Gatsas Will Endorse Terry Pfaff For “His” Senate Seat

ANOTHER RED HAMSPHIRE EXCLUSIVE

Not only will Manchester Mayor-Elect Ted Gatsas endorse former State Rep Terry Pfaff of Hooksett for Gatsas’s District 16 State Senate seat tomorrow, but Gatsas will also serve as campaign chairman for Pfaff.

The announcement will come at the Market Street offices which served as the Gatsas for Mayor headquarters and are currently housing his transition team.

In fact, if you walk into the office now, right by the door you’ll see Pfaff for Senate signs, presumably from 2000 when Gatsas himself defeated Pfaff by 56 votes in the Republican primary.

This news comes as terrible news for Hooksett Rep David Boutin who, as soon as Gatsas announced he was running for mayor last spring, jumped into the race for the seat.

While the Gatsas endorsement may come as a surprise to some, I learned of it two weeks ago when I ran into Mayor-Elect Gatsas cleaning out his Senate office.  “So I guess you’ll remain neutral in the race for you old Senate seat,” I stated.

“Not at all,” he told me.  Stressing how important it is for Republicans to hold this seat, Gatsas noted even then that he planned to endorse Pfaff, a wise decision in my opinion.

Boutin has managed to procure the endorsement of many of his Republican Rep colleagues, but those who have been around for a wile may very well want to hedge their bets on this one.

Pfaff served three terms as a Rep, having been elected in 1992, 1994, and 1996.  Boutin was elected Rep in Manchester’s Ward 1 in 1994 and 1996 before losing a close race to Jeff Goley, a Democrat who has announced he’ll seek the Gatsas seat as well, and liberal Linda Garrish in 1998. 

Boutin also served as Manchester Planning Board Chair under Mayor Ray Wieczorek but moved to Hooksett a few years back and won a special race for State Rep in 2007 and then topped the ticket (getting more votes than even David Hess) in 2008.

This will be Pfaff’s third run for the Senate seat.  He lost a Republican primary to Patricia Krueger 1910-1536 in 1998 (remember Kruegar went on to defeat Steve deStefano by a handful of votes in the general election).

Pfaff lost to then first term Manchester Alderman Ted Gatsas 2900-2844 in the 2000 primary.  Pfaff won big in Hooksett and Bow but Gatsas carried Candia, Chester, and the three Manchester Wards (1, 2, and 12).

The loss turned out to be a blessing in disguise (financially) for Pfaff.  Rather than a $100 a year as senator, he ended up making considerably more than that as Speaker Gene Chandler’s Chief of Staff.

Both Pfaff and Goley are Manchester firefighters.  Thus, a Pfaff victory in the primary (most likely to be scheduled for January 12) would set up a unique general election finale, most likely to be February 16.  The Governor and Council are expected to name the exact dates when they meet next week.

Goley lost to Boutin in 1996 in Ward 1.  In the three member district, Boutin finished third with 1865 votes; Goley was fifth with 1486.  In 1998, Goley finished second with 1515 votes; Boutin was fourth and among the losers with 1487 votes, 15 behind Garrish who was carried in on Jeanne Shaheen’s re-election coattails.

Goley lost in 2002, but that was when Wards 1 and 12 were combined for a single election due to redistricting.  It was also the year Goley was convicted of driving under the influence charges, and there was some controversy that somebody tried to keep the arrest from the public.

Goley is the son-in-law of former Mayor Sylvio Dupuis.

House Speaker Terri Norelli named him Chair of the Labor Committee in 2009, and he has fought Republicans on many issues supported by organized labor.

The only change in the Senate district since Pfaff was edged by Gatsas in 2000 is that Chester was removed in 2001 redistricting.

The district is considered a solid Republican one.  Ward 1, formerly a Republican stronghold, is now fairly even.  Ward 2 tilts slightly Democratic while West side Ward 12 has become solidly Republican, are all solidly Republican.  With a population of 12,000 or so, Hooksett carries more weight than a single Manchester ward (around 9000 people).

As always, truth in blogging.  I was among the first to call Terry Pfaff, wish him well, and offer him help in the camp gain.

Terry Pfaff will be a worthy replacement to Ted Gatsas as Senator from District 16.  Neither Goley nor Boutin, should they lose, will lose their House seats.  While state law prohibits someone from running for two conflicting offices at the same time, nothing prevents a sitting Rep from running for Senate in a special election.  Like the U.S. Senate race in Massachusetts, it’s in essence a freebie.

Should either Goley or Boutin win, their House seats would most likely remain vacant since their would not be enough time to hold a special election prior to the March cutoff date, another reasons perhaps for voting for Pfaff, soas not to disenfranchise voters at the State Rep level.

Not only will Manchester Mayor-Elect Ted Gatsas endorse former State Rep Terry Pfaff of Hooksett  Gatsas’s District 16 State Senate seat tomorrow, but Gatsas will also serve as campaign chairman for Pfaff.