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The long-anticipated day has arrived. Surely everybody who’s anybody is already looking at the results, wondering if they were fortunate enough to make our list. Our sincere apologies to those of you who have fallen short on your sleep, nervous in the anxiety of whether or not you’ve made the list. Worry no more, for the time is now!
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Our thanks to all of you who took the time to participate. While some of these types of exercises tend to mainly be about promoting the person conducting the survey, rest assured this was not the case here. Watching the recent turns of political events here in NH, it is quite obvious that power has shifted. Those who used to acquire and wield strength in the Granite State are either gone, or in their waning moments. A new crop of shakers and movers is beginning to make their marks on the NH scene. We thought it was time to update the list, and, while having thoughts ourselves, we thought we should get as much input from other people, in case it turned out we were all wet.
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The way it worked was simple– I asked readers to submit a list of 5 people who they thought were the new power players in NH; who are the most influential in today’s Granite state. I then listed all of the answers and then ranked them according to total votes cast for each. The goal was to create a list of twenty people that GraniteGrok readers felt fit the bill.
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The top finishers were as follows:
- First place was tied: Gov. John Lynch and NH Dem Party Chair Ray Buckley
- Second place found Kathy Sullivan, former Dem Party Chair tied with John Stephen.
- Third place was a three-way between NH State Sen. Bob Clegg, US Sen.John E. Sununu, and a non-person, collective entity called "the Blogs."
These were the top vote-getters gathered from the "ballots" that were submitted. There is no doubt that we are in new times here in the Granite State, as it has not been many years since the days when a Democrat might not be found ANYWHERE on such a list of NH power brokers. Now, we find them perched at the top of the heap.
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Hard on the heels of the top vote-getters was this next group. All receiving approximately the same number of votes each, they appear to rather nicely fill out the list of the main players. They are listed in alphabetical order instead of rank, as they all pretty much tied with one another:
- "Activists" (another collective entity rather than an individual)
- GOP Chair Fergus Cullen
- Manchester Mayor Frank Giunta
- US Sen. Judd Gregg
- Former gubernatorial candidate Bruce Keough
- NH Senate President Sylvia Larsen
- NH House Speaker Terri Norelli
- Former Gov. Jeanne Shaheen
That makes fifteen. Rounding out the top twenty, we find
- US Rep. Democrat Paul Hodes
- Stonyfield Farm’s Gary Hirshberg (while a liberal, it’s nice to see a non politician on this list)
- Andru Volinski– victorious "Claremont Lawsuit" lawyer
- Former NH Cong. Republican Jeb Bradley
- Joe McQuaid– publisher of the NH Union Leader newspaper (diminished, but not out)
There you have it– the top twenty power players of New Hampshire, as chosen by the GraniteGrok readers. There were many other entries that, while not garnering enough votes to make the top twenty, certainly are worthy of our consideration, and shouldn’t go without mention. While not quite at the peak yet, they certainly might attain loftier heights down the road. These are in no particular order:
Acting DOT Commish Charles O’Leary; NHCLU Claire Ebel; NH Reagan Network’s Fran Wendleboe; Dem Cong. Carol Shea Porter; CNHT Ed Naile; GOP Minority Leader Rep. Mike Whalley; NH Sen. Ted Gatsas; Joel Maiola; Tom Rath; Robb Thomson; Tom Thomson; Judy Reardon; Paul Twoomey; Neal Kurk; Former GOP state Chair Wayne Semprini; Former NH Speaker Doug Scamman
Again, as I noted above, the most striking point I gleaned from the list is the number of Democrats inhabiting it. NH is a far cry from the solid Republican state it was on my arrival here in 1985. No longer does a captain of industry like Cabletron’s Craig Benson (later becoming a one-term governor) wield great power over the state’s governing apparatus. Instead, we find liberal businessman Gary Hirshberg influencing things using his successful business as a platform to promote and fund activism in a much different way.
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Here are a few random comments from people who submitted votes. Again, I wish to thank everyone who helped compile this list. While there are both many names and comments that didn’t make it here to the final post, we appreciated all of them. Time and space (well, mostly time) prevents me from putting it all up…
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Nate from Canaan writes of John Stephen:
While the press has not been very kind to him, mostly because of his disagreements with a popular governor, history will show that he singlehandedly looked after taxpayer money. Best of luck to him in his primary.
and Sylvia Larsen:
Being head of the NH Senate has its pluses. We hear a lot about Ms. Larsen in the media. At this point I think we’ll be seeing her with higher aspirations in the decade to come.
James Pindell of the Boston Globe reminded us that he already created the definitive list of NH’s powerful. We recommend you check it out by clicking here.
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Former state senator and fellow blogger Rob Boyce, including John Stephen on his list noted
John Stephen – most likely to be the next to hold the NH 1 CD seat in Congress. He acquitted himself very well by continuing to constrain the pressure cooker that is the NH HHS. Also as a prosecutor and right hand man of Dick Flynn.
A Republican opperative who wishes to remain anonymous had this to say of House Speaker Norelli:
The House Speaker does not seek headlines. She does her bidding behind closed doors and she sets the agenda in Concord these days – not the Governor or Larsen. She is smart strategically: education funding is being costed out over a two year span and no one is complaining or noticing. She’s a broad baser and the hole is being driven up by the hour with no sign of concern or complaint on the horizon. She also has been able to implement a radical social agenda with scant notice: 1st in nation civil unions without court edict. 1st in nation to repeal existing parental consent for abortions. Both outside New Hampshire mainstream. That’s influence.
That’s scary!!! Of former Dem Chair Kathy Sullivan, he writes:
No question that Democrats have clearly benefited from the drastic mistakes of Republicans and a favorable electoral climate, but she did it after being knocked flat down on the mat in 2002 with the Shaheen Senate loss, Benson victory and the crushing of her state senate candidates.
Arnie Arnesen (one of my favorite libs- sharp, funny, and HONEST) on Andru Volinski:
"He scares the [bleep] out of them."
Oh, and what about that "activist" collection making the list? One person submitting that as her pick remarked that due to only living here a short time,
I honestly can’t single out particular individuals. I do believe, however, that local activists and newcomers (who are sometimes one and the same) should be high on the list. I am seeing that in my town where we are finally taking on the corrupt oligarchy that has been running the town into the ground for a few decades. I am a conservative independent who has teamed up with mainly Democrats to accomplish this goal.
Hmm. Not good. You’d think that Republicans would be right there working on behalf of GOOD government. Unfortunately, after many years of unchecked power, some have forgotten what that means. I was at a meeting recently with CNHT Chair Ed Naile who, like the commenter above, remarked that in the coming years, it is going to be the grass roots activists- ordinary citizens- who would hold all of the real, networked power in the state, with the politi
cal parties seeing their strength and importance diminish. I agree. That’s why the "activist" made it to my top 5 list…
cal parties seeing their strength and importance diminish. I agree. That’s why the "activist" made it to my top 5 list…
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Anyway, that’s about it for now. I’ll try to remember to consult this list from time to time to see how all the "players" are doing. Feel free to add any comments below. Keep in mind that there are other names that were submitted that just didn’t make the cut this time. Sorry. If they’re truly important people we’ll hear about them someday, and perhaps they’ll make it the next time…
