#lee nyquist

[nhlabornews]

NEA-NH Recommends Lee Nyquist In Senate District 9 Primary

CONCORD – Community leader, town moderator, and attorney Lee Nyquist received the recommendation of the National Education Association of New Hampshire (NEA-NH), New Hampshire’s largest public sector union. 

“Lee Nyquist knows first-hand how a high quality public education can change a student’s life for the better,” said Scott McGilvray, NEA-NH President. “That’s one of the many reasons why we are excited to recommend him. We know that as a state senator, Lee will work tirelessly to ensure that our educators and support staff have the resources they need to help every child reach their full potential.” 

“As the first in my family to attend a four year college, thanks in very large part to dedicated public school teachers, the recommendation of NEA-NH is an honor I am very grateful to have,” said Lee Nyquist. “As a state senator I look forward to working to build partnerships between school districts and employers for vocational training programs, continuing the tuition freeze in the UNH system, and to working to ensure that our educators and support staff have the resources they need to help so many children have brighter futures.” 

Nyquist and other candidates go through a vetting process that includes a education and labor questionnaire that is then reviewed by the Government Relations Committee. The committee is made up of  “teachers, education support professionals and retired members appointed by the NEA-NH president and approved by the Executive Board,” explained NEA-NH spokesman George Strout.  

A recommendation is the fullest and most complete level of support NEA-NH can give a candidate.  

“The process is designed to find out, face-to-face, where candidates stand on our issues, and then recommend to our members the candidate who the Committee believes would best serve our students, our members and public education.  The Committee does not look at issues beyond public education and public sector collective bargaining rights,” Strout added.

Nyquist is currently in a contested primary against businesswoman Jeanne Dietsch who recently made headlines on the NHLN for burning the AFP’s Right to Work Pledge.

The winner of the primary with then go on to face Senator Andy Sanborn who referred to raising the minimum wage as a “war on employers,” voted against the medicaid expansion and is a strong proponent of Right to Work legislation.

NEA-NH Recommends Lee Nyquist In Senate District 9 Primary was originally published on NH Labor News

[nhlabornews]

Lee Nyquist Garners Endorsement From AFT-NH In NH Senate District 9 Primary Race

New Boston — Today the New Hampshire Chapter of the American Federation of Teachers (AFT-NH) announced their endorsement of  Town Moderator, attorney, and community leader Lee Nyquist. AFT-NH has previously endorsed Nyquist in the 2012 and 2014 elections. 

“Lee Nyquist is a tenacious advocate for public education in New Hampshire, is firmly committed to upholding collective bargaining rights for working people, and has dedicated many years to advancing the interests of working families in New Hampshire,” said AFT-NH President Doug Ley. “As a federation representing nearly 4,000 teachers, school support staff, police, higher education faculty, and town employees, AFT-NH is proud to add its support to Lee Nyquist as the candidate best prepared to defeat the extremist Andy Sanborn in November.”

“When I graduated from Harvard, I was the first in my family to attend college, and this was the result of the first class education I received in public school,” said Lee Nyquist. “The education I received as a child is what put me on the path to living the American dream. In Concord I will use my nearly four decades of experience as a trial attorney to advocate on behalf of the children and working families in our communities.”

Nyquist is currently in a contested primary against businesswoman Jeanne Dietsch who recently made headlines on the NHLN for burning the AFP’s Right to Work Pledge.

The winner of the primary with then go on to face Senator Andy Sanborn who referred to raising the minimum wage as a “war on employers.”  Sanborn also voted against the medicaid expansion and is a strong proponent of Right to Work legislation.

“Andy Sanborn wants District 9 voters to believe he’s a bipartisan compromiser. But based on his voting record, he’s the most extreme member of the New Hampshire Senate – and votes don’t lie,” wrote Molly Cowan, chair of Strong Local Economies NH during the 2014 election cycle. “When we scored and graded every senator on local economy votes in our Local Economy Report Card, Sanborn earned an F grade and a score of just 27% – far below every other senator, Republican or Democrat.”

The Local Economy Report Card, released in September of 2014, found Sanborn voted against helping unemployed people start small businesses, against expanding access to affordable health coverage for 50,000 uninsured New Hampshire residents, and against multiple bills aimed at combating the corruption of the political process by big money that stacks the deck in favor of out-of-state big business interests at the expense of local, home-grown small businesses, among other things.

