As promised, I now turn to the third reason—actually a "bundle of reasons"—why the new Speaker of the New Hampshire House of Representatives should be Bill O’Brien.
But first, I must state that it is not my intent to launch a personal attack against Gene Chandler. He was the last "real" Republican Speaker of the House in 2003 and 2004, and is now running for that position again. He led his party honorably in the past, but unfortunately not ably. In addition, he fell victim to what can only charitably be called "glaring mistakes of judgment." Because of those mistakes, he was convicted of political corruption, fined $2,000, sentenced to community service in a court of law, driven out of the race for Speaker of the House in 2004, and in 2005 nearly driven from elective office itself. The result was chaos in the Republican Party, the election of a Democrat-supported turncoat Republican to Speaker of the House in 2006, and the eventual destruction of the Republican majority in 2006.
It is not pleasant to dredge up this past political history, but it is necessary. There is an unprecedentedly large freshman class of state representatives, almost all elected as New Republicans upon their promises to fix the damage wrought upon our state over the past four years of rule by the Democrats. Most of these freshmen Republican representatives—and many other Republicans—are unaware of this history. They are also unaware that it would be extremely unwise to elect Gene Chandler to be Speaker of the House of Representatives. Or why.
Accordingly, and unfortunately, all must be explained….
The beginning of this story takes us to the year 2000. In the wake of the Presidential election that year, the Republican Party of New Hampshire enjoyed a strong majority in the State House of Representatives. As a result, Gene Chandler was elevated by the Republican Caucus to become Speaker of the House, a position he held from 2001 through 2004.
In the 2004 elections the Republicans maintained a majority in the State House, and the assumption was that Mr. Chandler would again be chosen to be Speaker for the 2005-2006 legislative session…but it was not to be. In 2004 the news media broke the story that Gene Chandler had received more than $63,000 in political donations over the previous six years, and that that he failed to report those donations as required by New Hampshire law. The monies were generated and donated to him by a group named "Friends of Gene Chandler" which put on an annual "Old-Fashioned Corn Roast" fund-raiser each year, and the monies so raised were donated to Mr. Chandler. Although raising money in that way is quite acceptable, it cannot be used for election expenses, but rather must be used for other purposes. Such monies must also be reported as political donations.
As it turned out, for six years Chandler had failed to report more than $63,000 that was raised and donated to him. It was and is a crime to fail to report such monies. As a result, he was charged with a crime of political corruption. He pled guilty and was convicted of a misdemeanor criminal violation for failure to comply with state law. He was sentenced to pay the maximum fine of $2,000 and ordered to perform 100 hours of community service. Worse yet, in 2005 the Legislative House Ethics Committee which investigated the matter concluded that Chandler had broken House ethics rules by taking more than $250 from individuals who had business before the legislature, failed to report those gifts of money, and used his position as Speaker of the House "for private benefit." It recommended that Rep. Chandler be expelled from the House.
Ultimately, Chandler was allowed to keep his elective seat, but he was publicly censured by the House of Representatives. In 2004 the repercussions of the scandal threw the New Hampshire Republican Party into leaderless chaos, and a free-for-all race for the Speakership ensued that spilled over into the State House itself. Rep. Mike Whalley was the clear favorite of the Republicans…but there was a snake in the grass. A nominal Republican representative named Doug Scamman—who was also a friend and supporter of then newly elected Gov. John Lynch—"cut a deal" with the minority Democrats in the State House. In order to defeat the Speaker candidate preferred by the Republicans, Scamman needed to get 53 of the more than 200 Republican House members to vote for him…together with all the minority Democrats. He got the votes. In the end, 85 Republicans joined with all the Democrats to elect Doug Scamman over the majority Republican choice for Speaker of the House. It was a disgrace.
In retrospect, the travails of Gene Chandler began the debacle. The new "Republican" Speaker of the House became a staunch ally of Democratic Gov. John Lynch, thereby laying the groundwork for the destruction of the GOP majority in 2006. Gaining a strong majority that year, the Democrats proceeded over the next four years to inflict enormous damage on New Hampshire, including the creation of a historically unprecedented state budget deficit of $800 million. In addition, during those four years the majority Democrats raised approximately 100 state taxes and fees—one hundred—while still managing to spend the state into the state of near-bankrutpcy that it faces today.
But there is another consideration: During the years that Chandler was Speaker of the House, from 2001 through 2004, the majority Republicans did essentially….nothing…unless we count the undercutting of Republican Gov. Craig Benson in 2003 and 2004 as "doing something." The truth of the matter is that from 2001 to 2004 Gene Chandler was an ineffective Speaker of the House. He did nothing to move the state forward, and through his ethical and legal lapses allowed a turncoat "Republican" the opportunity to ally with the Democrats, seize the Speakership, and prepare the ground for the Democrats to gain majority status 2006…whereupon they proceeded to run our state into the ground.
I must pause and explain something here: I do not intend to sound overly harsh toward Rep. Chandler. He doubtless served his State and his party to the best of his ability during the years of his Speakership. But in that time he was found wanting, and the eventual results were disastrous for both his party and the state of New Hampshire. The resulting fiscal destruction wrought by the Democrats must now be fixed…probably with great difficulty and endless obstructionism from those remaining who caused the problems in the first place.
Unfortunately, Gene Chandler is yesterday’s Republican leader, for yesterday’s Republican Party…at a time when a new Republican Party is being birthed by a large, newly-elected, and energized Republican majority. Those New Republicans are infused with new thinking, new ideas, and new solutions…and they deserve new leadership.
It would be extremely unwise for the new Republican majority to elevate Mr. Chandler again to the Speakership. It is not difficult to imagine the incessant carping by the mainstream media, especially those who are toadies to the Democratic Party: Every opportunity would be taken to mention "the ethically-challenged, criminally-convicted Republican Speaker of the House." It would be constant, it would be corrosive, it would be unending, and it would be disastrous for both our state and the Republican Parrty.
The Speaker of the New Hampshire House of Representatives is the most powerful legislative position in the state. It is arguably the most powerful of any state political office. The vital, energetic, New Republicans in the state House are championing the values that got them elected: Free enterprise, small government, low taxes, reduced spending, and personal responsibility. Those are the pillars of today’s Republican Party in New Hamsphire. Who is the leader-in-waiting infused with those values? Who will most capably and aggressively assert them…not for the Republican Party, but for the state of New Hampshire and all its citizens? We will find out in one week.
It is time for every Republican in the State House of Representatives—returning incumbents, those who have held seats in the past and are now re-elected, and the highly energized class of 169 GOP freshmen—to come together to support today’s leadership for today’s Republican Party. In one week, the assembled Republican representatives will elevate a New Republican to become Speaker of the House and lead the state of New Hampshire forward.
Representative William L. O’Brien should be their choice.