In their lawsuit, Berry and Murphy objected to questions about abortion rights, public school funding, and LGBTQ+ issues, while also claiming the questionnaire would be illegal regardless of the topics addressed. They accused the library of violating the state law that prohibits public employees from using government resources for electioneering.
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But only the New Hampshire Attorney’s General’s Office has authority to enforce state election laws, and nothing in the anti-electioneering statute even implies private parties have any legal right to file civil litigation of their own, according to Tuesday’s ruling from Hillsborough County Superior Court Judge Michael A. Klass.
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As a result, Klass concluded Berry and Murphy were unlikely to succeed on the merits of their case. He denied their request for a temporary restraining order and dismissed their lawsuit altogether.
Berry said he was “deeply disappointed that the judge sidestepped the core issue” in this case.
“While I respect the court’s decision, I fundamentally disagree with the notion that citizens cannot seek relief through the courts when public employees violate election laws,” he said.
Dianne Hathaway, director of the Goffstown Public Library, said her team appreciates the court’s expedited decision and remains confident library staff didn’t violate the law. Work on the questionnaire is “proceeding on schedule,” and library trustees will make the final decision on whether to publish the responses as planned, she said.
“Our goal is to post information by early next week,” she added.
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A spokesperson for the New Hampshire Department of Justice told The Boston Globe the DOJ’s Election Law Unit was still working on its response to a formal complaint regarding this dispute.
Murphy said Tuesday he hopes the attorney general will “do his job” and find that Goffstown Public Library violated the law.
The second floor of the Goffstown Public Library in Goffstown, N.H.Steven Porter/Globe Staff
In a preliminary assessment of the situation, Brendan A. O’Donnell, chief of the DOJ’s Election Law Unit, wrote in a Sept. 27 email that the library sent the questionnaire to all candidates on the ballot in local races for New Hampshire House and Senate and offered to publish their answers unedited.
“If a candidate disagrees with the premise or wording of a particular question, there is no reason the candidate could not use part of their answer to explain why they disagree with the premise of the question,” he wrote.
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O’Donnell concluded municipal entities aren’t blanketly prohibited from engaging in candidate forums and questionnaires, though the law does impose limits on how employees may use government resources to talk about election-related issues.
Generally speaking, the type of electioneering that is off-limits for public employees using government resources is that which “expressly advocates for the success or defeat of a candidate or measure being voted at an election,” O’Donnell said via the DOJ spokesperson.
That initial assessment didn’t stop Berry and Murphy from filing their lawsuit without hiring an attorney to represent them.
In an interview after a court hearing Friday, Berry said the idea that a government entity would assemble this questionnaire is so wrong that he “shouldn’t need an attorney to fight it.”
“If this is allowed to happen and the questions are allowed to be biased, you can imagine what 2026 is going to look like or what the municipal elections are going to look like,” he said.
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A teen-oriented section on the second floor of the Goffstown Public Library in Goffstown, N.H., prompts visitors to vote on whether zombies or vampires would win in a head-to-head showdown.Steven Porter/Globe Staff
The anti-electioneering law says it’s a misdemeanor for any public employee to use government property or equipment “to act in any way specifically designed to influence the vote of a voter on any question or office.”
Berry argued that means a public library cannot collect and publish even basic biographical facts about candidates, such as their ages, without running afoul of the law.
“There is no information they can present that won’t in some way ‘influence the vote of a voter,’” he said during Friday’s hearing.
Steven M. Whitley, an attorney for the library, contended that his client seeks to help voters understand candidates’ positions on certain timely topics, not tell them which candidates to support or oppose.
“The library’s position is that the intent is to educate the public. That is the intent of the questions,” he said. “That is why they contain some topics that are politically charged.”
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Of the 14 candidates who were invited to complete the library’s questionnaire, Hathaway said Tuesday the library had received responses from five Democrats and zero Republicans.
“However, since the published answers will be in a digital format, late responses can be added if candidates change their minds,” she added.
Two of the Democrats who responded to the questionnaire, F. Eric Emmerling and Marie B. Morgan, are running in Hillsborough County’s House District 44 against Berry and fellow Republican nominee Lisa Mazur. The district has two seats.
The other three Democrats who responded — Jim Craig, Judith Gaynor Johnson, and Melanie Renfrew-Hebert — are running with fellow Democrat Judi Lanza in Hillsborough County’s House District 29 against Republican nominees Joe Alexander Jr., Sheila Seidel, Henry R. Giasson III, and Sherri Reinfurt.
Michael York, the Democratic nominee challenging Murphy for his Senate District 16 seat, didn’t respond to the library’s questionnaire and has not responded to the Globe’s inquiries regarding this lawsuit.
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Steven Porter can be reached at steven.porter@globe.com. Follow him @reporterporter.
ALBANY, NY (NEWS10) — A strong second half powered the UAlbany women’s basketball team to their third conference victory in as many contests on Thursday night.
COACH COLLEEN MULLEN: “To start the game, New Hampshire had great defensive intensity and pace. Once we settled in and started moving the ball, we were able to capitalize with our inside-out game. In the second half, we had solid offensive execution and grinded out multiple defensive stops. This was a great team win on both ends.”
