Republican Businessman Announces Run for Governor

A second Republican has entered the race for governor of the state of New Hampshire, hoping to win the right to face-off against Democratic incumbent Maggie Hassan in November.

Walter Havenstein, a former Marine and retired executive, launched his bid for the corner office on April 16, saying the state could “do better” when it came to spending the taxpayers money and expanding the economy.

Surrounded by friends and family, and a number of prominent political supporters, Havenstein said New Hampshire was not the same since the time when he and his wife first moved here in 1999, due to irresponsible leadership by a number of Democratic governors.

Back then, he said, the state’s economic growth was the envy of the region.

“Unfortunately, that’s not where New Hampshire stands today,” he said. “Our state’s economy has stagnated and begun to decline. Under Democrat governors we’ve squandered an entire decade and we’re falling behind.”

Havenstein, the former head of BAE Systems in Nashua, one of the state's largest employers, said New Hampshire had lost an average of 2,000 people per year to other states and lost more jobs than it created between 2000 and 2010. He called for the end of the stagnation and hammered away at the state’s high cost of living, the high cost of doing business, high utility rates, and high healthcare costs, despite having a very healthy populace. Havenstein also said he would cut wasteful state spending.

“I know we can do better,” he said. “I know we can be the most prosperous state in the Northeast and the most attractive place in the country in which to live, work, raise a family, and do business, and that is my goal.”

Havenstein also chastised the Affordable Care Act and said the one-size-fits-all government program, with its mandates, drove up premiums by nearly 90 percent in the state. He noted that his own son lost the plan he was happy with, even with a pre-existing condition, due to the law.

“The Affordable Care Act isn’t,” he said. “It isn’t about care and it isn’t affordable. We should be worried more about getting people off government programs then how many new people we put on government programs. That doesn’t mean we’re insensitive to the needs of our citizens … it means were are able to be more sensitive.”

During a question and answer period, Havenstein was asked about whether he was qualified to run for office in the state of New Hampshire, due to residency issues raised by Democrats connected to tax filings he made in Maryland, where he claimed the home was his “principal residence.” He said that he had always called New Hampshire his home and domicile and had voted here for 15 years, and believed he was qualified to run.

On specific issues, Havenstein said he was against broad-based taxes, was for preserving the death penalty, was a supporter right-to-work, and was against expanded gambling, adding that he was “terribly disappointed” in Hassan “whose centerpiece of economic development is casino gambling.”

Ray Buckley, the chairman of the New Hampshire Democratic Party, who was waiting in the wings at the announcement to offer comment, said that Havenstein had “a number of ethical issues” he needed to resolve, specifically to property tax filings.

“Why did he, for all those years, take a tax cut, to his property taxes, that is only eligible for Maryland residents?” he asked.

Havenstein said he was looking forward to getting to know voters and answering questions from them and the press about his specific plans to turn the state around in the near future.