“앞으로 나는 물러날 것이다.,” 뉴햄프셔 Secretary of State Bill Gardner announced on Monday.
73세의 가드너(Gardner), 1976, and the former Democratic state representative has been reelected every two years by both Democratic and Republican controlled state legislatures.
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One of Gardner’s top tasks has been making sure New Hampshire maintains its century-old position as the first state to hold a primary in the presidential nominating calendar. It’s been a quadrennial fight for Gardner for over four decades – which has led him a few times to move up the date of the primary – but it’s a battle he’s never lost.
New Hampshire Secretary of State Bill Gardner, seen in his office at the Statehouse in Concord, N.H. in Nov. 2018. 가드너, the longest serving Secretary of State in the nation, 1 월. 3, 2022 announced that he would be stepping down. (폭스 뉴스)
Gardner enjoyed bipartisan support for decades, but his support in recent years for bills passed by GOP controlled legislatures and signed into law by Republican Gov. Chris Sununu that tightened voting access rules in New Hampshire angered many Democrats.
Gardner faced his most difficult reelection in 2018, winning another two-year term by narrowly defeating on the second ballot former Democratic executive councilor and gubernatorial nominee Colin Van Ostern. He was unopposed two years later as he won his final reelection.
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최근 몇 달 동안, Gardner’s spoken out in opposition to the push by 바이든 대통령 and House and Senate Democrats – including New Hampshire’s all-Democratic congressional delegation – to pass a sweeping election reform bill that would give the federal government more say in how states conduct their federal elections.
Garnder has argued that if the bill became law, it could potentially threaten New Hampshire’s status as the first presidential primary state.
Gardner announced that deputy Secretary of State Dave Scanlan, his longtime assistant, would be succeeding him.
He noted that “arrangements have been made for the constitutional deputy Dave Scanlan to take the oath of office.”
New Hampshire Secretary of State Bill Gardner and deputy Secretary of State Dave Scanlan inspect ballots during an election recount, in Concord, New Hampshire in Nov. 2018. (폭스 뉴스)
Gardner said that health concerns were not behind his decision. But he noted that the time was right to step down, 첨가 “it’s just time.”
“I will be forever grateful for the adventure of serving the people of our state in our State House,” Gardner said. “I know the office which I leave will be in good hands.”
수 누누, 성명서, 말했다 “Granite Staters owe a tremendous debt of gratitude to Secretary of State Bill Gardner.”
“수십 년간, Bill Gardner has fiercely protected New Hampshire’s First-in-the-Nation presidential primary and overseen our elections that are truly a point of pride for our state — always open, fair, accessible and accurate,” the governor emphasized. “We will miss Bill and his vast institutional knowledge of New Hampshire people, 정치, and government.”