AFT-NH’s endorsement comes on the heels of an excellent week for the Nyquist campaign, during which he announced receiving endorsements from a majority of the Democratic Representatives who represent towns throughout Senate District 9 and four town Selectboard chairs. Lee has also received the endorsement of Executive Councilor Chris Pappas who represents Bedford. Nyquist’s diligent advocacy for all New Hampshire families and civil consensus-building approach to politics is striking a chord with the electorate, as his campaign continues to build momentum throughout the district.

Lee Nyquist Garners Endorsement From AFT-NH In NH Senate District 9 Primary Race was originally published on NH Labor News

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Sen. Andy Sanborn and the Free Staters

Image: Nyquist mailer

On October 16, the chairman of the Free State Project had a question for his Facebook friends. "Who has access to Nexus Lexus and is interested in helping on research regarding a vile political candidate?" asked Aaron Day.

One week later, a website attacking Democratic state Senate candidate Lee Nyquist made its debut. Liberalleenyquist.com is hosted on the same server that hosts sites for Republican Liberty Caucus of New Hampshire and Stark360 PAC -- two other libertarian groups Day leads. Nyquist's opponent, Sen. Andy Sanborn (R-Bedford) paid for the site.

The "Liberal Lee Nyquist" site levels a number of charges against the New Boston lawyer who is in a heated rematch with Sanborn for the District 9 Senate seat. "Lee Nyquist believes public service should mean private profit," reads one accusation. "Trial Lawyer Lee Nyquist started his career by getting a would-be cop killer off on technicalities," says another. The site is festooned with large images from the series of negative mail pieces that have flooded District 9 mailboxes.

The case for Day's involvement with the Liberal Lee Nyquist website is circumstantial. But even before the site appeared, WMUR's James Pindell was reporting that Sanborn's re-election bid could be jeopardized as Bedford Republicans jump ship over Sanborn's "refusal to distance himself from new libertarian elements in town."

Day and fellow FSP board member Matt Philips have been dogged by controversy since moving to Bedford. Earlier this year, Day finished fourth in a four person race for the Bedford School Board and Philips lost an election for town council. In September, both failed to garner enough votes to become delegates to the Republican state convention.

The Republican Liberty Caucus has endorsed Sanborn though it would seem to be a marriage of convenience. Yes, Sanborn describes himself as a “liberty candidate.” Yes, he was the New Hampshire co-chair for Ron Paul’s 2012 presidential campaign. But Sanborn also attacked an opponent for proposing reforms to allow non-violent offenders to avoid prison time, his business benefited from a $600,000 state loan guarantee and he made national headlines when he threatened a constituent who sought his support for legalizing marijuana.

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Sanborn mailer recalls infamous Willie Horton ad

Image: liberalleenyquist.com

The state Senate District 9 rematch between incumbent Andy Sanborn (R-Bedford) and Democrat Lee Nyquist has turned ugly. Sanborn has unleashed a series of negative mail pieces and a companion website accusing Nyquist of being an unscrupulous lawyer who is seeking political office for personal gain to promote a "liberal, Obama-centered agenda."

The most provocative of the mailers pairs a smiling Nyquist with a hooded, dark-skinned man holding a gun. "Trial lawyer Lee Nyquist started his career by getting a would-be cop killer off on technicalities," it reads, "clients like cocaine dealer and would-be cop killer Jesus Ramos."

The mailer recalls the 1988 Willie Horton ad, which played on racial fears and portrayed Democratic presidential candidate Michael Dukakis as soft on crime. The infamous ad, approved by George H. W. Bush's campaign manager Lee Atwater, featured the menacing mug shot of Horton, an African-American convicted of assault, armed robbery and rape while out on a prison furlough.

In a 1981 interview with political scientist Alexander Lamis, Atwater explained the strategy of dog-whistle politics that would produce the Willie Horton ad seven years later. "You start out in 1954 by saying, 'Nigger, nigger, nigger,' ” Atwater explained. "By 1968 you can't say 'nigger' — that hurts you. Backfires. So you say stuff like forced busing, states' rights and all that stuff."

In 1991, a gravely ill Atwater apologized to Dukakis for his role in making the Willie Horton ad. "[B]ecause it makes me sound racist, which I am not," he said.

Video: llehman84