KEY STATS
Graduate student Kayla Cooper led the team with 20 points, six rebounds, three steals, and three assists while shooting over 50% from the field.
Fellow graduate student Jessica Tomasetti followed with nine points and five rebounds. The point guard also shot 50% from the field.
Junior Gabriela Falcao tallied a team-high two blocks.
As a team, the Great Danes totaled nine steals with 19 points off turnovers.
The UAlbany defense did not allow any singular Wildcat to surpass seven points.
HOW IT HAPPENED
Graduate student Lilly Phillips scored the first basket of the game after a combined four scoreless possessions.
That defensive nature continued throughout the rest of the half.
New Hampshire gained a 9-5 lead within four minutes of action but the Great Danes quickly answered to tie the score in the next two minutes.
UAlbany ended the quarter with a one-possession advantage, 14-11.
Throughout the second quarter, the Great Danes allowed just two field goals for five Wildcat points.
Four different Great Danes scored in a defensive quarter to make it a 24-16 game at halftime.
The second half was a different game – UAlbany nearly doubled its score from the first half in the third quarter alone.
The Great Danes began the third with a 12-2 scoring run. Ten of those points were scored in just two minutes and 23 seconds.
Kayla Cooper and Jessica Tomasetti combined to score 10 additional points and close the third quarter with a 22-point advantage, 46-24.
Cooper and Tomasetti scored all but three of the 22 points in the third quarter. Cooper tallied 12 alone.
Following two fourth-quarter layups from senior Laycee Drake and Phillips, the Great Danes held a 26-point lead.
UAlbany continued to extend their lead throughout the next seven minutes of action. The largest lead of the contest came with 1:24 left – 29 points (59-30).
The Wildcats got the final say to make it a 27-point decision, 59-32.
NEXT: The Great Danes will close out the week at home against Maine on Saturday (Jan. 11).
Gov. Kelly Ayotte used her first speech as New Hampshire’s 83rd chief executive Thursday to call for “common-sense cooperation” as the state tackles issues ranging from housing, to education, to the state budget.
In her roughly 45-minute long inaugural address, Ayotte simultaneously lauded New Hampshire as a model for the rest of the nation, but warned that pressing concerns — financial and otherwise — would require policymakers to make difficult decisions in the coming months.
You can watch Ayotte’s full inauguration speech here.
“I could not be more optimistic about our future, but at the same time we have real challenges that we have to take head on, if we want to keep our state moving in the right direction,” Ayotte told a crowd in the State House’s Representatives Hall that included current lawmakers and state officials, as well as several former governors, congressmen, and other political veterans.
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“Whenever we talk about cuts, just like a family making hard decisions, there are things we can’t skimp on: protecting our most vulnerable and serving those most in need.”
Gov. Kelly Ayotte, forecasting upcoming state budget negotiations
Ayotte said she’s proud the state ranks high in categories including freedom, public safety, and taxpayer return on investment, but said slowing tax collections and the end of billions of dollars of federal aid dictates that the state “recalibrate” its spending.
“Whenever we talk about cuts, just like a family making hard decisions, there are things we can’t skimp on: protecting our most vulnerable and serving those most in need,” Ayotte said.
Ayotte’s speech was light on specifics — she called for few clear policy initiatives or spending cuts — but she did announce one new state initiative: a Commission on Government Efficiency, or COGE, to help identify ways to spend less state money. The committee will be led by former Gov. Craig Benson, who nominated Ayotte to be New Hampshire attorney general in 2004, and businessman Andrew Crews, a longtime political donor to Ayotte.
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Ayotte told the Democratic leaders of the New Hampshire House and Senate that her door would always be open to them. She meanwhile asked GOP legislative leaders to “marshal our Republican majorities over the next two years to deliver on the promises we made to keep our state moving in the right direction.”
Ayotte called public safety her “absolute top priority” and said she expected Republicans to pass a ban this year on so-called sanctuary policies, which aim to protect undocumented immigrants from criminal penalties. She also said the state needs to further tighten its bail policies, and boost police retirement benefits to make it easier to recruit officers and keep them on the job.
She identified housing as another top issue and said the state needs to “get serious” by modeling good behavior to cities and towns, by enforcing a 60-day turnaround on state permits for new housing projects. She also promised to “strengthen new and existing partnerships” between the state, cities and towns and the private sector to get new housing units built.
Ayotte also highlighted education, and said while New Hampshire’s current rate of pupil spending was “wonderful,” lawmakers need to “keep it up” while simultaneously expanding the state’s voucher-like school choice program. Ayotte also promised to ensure students can learn and teachers can teach without distraction by banning cell phones in the classroom.
On other issues, Ayotte promised to expand the state’s ranks of mental health providers, strengthen anti-suicide efforts, oppose a controversial landfill proposal in the town of Dalton, and veto any new abortion restrictions.
More digs at Massachusetts — but also a welcome
After framing her gubernatorial campaign last year as a rebuke of Massachusetts, Ayotte also used her inaugural address as another chance to take digs at the Granite State’s southern neighbor.
