With His Excellency retiring from the governor’s office, New Hampshire Democrats are hoping this is their opportunity to take the office back. Before Sununu, they’d had a lock on it for many years, except for the Craig Benson hiccup (one two-year term).
One of the Left’s alleged rising stars is Executive Councilor Cinde Warmington, who is vying to be the next Democrat governor of New Hampshire.
Another is former Manchester Mayor Joyce Craig, whom I’m sure Warmington does not see as much of a threat. It is of little consequence. Warmington is her own worst enemy. And it is not her vocal support for far-left priorities, which play well in a primary but not in a general election. Warmington’s problem is Allisandra Murray.
A special interest group pays Murray a salary so she “can afford” to spend time in Concord as an elected representative. For those unfamiliar, NH’s citizen legislators get $100.00 a year plus mileage, so day jobbers and those lacking other income don’t run. Murray helped create a “non-profit” to compile donations to pay her to vote the way it wanted and didn’t think that needed to be disclosed.
Murray is a co-founder and employee of the Reproductive Freedom Fund of New Hampshire (RFFNH). … RFFNH lobbyist Josie Pinto was paying Murray’s salary so the progressive could serve in the House and influence legislation. And while Murray had voted on many pieces of legislation related to abortion issues of interest to RFFNH, she had never filed a conflict of interest disclosure.
After being exposed, Murray sought a ruling from the ethics committee, which decided by a vote of 5-1 that Murray had to recuse herself from all legislation the RFFNH was lobbying.
Murray was violating NH House ethics rules. A special interest group is paying her to vote their way on legislation. It was never formally disclosed. Murray never filed or made public the obvious conflict of interest. Murray did not even consider the conflict of interest until the truth came out in the local media, and afterward, Cinde Warmington didn’t either. Warmington was the one who voted against declaring the situation a conflict of interest.
By the way, Warmington’s husband was Murray’s lawyer. Warmington is running for governor. She is either a total partisan hack willing to ignore politically favorable conflicts of interest or does not see elected officials being paid to vote a certain way as unethical.
We don’t need to get mired in a broader conversation about the history of politics, money, and ethics because this case is as clear as vodka. Murray was hired to run for office by a special interest she co-founded, which gives her a salary to be a State representative. Absent that salary, Murray could not run or serve. Murray’s job is to support abortion lobby positions and vote for bills that advance them and against bills that do not.
Warmington is good with all of that. She’s so good with it she voted to protect it.
The Craig Campaign could make a lot of hay in the primary on this but likely won’t. That will be left to Republicans and the same sort of media that forced Murray to address unethical behavior—not the Union leader nor the Concord Monitor, not WMUR. New media had to do that, and it will be up to the new media to keep them all honest.
All of them.
