WMUR: State Sen. Giuda announces retirement, endorses Rep. Lang as replacement
Not 10 minutes after he got booted from the Committee of Conference where his bill to redo Gunstock went down in flames as Chuck Morse shoved him out of the way.
Now, I can’t take total credit for this prophecy made back on April 23 as a bunch of birdies sent me the info in various and sundry ways:
Gunstock Resort Rumor: What’s the Connection: Guida, Lang, and Baby Huey (Gov. Chris Sununu)?
First, the context (beyond what I and other writers have already put on GraniteGrok) of the sinkhole of politics that the Gunstock Area Commission, Gunstock Mountain Resort, and the Belknap County Delegation. It all seems to swirl (word of the day) around former CEO (several times) and current Gunstock Area Commissioner Gary Kiedaisch (having been elected to Vice-Chair, launched a lawsuit to prevent being fired (once again), promoted to Acting Chair, and now demoted to just Commissioner). He’s never held back from telling everyone how great his CEO skills are and the size of his wallet.
And his connections with NH Governor Chris Sununu. More on that in a minute; back to WMUR:
CONCORD, N.H. —A season of turnover is underway at the State House as longtime state Sen. Bob Giuda, R-Warren, is announcing his retirement and endorsing state Rep. Tim Lang, R-Sanbornton, to replace him. Giuda has represented District 2, which includes parts of Merrimack, Belknap and Grafton counties, since 2016 and is known as one of the more outspoken and conservative members of the Senate.
See my shocked face? Glad you can as my mirror isn’t. HB1397 was to completely redo how the Gunstock Ski Area, the Gunstock Area Commission, the Belknap County Delegation, and the Belknap County Commissioners, and MONEY all interrelate with each other. And as I reported earlier today, it went down in flames as the NH House Leadership sussed out what was going on, along with the NH Senate President, and put a stop to that nonsense. RSA 399 is still intact as Kiedaisch / Rusty McLear / McLaughlin / Lang intent to wrest back their playtoy (Gunstock). Their “Master Plan” which would have taken control over land they didn’t own to build a hotel et al and turn Gunstock into something it isn’t (not a “destination” resort but a day trip for locals”) and pocket…well, I’ll let you finish that statement.
Good deal!
But WAIT! The actual prophecy:
So I’ve talked about the Kiedaisch/GAC angle/rumor. There’s another one that gets into political horse-trading. With 2020 came the redistricting of not just the Federal districts of Congress and Senate but also the NH districts for Executive Council, State Senate, and NH House Reps. The redistricting fouled a few things up. If it holds, Guida’s State Senate district gets a redo – and Lang has talked about running for Senate. He and his Lang Gang in the Delegation are tired of losing and he wants to jump up the political ladder to get away from always being on the losing side of the Delegation’s major issues and voting.
…More detail: Giuda would continue to be a placeholder for Lang and would withdraw at the last minute, throwing his support to Lang. Of course, as part and parcel of this rumor is that Lang’s candidacy would receive campaign financial support from Kiedaisch and his cronies (like Rusty McLear in retribution for being put out to pasture and perhaps another well-known developer interested in that briefly mentioned hotel above).
Well, “the last minute” part was way off – but the “working part” came true. And Guida’s “payoff” (if there is one)? Still to be seen but let’s see if this comes true:
Before the Giuda-Lang arrangement became rumored, another one was that maybe Giuda had been promised campaign financial support from Kiedaisch, or given Kiedasisch’s boasting with the tightness of his connection/influence with Baby Huey, a gubernatorial appointment for Guida somewhere in the Administration. You know, like former Speaker of the House Shawn Jasper did in getting that Agriculture Commissioner job? Pays a lot better than a State Senator, right?
So Part 2 remains unfulfilled. However, Part 3 is already in full swing:
It’s also known that Sununu believes that the Belknap County Delegation and hates the Libertarians in Republican clothing. So he might play ball in hopes that Kiedaisch & Cronies’ money would muddy up the waters in Belknap to get a more compliant, less conservative, Delegation that would be willing to do the “thank you sire, may I have another” (think Animal House). Maybe a good tradeoff in his eyes and let Kiedaisch have his toy back -> letting Gunstock return to operating without transparency and accountability.
So, prepare for a lot of money to be spent in NH House races around Belknap County this cycle – especially in the Republican Primary.