A long time ago, in a political galaxy far, far away, a New Hampshire Republican governor with a GOP state Senate supermajority and a 40-seat margin in the House would have meant a budget process with little drama.

Instead, Granite Staters were treated to a “Star Wars” budget, a seat-of-the-pants adventure that often appeared doomed, only to be rescued by last-second plot twists. And even Luke Skywalker didn’t need a reconsideration vote for a second shot to take out the Death Star. House Republicans did.

How did the script for passing a GOP budget come to this cliffhanger ending, nearly stumbling into a continuing resolution or even a special session? It was all about the actors: a bold new political player, an entrenched Concord establishment empire, and an utterly ineffectual Democratic opposition.

WINNERS

Gov. Kelly Ayotte

When first-term governor Kelly Ayotte made a PR production of her early wins — bail reform, sanctuary cities, parental rights — there was some eye-rolling among Concord political veterans. “Don’t get cocky, kid,” was their attitude.

But the stagecraft of selling win after win helped build the momentum Ayotte needed for her most audacious ask: the fiscally dubious but politically popular Group II pension deal. By the end of the session, when the toughest dealing had to be done, she was flying high.

Ayotte was clear from the beginning about what she wanted, and she blew past the small-ball compromise offers to shoot for the moon. She didn’t get everything she wanted — as friends of state Senate President Sharon Carson are quick to point out — but she’s shown the New Hampshire political establishment she’s a real force in their universe.

House Majority Leader Jason Osborne

If Ayotte is Luke Skywalker, Auburn Republican Jason Osborne was her Han Solo. Every time her budget deal was about to crash and burn, he always had a trick up his sleeve to keep it alive and (eventually) get her the votes she needed. Without even one to spare.

Osborne, whose libertarian-leaning political views are well-known, has greatly enhanced his reputation as a political strategist who remains cool under fire.

Public Employee Unions 

Just a decade ago, even Yoda’s mystic powers could not have foreseen a New Hampshire Republican governor teaming up with public sector unions to push a GOP-controlled legislature to increase spending. But that’s exactly what happened.

Hundreds of millions of dollars will go to the pensions of union cops, firefighters, and other public safety employees over the next decade because a Republican governor went to the mat against the Republican state Senate. And this saga isn’t over. Now that public sector union members see that there is money on the table, a new force has been awakened that will likely be felt in the next budget.

Rep. Jonah Wheeler (D- Peterborough)

Already a rising star in New Hampshire politics, this 22-year-old progressive’s courage in facing down his party on the transgender issue created the most quotable moment of the session: “Nobody is born in the wrong body. Every body is beautiful.”

Wheeler should be the Democrats’ new hope. The fact that he isn’t shows how badly they’ve lost the plot.

OTHER WINNERS:

  • New Hampshire K-12 students, who now have universal EFAs and intra-district school choice.
  • New Hampshire drivers, who will no longer be forced to shell out cash for useless vehicle inspections.
  • The Josiah Bartlett Center, which provided much of the data muscle needed to make the case for conservative priorities and racked up a series of wins from universal EFAs to regulatory reform to vehicle inspections.

LOSERS

Senate President Sharon Carson

Nobody is going to mistake Senate President Sharon Carson for Darth Vader or Emperor Palpatine, but nobody can deny that she is the biggest loser in the budget story.

Carson’s defenders point out that she wasn’t opposed to some funding for Group II, and she and her Senate leadership had agreed to a compromise in the Committee of Conference. No villains here, they say.

But then the plot thickened.

First, the fight between Ayotte and Carson got personal and went public. That changed the storyline from “What deal will they cut?” to “Who is going to win?”

Second, Carson lost.

Even though she did get some restrictions in the deal to limit “spiking,” the final scene was Ayotte and her supporters cheering a victory, and Carson… not so much.

N.H. House and Senate Democrats

Democratic legislators are the Stormtroopers of New Hampshire politics: Lots of blasting, but all to no effect.

In a typical budget story, a high-profile split between the governor and her own party would provide a perfect opening for the minority party to play a major role in the outcome. Instead, under the leadership of Sen. Rebecca Perkins Kwoka and Rep. Alexis Simpson, legislative Democrats couldn’t manage a cameo.

Deb Howes and the Teachers Unions

While other public employee unions were cashing in, AFT-NH President Deb Howes and her allies lost every fight: Universal EFAs, parental bill of rights, keeping sexually-inappropriate books out of school libraries, etc. Meanwhile, data shows that, even though the new budget includes record public school funding, the share of spending going to actual teachers remains flat.

Gov. Kelly Ayotte:

Yes, she’s the big winner. But she burned up a lot of political—and personal—capital along the way. New Hampshire legislators may get small paychecks, but they have long memories.

OTHER LOSERS:

  • Auto Dealers and Repair Shops. No more vehicle inspections. ‘Nuff said.
  • Democrats running for N.H. governor, who will now have to fight both an incumbent Republican with a winning record and the public sector unions who were once a lock.
  • Taxpayers of the future, who will likely be on the hook to fill the fiscal hole that’s likely to grow now that the pension Pandora’s Box has been opened.