In national press reports on the results of Republican primaries in New Hampshire Tuesday, much has been made of the fact that the triumphant candidates for U.S. Senator and U.S. Representative from the 1st District (Manchester) had the early endorsement of President Trump.
Less reported was the fact that Trump’s blessing helped both U.S. Senate nominee Bryant “Corky” Messner and U.S. House nominee Matt Mowers overcome an obstacle that was once considered a “killer bullet” in the Granite State: a near-total lack of roots to New Hampshire and a very recent arrival in the state.
Messner, 63, had built a successful law firm in Colorado and had a Wolfeboro (N.H.) house as a second home. Having won by a margin of 50 to 42 percent over retired Gen. Don Bolduc (U.S. Army), he now faces an uphill battle against Democratic Sen. Jeanne Shaheen.
Mowers, 31, born and raised in New Jersey, came to New Hampshire to work on the presidential campaign of New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie. After Christie bowed out, Mowers joined the Trump team and later worked in Washington D.C. for the U.S. State Department.
According to several published reports, Mowers does not own a home in New Hampshire but still has a home in Washington D.C.
Mowers beat Dover City Councilor Matt Mayberry by 3-to-2. He will face Democratic Rep. Chris Pappas in the fall.
“Apparently the Trump imprimatur transcends state boundaries,” former State Attorney General Tom Rath, a seasoned operative in his state’s quadrennial presidential primary, told Newsmax, “It wasn’t as much an issue in Senate race as the losing candidate was a career military officer who only retired here about two years ago full time although he had always kept his NH residency.
“But it was a much bigger issue in 1st District where losing candidate was a long time Republican activist who had labored in the fields for many New Hampshire candidates- and the winner was field guy for Christie in 2016 cycle who then went to DC and came up here around year ago to run.”
Although New Hampshire has a history of many governors and U.S. Senators with deep ties to the state and a record of office-holding, there are exceptions. Sen. Shaheen, for example, was born in Missouri, but spent most of her adult life in New Hampshire. Former Massachusetts Sen. Scott Brown won the Republican nomination for U.S. Senator from New Hampshire in 2014, but had long owned property in the Granite State.
The late Republican Gov. Mel Thomson was a Georgian who retained his Southern accent, but easily met New Hampshire’s seven-year residency requirement when he won the statehouse in 1972.
Former Republican Sen. Gordon Humphrey, now a high-profile “Never Trumper,” was born in Connecticut but had lived in New Hampshire several years before he won his first Senate race in 1978.
Still, there is no precedent for the nominations of such recent arrivals to the state as Messner and Mowers.
As Rath put it, “The victories of Messner and Mowers were, Rath told us, “pure and simple the Trump campaign flexing muscle in primary. Non trump Republicans were not a factor.”
John Gizzi is chief political columnist and White House correspondent for Newsmax. For more of his reports, Go Here Now.
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