Washington, D.C. – Yesterday, Democrat New Hampshire Secretary of State Bill Gardner announced that he is retiring after an impressive 45 years in office. Among his greatest accomplishments is safeguarding New Hampshire’s First In The Nation Primary, affectionally earning him the nickname “Gardner the Guardian.”
Unfortunately, his near half-century of work protecting New Hampshire’s primary status is on the cusp of being undone by his own state’s – his own party’s – junior U.S. Senator Maggie Hassan. Hassan has long supported a federal takeover of elections. However, she shocked those in her state, including Secretary Gardner, when she recently advocated eliminating the filibuster to pass a bill that would strip her own state of election control and likely their #FITN primary…seemingly for political reasons.
Secretary Gardner has been the best advocate against Maggie Hassan’s misguided policy position, so we present to you the Greatest Hits of “Gardner the Guardian” on Hassan’s federal election takeover:
- “That bill takes away the constitution of the state. It takes away things that we can’t do under our constitution when it comes to elections and denies the people the right they have under their own state constitution.”
- “He [Gardner] said that if the bill passes, Pelosi will now be in a position to potentially dictate a change in the primary and caucus calendar – and override New Hampshire’s first-primary law.”
- In his opening statement, Gardner said the bill would “trample New Hampshire’s state constitution.”
- To Sen. Chuck Grassley: “…I’ve made the statement that it could put the New Hampshire primary in a perilous position and I stand by that statement.”
- Agreed with Sen. Lindsey Graham’s claim that “The Corrupt Politicians Act” is a “power grab” by the federal government.
- Told Sen. Josh Hawley the bill with hurt NH turnout: “What has made turnout what it has been is a combination of the trust in the process and the ease of the process… If you take that away from New Hampshire, we’re not going to have the turnout that we have had over the years…Integrity is important. The belief that the process is honest is important. It’s a fine balance.”
- To Sen. Tom Cotton: “If you were to pass this (H.R. 1/S. 1), you’re completely taking away what has developed in New Hampshire for many, many years and works in the state. Why would you want to do it when the turnout is as high as it is?”
October 14, 2021 (Following edits to the original “Corrupt Politicians Act”.)
- On primaries being included in the new version of the bill: “The point is they did this now, and they didn’t do it in the first bill. You had a 1,500-page bill and now you have a 600-page bill, but they are still fundamentally changing how we conduct and participate in our election. This is a terrible way to do this.”
- “This bill puts the primary in there, and here we go. I said that the old bill could put our primary in a perilous position. Well, this new bill could put our primary in a perilous position.”
December 21, 2021 (Following Maggie Hassan’s filibuster announcement.)
- “This will hurt turnout.”
- “They keep saying these new rules will lead to more voting, but that’s not the record if you look at the facts.”
- When asked if Hassan ever consulted him on election laws: “Not even when she was governor, I don’t think.”
Statement from NRSC Spokesman T.W. Arrighi: “No one knows election law in New Hampshire better than Bill Gardner. We endorse his opinion that Maggie Hassan has made a move that will hurt voter turnout in her state and could likely cost New Hampshire their First In The Nation Primary. Too bad she couldn’t pick up the phone to talk it over with him.”
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