Lone Pine Policy IV: The paper chase (1976)

Governor Meldrim Thomson entered 1976 carrying a bit of a mixed bag. On one hand, he had been remarkably successful. The potent combination of Thomson and Union Leader publisher William Loeb had managed to move aside the more moderate wing of the Republican Party and shift the party to the right, a key ideological victory. As the 1976 Presidential primaries approached, Thomson sought to do the same on the national level by backing the candidacy of California governor Ronald Reagan, a right wing insurgent who sought to defeat the incumbent President Gerald Ford, a representative of the older moderate wing of the party. An ousting of President Ford in favor of the more conservative Reagan would send a loud message to moderate Republicans around the country about the seriousness of the insurgent right wing movement. While Reagan was ultimately unsuccessful in defeating Ford in New Hampshire, the close margin of victory would give Reagan enough ammunition and credibility to ultimately carry his candidacy to the floor of the Republican National Convention. The Republican Party was changing and Meldrim Thomson was near the front of the train.

Of course, not all was particularly well for the governor on the home front. Like he did just two years earlier, Thomson once again found himself embroiled in yet another battle with a small town over the placement of a manufacturing facility. The governor had backed a project to build a paper mill in the small town of Walpole, which sits in the southwest corner of the state along the Connecticut River. In a January nonbinding referendum, the town rejected the mill. Controversy over the mill had even created discord in Thomson's own administration, resulting in the firing of the state's economic development director after he criticized the project. In March, the town's residents voted against rezoning the land and permanently killed the project, dealing a blow to the governor's economic development ambitions. 

Thomson was also dealt a defeat the previous fall in a special election to fill a seat in the United States Senate when Democrat John Durkin defeated Republican Louis Wyman, which gave New Hampshire, a once staunchly Republican state, two Democratic senators. 

Was it possible that Thomson's new Republican Party had worn out its welcome with the voters? 

This is a question that Democrats hoped would be an answered in the affirmative. Three Democrats, two of whom were already familiar names from 1974, Harry Spanos and Hugh Gallen, along with newcomer James Connor, who had previously as the Hillsborough County Prosecutor, threw their hats into the ring. Given his status as prosecutor in the state's most urban county and the possibility of Spanos and Gallen splitting the vote in the rest of the state, Connor was thought to be the early favorite to win the nomination. It was also thought that Connor would be the most formidable opponent for Thomson, given his ability to draw votes from Manchester, the home of the Union Leader and the state's largest city. The issue of taxation, the dominant question of any campaign in New Hampshire, reared its ugly head during the Democratic primary, with Gallen and Connor threatening to veto any income or sales tax. Spanos remained noncommittal on the matter. The quick acquiescence of Gallen and Connor was no doubt a symbol of just how far Thomson's rhetoric had moved the needle, even on the Democratic side of the aisle. 

On Primary Day, Harry Spanos would ultimately get the nomination. Winning 40% of the vote, Spanos was able to avoid splitting the vote in much of the state, winning outright majorities in many of the state's smaller communities and even managing to get a small victory in Nashua, the state's second largest city. Connor was unable to make up his lack of name recognition in much of the state by performing well in Manchester, his home city and the county seat of Hillsborough County. While he managed to win the city, he only got 48% of the vote there. 

Spanos was the next man up to try to take down Meldrim Thomson. Thomson's hold on the Republican Party was solidified by his relatively easy victory over Hanover businessman Gerard Zeiller in the primary.

Much as in previous elections, Thomson's general election campaign relied heavily on his pledge to keep an income and sales tax out of New Hampshire. Spanos's position in the primary gave Thomson an easy means of contrasting their views. For his part, Spanos voiced opposition to new taxes but stopped short of a blanket pledge to veto them. 

Pre-election media coverage predicted a tough fight for Thomson and mentioned Spanos's strategy of attempting to draw in disaffected moderate Republicans in order to boost his chances to win in New Hampshire. However, Spanos would fall short in his efforts and it wasn't even close. 

Thomson would win re-election with ~57% of the vote, besting Spanos by almost 14 points. Surprisingly Thomson's vote total even ran ahead of President Gerald Ford who had carried New Hampshire. Thomson received 197,589 votes to the President's 185,935. A small moral victory for the governor and his conservative movement. 

Despite winning re-election, Thomson's night was not without fraught. Two of the governor's adversaries had been elected to serve on the Executive Council. In the 2nd District, Malcolm McLane, a stalwart voice for the moderate wing of the Republican Party (and third party gubernatorial candidate from 1972) had been elected. While the voters in the 3rd District had elected State Rep. Dudley Dudley, a lead advocate against the proposed refinery in Durham that Thomson had championed just two years prior. 

(Note: While this is outside the scope of this series, the 1976 Democratic primary was also pretty interesting. You can hear about the unlikely rise of Georgia Governor Jimmy Carter by listening to Episode 2 of the Stranglehold podcast from New Hampshire Public Radio here.)