Report: Walter Havenstein to run for Governor

WMUR reports that Walter Havenstein of Alton, a former head of BAE Systems, has decided to run for governor. The television station cites sources that the Republican field will soon increase by one.

Read the WMUR report.

Andrew Hemingway, an entrepreneur from Bristol, is already in the race for the GOP nomination to challenge first-term Gov. Maggie Hassan, D-Exeter.

The filing period for candidates running in the New Hampshire state primary election is June 4 to June 13. Sept. 9 is the state primary.

In a winter poll by the University of New Hampshire Survey Center, a majority of Granite Staters said they approve of her job in office.

Raymond Buckley, chairman of the New Hampshire Democratic Party, touted Hassan's work as a bipartisan governor while criticizing Havenstein as an "out-of-touch multimillionaire from Maryland."

The barb was related to a Nashua Telegraph story that reported Havenstein claimed principal homestead tax benefits in Maryland.

Buckley issued a statement: "It’s sad that the NHGOP and their Washington cronies can’t find someone from New Hampshire to run for Governor, and now are resorting to an out-of-touch, multimillionaire from Maryland who has proven that he thinks he’s above the rules that apply to the rest of us. Walt Havenstein already got caught claiming primary residency on his million dollar Maryland condo to avoid paying property taxes – and now he’s trying to claim he’s a resident of New Hampshire. After Havenstein cheated the system to avoid taxes, how can New Hampshire voters trust him to fight for our priorities? Will he return to the devastating cuts and attacks on women’s health care of failed Speaker Bill O’Brien and the Tea Party Legislature? Will Havenstein repeal the bipartisan Medicaid expansion plan that will bring critical health coverage to over 50,000 working people?"