Manchester Mayor's Race Opens Up

Tom Donovan is an attorney and former Manchester school board member.

He ran against incumbent Frank Guinta in the last election and lost.

Donovan had indicated he wasn't planning to run this time around.

That was earlier this month.

But since Guinta's announcement, he says he's been getting calls from people who want him to try again.

If he decides to run, he'll likely have a lot of company.

Chris Pappas is chairman of the Manchester Democrats.

PAPPAS: Manchester hasn't seen this kind of an open seat race for mayor since the late 1980s, so I think there will be a tremendous amount of interest from people who are in leadership positions in the city currently.

Joining Donovan on the latest list of democrats circulating are Aldermen Mike Lopez and Mark Roy, former Alderman Gerome Duval, as well as Manchester attorney Gray Chinoweth.

Mayor Frank Guinta’s been keeping track of Republicans interested in the job.

GUINTA: …..Alderman and state senator Ted Gatsas. alderman Mike Garrity, school board member Doug Kruse. Those are at least the three Republicans that seem to be considering it. I think all three of them would make great mayors.

Since then, former alderman Richard Girard has joined the list of interested Republicans.

Democrats right now have a majority on the aldermanic board.

That, plus their recent statewide prominence gave Democrats a certain momentum even before Guinta made his announcement.

City Democratic Chair Chris Pappas:

PAPPAS: We were very energized about the race to begin with because Frank Guinta is one of the last Republicans standing in New Hampshire, and we as Democrats felt he was doing a disservice to the city and had the wrong priorities for Manchester.

Pappas faults Guinta for focusing too much on the tax side of the budget equation at the expense of education funding and other investments in the city's future.

But Will Infantine, chairman of the Manchester Republicans, said Guinta has had the right priorities, particularly when it comes to public safety.

And he praised Guinta for holding the line on taxes.

Infantine: ….. I think with what's going on at the statehouse and what's going on in city hall the last number of years, with the mayor having to fight against all the tax increases, the people do want their political leaders to be more frugal.

Infantine said Republicans are considering lining up behind a single candidate who has, among other qualities, the best ability to raise money.

He said Republicans plan to meet some time in the next few weeks to make that decision.

As for the amount of money it takes, Brad Cook, a Manchester attorney and veteran political observer, said it probably costs a couple of hundred thousand dollars to run an effective mayoral campaign.

Is there enough time to raise that money?

COOK: Often decisions like this are announced the day before the end of the filing period or something like that...he gave them some lead time because the filing period isn't until, I think, June.

As for Guinta’s plans to move onto higher office, Republican Will Infantine says being Manchester’s mayor isn't necessarily a stepping stone.

INFANTINE: I was told over the last 50 or 75 years, only three mayors have gone on to future positions -- whether it be governor or congressman.

The mayor will have several options come 2010.

Assuming the incumbents run again, he could challenge Governor John Lynch or Representative Carol Shea-Porter for their seats.

Or he could try to be the GOP candidate for retiring Senator Judd Gregg’s seat.

In any case, he’ll have a year to campaign after finishing his term as mayor.

For NHPR News in Manchester, this is Ellen Grimm.