“Thanks, Ray!”
New Hampshire House Republicans held a press conference Thursday morning before the session began to tout their recent successes in cutting taxes and expanding school choice. And they said one person deserves much of the credit.
“Without him, we wouldn’t have passed Educational Freedom Accounts. We wouldn’t have had the efforts we’ve had to protect parental rights, to cut taxes, to reduce red tape,” said Rep. Joe Sweeney (R-Salem).
“Of course, I am speaking of New Hampshire Democratic Party Chairman, Ray Buckley.”
They also announced a website, Republicans For Ray, to show their appreciation.
“With Ray Buckley as the New Hampshire Democrat Party Chair, Republicans Have Delivered Results for New Hampshire!” the website reads.
The presser, which featured House Majority Leader Jason Osborne (R-Auburn), was tongue in cheek, of course. But that didn’t mean it didn’t have bite.
Buckley is facing the state Democratic Party committee this Saturday, asking for another two-year term as chairman. He’s being challenged by Rockingham County Democratic Party chair Mat Stover, one of a dozen high-profile party members who released a memo last month bemoaning the party’s poor performance under Buckley’s leadership over the past decade.
The memo includes a chart recounting the party’s record under Buckley beginning in 2016:
- Losing the governor’s race five cycles in a row.
- Losing the state legislature in four of the past five cycles.
- Losing control of the Executive Council in four out of five cycles.
The memo also noted the Republican share of the vote in the two open-seat races grew from Gov. Chris Sununu’s 51.2 percent in 2016 to Gov. Kelly Ayotte’s 54.8 percent in November.
“The 2024 election cycle had the weakest results, reflective of a downward trend.”
Republicans echoed that message.
“New Hampshire can’t afford to go back – as we head into the critical 2026 midterm elections, we are proud to be Republicans in support of two more years of Ray Buckley’s leadership! We couldn’t have done it without him.”
Buckley and the New Hampshire Democratic Party declined to respond to multiple requests for comment.
While it’s true Democrats have struggled at the state level, Republicans have been swept at the federal level over the same period. Asked about the GOP’s poor record sending candidates to Congress, Sweeney said the action is in Concord.
“You can speak to their federal candidates regarding their success, but when you understand the dynamics of state parties and how they operate, they’re measured by their success at the State House,” Sweeney said.
“He (Buckley) has lost every gubernatorial election since 2016. We were the only state in the nation to flip our legislature from blue to red in 2020, which was one of the highest turnout elections of all time. We expanded our majorities in 2024, we have a supermajority in the state Senate, we held on to the Executive Council, and we successfully transitioned the governor’s office from Gov. Sununu to Gov. Ayotte.”
And you’ve got to give part of the credit to Chairman Buckley, they said.
“These aren’t just Republican victories,” quipped Osborne. “They are ‘Ray-publican’ victories.”
Even the federal races are problematic for Buckley and Democrats this cycle.
They’re dealing with U.S. Sen. Jeanne Shaheen’s retirement in 2026, creating an open race that could attract former Gov. Chris Sununu (R). If, as expected, U.S. Rep. Chris Pappas (NH-01) runs for the Senate, that leaves another open seat for Democrats to deal with. And they still don’t have a candidate for governor next year, either.
Sweeney said he’s expecting “spirited primaries” on both sides of the aisle in the federal races. And he predicted the primaries would be good for the GOP.
“We’re going to energize our voters.”