Ayotte criticized policymakers there for what she described as out-of-control spending, tax hikes, and lax immigration policies. But she did say New Hampshire welcomes Massachusetts residents as shoppers and visitors.
One of Ayotte’s biggest applause lines was addressed to Bay State business leaders.
“To the businesses of Massachusetts: We’d love to have you bring your talents to the Granite State,” she said. “We’re happy to show you why it’s better here.”
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Ayotte extended a similar invitation to Canadian businesses, saying they would be especially welcome in New Hampshire’s North Country.
Lawmakers say they’re ready to get to work
Lawmakers past and present attended Gov. Kelly Ayotte’s inauguration.
Republicans in both legislative chambers will enjoy sizable majorities this session, and the party’s leaders say they’re ready to use those numbers to advance the policy goals Ayotte laid out Thursday.
House Majority Leader Jason Osborne praised the governor’s speech and said that along with the expansion of Education Freedom Accounts, his caucus will focus on “addressing issues of affordability across all sectors: housing, healthcare, electricity, you name it.”
He expressed optimism about Ayotte’s proposed COGE initiative to make government more efficient, but acknowledged that trimming the state budget could cause tension as lawmakers seek to protect their favorite programs.
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“Everything we do is someone’s favorite pet project, so we’ve got to figure out who is going to get sent to the chopping block,” he said.
Osborne added that while his majorities are larger this session than last term’s near evenly split House makeup, he knows there will be disagreement within his own caucus.
“The more willing that we are to let people do their own thing, for things that are important to them, the more we’re going to be able to band together and get things done together, as well,” he said.
Sen. James Gray, a Republican from Rochester who leads the Senate Finance Committee, told reporters it was too early in the budgeting process to forecast where the state may trim to balance its books. He said he plans to work with Ayotte to advance her campaign promises.
With a 40-seat disadvantage, House Democrats will have little ability to set the legislative agenda this session, but Minority Leader Alexis Simpson of Exeter said she was grateful that Ayotte expressed a willingness to work across the aisle. She said Democrats would focus on ensuring any budget reductions don’t end up harming the state’s neediest residents.
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“We feel these budget cuts at the state level will lead to higher costs at the local level, so we’re really working on making sure the vulnerable populations that Gov. Ayotte spoke about really are protected in this budget,” Simpson said.
Simpson also said she hoped for bipartisan collaboration on housing, mental health services and other issues.
Notable political faces fill the room
Gov. Chris Sununu attends the inauguration of his successor, Gov. Kelly Ayotte.
Thursday’s inauguration ceremony brought out a crowd of high profile political figures in the state, past and present.
Outgoing Gov. Chris Sununu received a sustained round of applause when he entered Representatives Hall, and was again thanked by Ayotte during her speech for his eight years of service to the state.
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Others present included former Congressman Charlie Bass and Scott Brown, a former U.S. Senator representing Massachusetts and ambassador to New Zealand, who was also New Hampshire’s 2014 Republican U.S. Senate nominee. Also in attendance was former Gov. Maggie Hassan, who now serves in the U.S. Senate after unseating Ayotte in 2016.
Former Gov. Craig Benson was seated in the chamber, as was Manchester Mayor Jay Ruais, who entered the room to cheers.
Four of the five justices on the New Hampshire Supreme Court were in attendance, as were federal judges for the District of New Hampshire. New Hampshire Chief Justice Gordon MacDonald swore in Ayotte, while she was flanked by her husband and two children.
Members of the Executive Council were also sworn in during Thursday’s proceedings.
New Hampshire Governor Kelly Ayotte will deliver an inaugural speech Thursday in which she is expected to project a message of post-election unity.
Ayotte, a Republican, is expected to emphasize her desire to get to work for all Granite Staters regardless of party affiliation.
“You have my word that each and every day I will work on your behalf to do what’s best for all of us. For all of New Hampshire,” she’ll say, according to excerpts of her prepared remarks that her team shared with The Boston Globe.
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Ayotte is expected to say New Hampshire needs to “get serious about housing production” in light of the current “crisis” around the constrained supply of homes. She’s expected to voice support for expanding the state’s Education Freedom Account program. And she’s planning to laud the budgetary approach state leaders have taken in recent years, including the elimination of the interest and dividends tax.
“New Hampshire is a wonderful, beautiful state,” she’ll say. “And protecting what makes us unique is so much more important than one person or one party. … I could not be more optimistic about our shared future.”
Inauguration Day ceremonies are slated to begin at 11:30 a.m., with a livestream available.
Do you know Kelly Ayotte’s background? Here are 10 facts, including a few you may have missed.
As she takes office, Ayotte’s allies and foes will be watching closely, including to see how her policy positions play out in these six areas.
The festivities around Ayotte taking office include a first inaugural ball on Saturday, Jan. 11, at the Omni Mt. Washington Resort in Bretton Woods, and a second inaugural ball on Saturday, Jan. 18, at the DoubleTree by Hilton hotel in Manchester. Tickets to both events are sold out, though a waitlist is available.
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Steven Porter can be reached at steven.porter@globe.com. Follow him @reporterporter.
