{"id":69,"date":"2008-06-11T15:14:55","date_gmt":"2008-06-11T19:14:55","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.cnht.org\/news\/?p=69"},"modified":"2017-12-18T16:22:24","modified_gmt":"2017-12-18T21:22:24","slug":"kenneys-run-for-governor-is-now-official","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.cnht.org\/news\/2008\/06\/11\/kenneys-run-for-governor-is-now-official\/","title":{"rendered":"Kenney’s run for governor is now official"},"content":{"rendered":"

June 11, 2008
\nUnion Leader<\/a><\/p>\n

Concord \u2013 State Sen. Joseph Kenney filed as a candidate for governor today, signing a pledge to observe a voluntary $1.2 million total spending limit and challenging Gov. John Lynch to do the same.<\/p>\n

\u201cI want to make this about people, not about money,\u201d Kenney said. \u201cBy taking the spending limit cap on my campaign I am also illustrating what I would do as governor. I will implement real spending limits in our state budget as well.\u201d<\/p>\n

He attacked Lynch for lack of fiscal discipline, referring to him as a multi-millionaire several times. He said he has hurt the state with increases in taxes and fees, and for signing a two-year budget that increased spending by $500 million. He also criticized introduction last week of a $90 million borrowing bill that Democrats passed without any public hearing.<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cWe need to get the reins and a hold on the New Hampshire budget,\u201d Kenney said. \u201cWe need to keep New Hampshire, New Hampshire,\u201d he added, echoing the campaign signs about 50 supporters held as he spoke to reporters.<\/p>\n

Kenney, 47, a Wakefield Republican, faces a big challenge in taking on Lynch, a two-term Democrat with approval ratings of more than 70 percent.<\/p>\n

\u201cSomeone has got to take on John Lynch and I can\u2019t think of any other better person than a U.S. Marine who grew up in this state,\u201d he said. \u201cI learned long ago that no one is unbeatable.\u201d<\/p>\n

Kenney, a legislator for 14 years including the last six in the Senate, is a U.S. Marine Corps Reserve lieutenant colonel who has been called up twice since the war in Iraq began. He is a 1984 graduate of the University of New Hampshire.<\/p>\n

He pledged to veto any sales or income tax, and has signed a pledge to keep state spending within the rate of regional inflation.<\/strong><\/p>\n

He said he will cut spending and improve government efficiency, reduce energy costs by blocking the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative, boost job growth and business recruitment, and push for a full-service hospital for veterans.<\/p>\n

By agreeing to the voluntary spending cap, Kenney will be able to accept donations of up to $5,000 to his campaign. He is limited to spending $625,000 each in the primary and general elections. State law limits donations to $1,000 for those who do not agree to the cap. Those who exceed the limits are subject to a fine.<\/p>\n

Kenney said his campaign will emphasize grassroots organization, but the lack of access to unlimited spending won\u2019t hurt<\/p>\n

\u201cThere will be Joe Kenney for governor ads on TV, in fact they start next week,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Kenney said he would audit every state agency at the outset of his administration, and require each commissioner to file a mission statement to focus his department\u2019s work.<\/p>\n

Lynch plans to file for re-election tomorrow at 9 a.m.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

June 11, 2008 Union Leader Concord \u2013 State Sen. Joseph Kenney filed as a candidate for governor today, signing a pledge to observe a voluntary $1.2 million total spending limit and challenging Gov. John Lynch to do the same. \u201cI want to make this about people, not about money,\u201d Kenney said. \u201cBy taking the spending […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[16,71],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-69","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-broadbased","category-governor-watch"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.cnht.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/69","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.cnht.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.cnht.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cnht.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cnht.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=69"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.cnht.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/69\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6685,"href":"https:\/\/www.cnht.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/69\/revisions\/6685"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.cnht.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=69"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cnht.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=69"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cnht.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=69"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}