New Hampshire Governor John Lynch will not run for reelection in 2012

  Earlier today New Hampshire Governor John Lynch announced that he would not seek reelection in 2012. Governor Lynch is the first governor in state history to hold the office for four consecutive terms and he has decided not to try for a fifth term. It should be stated at this point that New Hampshire and Vermont are  unique in the fact that the governor serves for a term of two years, not four like the rest of the states, so he will be bowing out after an unprecedented eight years as governor.

  This is going to be a big blow to the Democrat party here in New Hampshire as the governor still enjoys a high approval rating, and was in fact the last Democrat standing after the 2010 election. It is my belief that if the governor had not run for reelection in 2010 the Republicans would have also beat a weaker Democrat candidate for the governorship. There is the very real chance that if Governor Lynch ran again in 2012 that he would have won again, but now that he is leaving whoever wins the Democrat nomination in 2012 will be in a much weaker position that the governor would have been if he had decided to run again.

  This is going to provide the Republicans with a glorious opportunity to win the governor’s seat in 2012 and complete the sweep which started in 2010. I do think that the Republicans had a decent chance to beat Governor Lynch in 2012, but this makes it much more likely that they can win it.

  There are rumors that my choice for senator in the 2010 election, Ovide Lamontagne, is going to run for governor and this is encouraging news as I now feel that Lamontagne is the early favorite to be the next governor of New Hampshire. The only way this could backfire on the Republicans is this: Governor Lynch was a fairly moderate Democrat when the Republicans were in the majority, and the Democrat candidate who wins the nomination will likely be more liberal than John Lynch, so if the Democrat wins the governor’s seat we will end up with a more liberal person than John Lynch. Still, I look forward to the day when I can call Ovide Lamontagne governor, and I don’t think I will have to wait too long.