Executive Councilor Dan St. Hilaire is apparently considering a run for governor after all in 2012, although he doesn’t want to talk much about it much.

The Concord Monitor reported in its Capital Beat column on Sept. 18 that St. Hilaire was considering a run. The article quoted the lawyer, who is also an at-large Concord city councilor, as saying he was thinking about it. Republican sources around the capital region confirmed this week that St. Hilaire has been reaching out to supporters and others about a potential run.

The political rumor mill began spinning about a St. Hilaire gubernatorial run in 2012 not long after he voted to defund Planned Parenthood in June of this year. Up until that vote, he was not considered a serious potential statewide candidate since he drew a lot of his support from liberal-to-moderate Republicans and might not survive a primary, where voters tend to be more conservative. However, the fact that he was considered relatively middle-of-the-road helped elevate St. Hilaire to the Executive Council in 2010, after an unsuccessful run in 2008. St. Hilaire was able to collect support from Republicans, Democrats, and undeclared, in order to defeat John Shea, who was swept out of office in 2010 with the same swiftness that swept him into office in 2006.

Earlier this year, some conservative leaders wondered openly about the swerve to the right with the defund vote, thinking that St. Hilaire might be considering a potential bid for governor in 2012. At the same time, many members of the coalition that voted for him in 2010 were angered by the defunding of Planned Parenthood, and have encouraged Colin Van Ostern to run against St. Hilaire for the Executive Council seat.

In a sit-down interview in his law office back in July, St. Hilaire said he had no interest in running for governor and the vote against Planned Parenthood had nothing to do with his future plans, because he was always pro-life.

At an intimate Mitt Romney debate watching party at The Draft in Concord on Sept. 22, St. Hilaire said he wasn’t prepared to talk extensively about his future plans, despite the previous press reports. However, he did say that, “the landscape has changed” since his previous comments saying he was not interested in running.

Activists reaching out

In a column by John DiStaso in the New Hampshire Union Leader on Sept. 22, state Sen. Andy Sanborn, R-Henniker, the co-owner of The Draft, was also floated as a potential candidate in 2012. DiStaso wrote that some Republican activists, including Tea Party and liberty movement members, were suggesting he should consider a run.

Sanborn said he was flattered but added the important conversation wasn’t about politics but jobs and economic expansion.

“What is most important to the people in this state is that they have a job,” he said, at Romney’s debate party. “They are worried about paying their bills, they are thinking about their kids, and putting some money away for the future. I’m humbled and awed at the sheer number of business owners and residents who are reaching out to me asking that I consider it.”

Other candidates

Attorney Ovide Lamontagne recently announced that he would be running for governor. He just missed the Republican nomination for U.S. Senate in 2010 and previously ran for governor in 1996. Kevin Smith, the director of Cornerstone Action, is also considering a run for the Republican nomination.

Democrats considering a run include former state Sen. Maggie Hassan, former Portsmouth Mayor Steve Marchand, and former state Sen. Jackie Cilley.