Walsh named county attorney; GOP Senate race heats up

Friday, November 13, 2009

Hillsborough County has a new lead prosecutor, Manchester attorney Bob Walsh III.

Walsh was elected Tuesday night to the slot vacated by Marguerite Wageling, and he will now lead Hillsborough County’s team of 20 full-time attorneys.

He bested five other candidates, including Amherst resident Andrew Ouellette, an assistant county prosecutor, and Bedford resident Karen Gorham, who is an assistant county attorney.

Walsh was elected on the second ballot of voting by the 123 members of the House of Representatives from Hillsborough County.

Walsh is in a private practice but once had served as an assistant county attorney. He has law degrees from Suffolk University Law School and Boston University.

Immediately after his election, he was sworn in by Wageling, who left the county attorney top slot after being appointed to the superior court bench.

The legislative delegation met in Goffstown to vote. The elected position usually isn’t filled by lawmakers, but they step in when a vacancy arises between elections. Wageling got the job through the same process in 2004, when then-County Attorney John Coughlin left for active military duty.

The winning candidate has to receive 51 percent of the vote. So the first vote Tuesday didn’t produce a clear winner.

The county attorney’s office prosecutes all felony cases in the county except homicides, which are handled by the state attorney general’s office. The head prosecutor job pays $83,000 a year.

Also on the ballot were Manchester resident Eric Forcier, a 2009 graduate of the New England School of Law, and Nashua attorneys Dennis Hogan and Henry Spaloss.

Senate update

Two more Republicans – Bill Binnie and Ovide Lamontagne – have filed to run for the U.S. Senate seat held by Judd Gregg, who is retiring.

Binnie said last week his success in a variety of business pursuits makes him uniquely qualified to become the next U.S. senator in 2010.

Binnie, 51, officially began his Republican primary campaign on Nov. 4.

‘’We need jobs. We need deficits to stop. What we need to do is return taxpayer funds to the taxpayer, said Binnie.

On social issues, Binnie said he supports abortion rights and favors the new law that lets gays and lesbians marry because it permits religious leaders to refuse to participate.

Binnie has been involved in many business pursuits through his Portsmouth-based company Carlisle Capital Corp. but is probably best known locally as owner of Wentworth By the Sea Country Club.

On Monday, Lamontagne, a conservative activist and 1996 Republican gubernatorial nominee, filed notice of his candidacy with the Federal Election Commission and unveiled a new Web site, www.Ovide2010.com.

The 52-year-old Manchester attorney said he will focus on fiscal and defense issues in a campaign based on conservative principles. “Getting our fiscal house in order is the first order of business,” Lamontagne said Sunday night.

Lamontagne said he believes in states’ rights to decide issues ranging from health care to gay marriage. He said the election will give people a chance to decide if they support the federal bailouts of the auto industry and financial markets or agree with him that government has overreached.

Binnie and Lamontage join former Attorney General Kelly Ayotte, of Nashua, in the Republican primary race. In addition, Hollis investor James Bender has been meeting with GOP activists across the state and said he’s definitely in the race to stay and Republican National Committeeman Sean Mahoney, of North Hampton, is also exploring primary bids.

Democratic U.S. Rep. Paul Hodes is also running for the seat.

Social networking

New Hampshire Senate Republicans launched new social media accounts on Twitter and Facebook recently.

“New social media are important communication tools to keep people informed of our actions in the state Senate as we fight for disciplined spending, less government intrusion and lower taxes,” said Senate Minority Leader Peter Bragdon (R-Milford).

You can find the New Hampshire Senate Republicans by following them at www.twitter.com/NHGOPSenate or by becoming a fan of NHGOPSenate on Facebook.

– Compiled from staff and wire reports.