presented by Sailors assigned to the submarine
USS New Hampshire (SSN-778), 29 July 2011
Electoral history In June 2004, Lynch launched his campaign for
Governor of New Hampshire. Lynch spent the five months preceding the election relentlessly criticizing Governor
Craig Benson, the first-term
Republican incumbent, for what Lynch claimed was a lack of integrity following a long series of scandals during Benson's tenure. Lynch accused Benson of creating a "culture of corruption" and cronyism at the State House. On September 15, Lynch won the Democratic primary and on November 2, Lynch defeated Benson 51% to 49%. Lynch was the first challenger to defeat a first-term incumbent in New Hampshire since
1924. Lynch's coattails carried his party to control of both chambers of the State Legislature and both of New Hampshire's two U.S. House seats. On November 4, 2008, he was elected to a third term in another landslide victory. Democrats maintained control of the state legislature and held both U.S. House seats, and gained a U.S. Senate seat. Lynch was the only Democrat elected to statewide office. As had happened in many states throughout the U.S. during the
2010 midterm elections, Democrats suffered heavy losses. Democrats lost control of both chambers of the State Legislature, control of the Executive Council and both of the U.S. House seats. According to the
Concord Monitor, when Lynch was inaugurated on January 6, 2011, he became "the state's longest-serving governor in nearly two centuries.
John Taylor Gilman was the last governor to serve longer than six years, serving 14 one-year terms as governor between 1794 and 1816. (The state switched to two-year terms in 1877)" New Hampshire and neighboring
Vermont are the only two States in the U.S. that use two-year terms. On September 15, 2011, Lynch announced he would not seek a historic fifth term as governor. During the announcement Lynch said "I feel like I have the passion and the energy to keep doing this work for a long, long time, but democracy demands periodic change. To refresh and revive itself, democracy needs new leaders and new ideas." On January 3, 2013, Lynch was succeeded by fellow Democrat
Maggie Hassan, marking the first time a Democrat succeeded a Democrat as the state's governor since the 19th century.
Tenure parade, September 2006
Taxes As a candidate for governor, Lynch took "
The Pledge" not to enact any broad-based taxes, especially a sales or income tax. As governor, Lynch kept his promise. Lynch does not support an amendment to the State Constitution banning an income tax. In 2007, Lynch signed into law the Research and Development Tax credit, which for the following five years appropriated $1,000,000 for companies to write off qualifying "manufacturing research and development" expenditures. In 2012, during his final State of the State address, Lynch proposed doubling the tax credit, citing its success in creating jobs, and slammed lawmakers for slashing funding to the state's community college system to fund a 10-cent reduction in the tobacco tax. In June 2010, Lynch signed a budget-balancing measure that repealed the state's LLC tax.
Crime Lynch worked with the state
Attorney General, police chiefs, and lawmakers to pass
sex offender laws; increase the state police force; and increase the number of state prosecutors. New Hampshire was rated the "Safest State" in the Nation in 2008 and 2009. New Hampshire again boasts the nation's lowest murder rate and the second-lowest rates for
aggravated assault, according to
CQ Press. Lynch issued the following statement after the announcement of the award in 2009:
Death penalty Lynch upheld the death penalty while in office, stating "there are crimes so heinous that the death penalty is warranted." The New Hampshire House of Representatives passed legislation in March 2009 to abolish the death penalty, which Lynch threatened to veto. Due to the veto threat, the Senate tabled the legislation in April of that year. In June, Lynch compromised with legislators and signed legislation to form the New Hampshire Commission to Study the Death Penalty. in 2008 In December 2010, the Commission recommended, by a 12 to 10 vote, to retain the death penalty. However, the panel unanimously recommended against expanding it. In 2011, Lynch signed legislation to expand the death penalty to include home invasions.
Natural disaster response In April 2006, Lynch was awarded the "National Chairman of Volunteers" Award for Volunteer Excellence by the
American Red Cross, due to his leadership during the
2005 floods.
Same-sex marriage On June 3, 2009, Lynch signed a
same-sex marriage bill into law, despite being personally opposed to gay marriages, making New Hampshire the
fifth state in the United States to allow such unions.
Historic popularity Throughout his eight year tenure, Lynch enjoyed very high approval ratings, often being ranked among the most popular of U.S. governors. According to the WMUR/Granite State Poll conducted by the
University of New Hampshire, just three months after taking office in January 2005, Lynch's approval rating surpassed 50% and stayed upwards of 55% throughout his tenure. Likewise, between February 2006 and February 2009 his approval rating was above 70%. In April 2012, Lynch's approval rating was again above 70% making him the second most popular governor in the
United States, behind
New York Governor
Andrew Cuomo. Lynch enjoyed bipartisan support and is the most popular governor in the state's history.
Presidential endorsements During the
2008 Democratic presidential primaries, Lynch was one of eight
superdelegates from New Hampshire. Lynch remained neutral during the New Hampshire primary because as governor he needed to "focus on being a good host to the primary", according to a statement by spokesman
Colin Manning. At an event on June 27, 2008 in
Unity, New Hampshire, Lynch formally endorsed
Barack Obama for president. Lynch endorsed President
Barack Obama in the
2012 presidential election, former
Secretary of State Hillary Clinton in the
2016 presidential election, and former Vice President
Joe Biden in the
2020 presidential election. ==Personal life==