Hayes

Gilford