Joe Kenney

The Business Industry Association (BIA) will be presenting two candidate forums in September to discuss small business issues

One forum will feature U.S. Sen. John Sununu (R-Waterville Valley) and former Gov. Jeanne Shaheen (D-Madbury) and the other will have Gov. John Lynch (D-Hopkinton) and state Sen. Joe Kenney (R-Wakefield).

State Sen. Joe Kenney's (R-Wakefield) decision to run for governor has set-off a three-way Republican primary to capture the 3rd state Senate district seat.

The primary features three former state representatives who hope to move up to the upper chamber: Sam Cataldo (R-Farmington), David Babson (R-Ossipee) and William Denley (R-Wakefield). The Republican nominee will face Judge Bud Martin (D-Center Sandwich).

Erik Taylor, former chairman of the Carroll County Republicans and a consultant with Elevare Communications, said the key to the primary are the "boros."

Continuing a week of polls, a UNH poll shows Gov. John Lynch (D-Hopkinton) with an overwhelming lead over his Republican opponent.

Lynch is beating state Sen. Joe Kenney (R-Wakefield) 67 percent to 16 percent. The Granite State Poll, conducted by the University of New Hampshire Survey Center, shows Lynch gaining 45 percent of Republican voters against Kenney.

ROCHESTER-State Sen. Joe Kenney (R-Wakefield) says that New Hampshire is "built" for U.S. Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.).

"New Hampshire is built for John McCain. It's great to have him back," Kenney told PolitickerNH.com. "The more time he spends in New Hampshire the more people love him. As New Hampshire goes, so goes the nation."

Commenting on the upcoming event with U.S. Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.) and U.S. Sen. Hillary Clinton (D-N.Y.) state Sen. Joe Kenney (R-Wakefield) said he feels "bad" for the town of Unity and added that the Democratic presidential candidates must quickly unify.

"I feel bad for the people of Unity; hopefully they don't call it disunity after the event. All kidding aside, I think they have to unify quickly to catch-up to John McCain."

Here's a review of the state Senate playing field as we begin the summer.

The races are divided into five categories: Strong Democratic, Lean Democratic, Toss-up, Lean Republican and Strong Republican.

Let's start with the Democrats:

ARG poll shows Obama, Shaheen lead

The latest ARG poll released yesterday shows Republicans John McCain and John Sununu have a long ways to go if they hope to carry the state.  Barack Obama leads McCain 51%-39% and Sununu trailing Jeanne Shaheen 54%-40%.  News is even worse for Joe Kenney who trails Governor John Lynch 65%-21%.  

While it is still early, these numbers do not bode well for the Republican ticket in November.

Now that filings are complete, let's take a look at the field of play in the state Senate.

We're keeping an eye on 11 races as election season begins. Republicans hold five, Democrats hold six. Two are open seats, nine will be defended by incumbents. The other 13 seats are unlikely to become competitive because of the partisan tilt of the district, the presence of a strong incumbent, or both. As campaigns develop, we will revisit the list from time to time.

If you are a leader in the Democratic Party in NH today you could be considered a winner, but for the same reason they are winners primary voters are considered losers this week. Read more in this week’s Winners and Losers.

Today, here are three questions to ponder, preferably in a cool, dry place: