NHDP - Ovide Lamontagne's Alleged "Freedom and Liberty" Doesn't Extend to Women's Health Care, Marriage Equality

CONCORD - Ovide Lamontagne's alleged support for "freedom and liberty" doesn't extend to women or gays and lesbians, Raymond Buckley, chairman of the New Hampshire Democratic Party, pointed out in response to Lamontagne's first ad "Heart."

"A television ad won't erase Ovide Lamontagne's cold-hearted attitude toward stomping on the freedom and liberty of women and gays and lesbians," Buckley said. "Ovide Lamontagne has promised to aggressively work to repeal marriage equality. And Ovide Lamontagne is a strong believer in 'government intrusion' in women's health care. In fact, he supports a constitutional amendment that would make all abortion, even in the cases of rape and incest, a crime, and even outlaw some forms of birth control and fertility treatments."

Ovide Lamontagne told a rally this winter that as Governor he would aggressively work to repeal marriage equality.

As a candidate for U.S. Senate, Lamontagne supported a "Human Life Amendment" that would make all abortions a crime, and even make some forms of birth control and fertility treatments unconstitutional.

StandingUpForNHFamiles - Why Won't Ovide Come Clean?

Pro-Family Group Calls on Lamontagne to be Honest about His Unpopular Views

In an interview on New Hampshire Public Radio this morning, Ovide Lamontagne told the audience that repeal of New Hampshire’s marriage law “is not a priority” for him, though he repeats his pledge to sign a repeal bill. (News link: http://nhpr.org/post/republican-gubernatorial-candidate-ovide-lamontagne)

These latest watered-down comments completely fly in the face of his record on the issue not too long ago. As recently as this spring, he was passionate about his anti-gay positions, pledging in a speech on the State House steps that, “If Gov. Lynch prevents a return to traditional marriage, you can count on me to aggressively work to make this happen once I’m governor.” (News link: http://www.nashuatelegraph.com/newsstatenewengland/954772-227/gay-marriage-battle-could-rage-on-at.html)

SUFNHF Republican Co-Chair Craig Stowell responded, “I’m not sure who Ovide thinks he’s fooling. He tries to sugar coat his out of step positions when he speaks to mainstream audiences, but we know where he really stands. His recent comments suggesting that single parents, divorced parents or gay parents are inferior and hurt their children’s chances to succeed in life reveal his true motives.”  (News link:http://www.concordmonitor.com/article/337532/gubernatorial-forum-focuses-on-states-youth)

“I’m sure he's seen the polls. He clearly knows his position does not represent the values of the Granite State, and that’s why he tries to hide it. That won’t work in New Hampshire. He needs to be honest with the voters about where he stands,” added Stowell.

NHRFE - GOP PAC: Ovide's Contortions Damage the Republican Party

Manchester, NH - Republican gubernatorial candidate Ovide Lamontagne appeared today on NHPR's The Exchange where he discussed repealing the state's marriage laws that give equal protections to same-sex couples.

Lamontagne again pledged to support repeal, this time stating it was "not a priority."  This contradicts his promise at a rally several months ago "to aggressively work to make [repeal] happe n."

New Hampshire Republicans for Freedom and Equality PAC Chairman Sean Owen commented, "As a fellow Republican, I disagree with Ovide and believe the freedom to marry should be left alone. The GOP is at its best when it's fighting for individual freedom and smaller government, and that's why I've been so proud of the House Republicans who this year fought against discrimination."

Owen continued, "Ovide's approach to marriage appears to be evolving. He started out in this campaign sounding like a crusader, but now it seems he just wants to change the subject. Either it's a genuine change of heart, which is what I hope is the case, or he's saying different things to different audiences just to get elected. Either way, Ovide has to be more transparent on this issue. Independent voters will decide the election this fall. All the polling has shown that these all-important swing voters support the current marriage law by overwhelming 3 to 1 margins. If Republicans continue to alienate these voters by obsessing over repeal, it will come back to haunt us on Election Day."

GOP PAC to Kevin Smith: Time to Move On

Manchester, NH - In a recent interview with the Nashua Telegraph, GOP gubernatorial candidate Kevin Smith spoke out against the state's popular marriage law. The Telegraph reports:

 

"As the former head of Cornerstone Action, Smith led the campaign in 2010 to elect more social conservatives to try and repeal the same-sex marriage law. Last spring, the effort to repeal the law failed before the Republican-dominated House of Representatives."

 

Smith confirmed he would sign a bill to repeal same-sex marriage if elected governor. New Hampshire's freedom to marry law is over three years old and has resulted in new marriages for over 4,000 gay and lesbian New Hampshire residents. 

 

Sean Owen, Chairman of New Hampshire Republicans for Freedom and Equality responded to his comments. "A good governor needs to listen to the people of New Hampshire, and they have said in every single poll for over two years that they support the current law as it is. And that support is only growing.  It's time for Kevin Smith to move on to other issues." 

 

Owen added, "The Republican Party is moving forward and proving that we stand for freedom for everyone. If Kevin Smith truly wants to make our state friendly to business and young people, then he should begin by recognizing we won't achieve that by taking away rights from our gay and lesbian family members, friends, and neighbors." 

 

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In Case You Missed It 

 

Politico: GOP steers clear of gay marriage issue

 

When Democrats announced that their 2012 platform would include a historic first - gay marriage written in as a plank - the reaction from mainstream Republicans was near silence. 

 

There were no statements blasted out from Mitt Romney's campaign. The same was true for the Republican National Committee. Romney has yet to address the fact. 

 

The pushback came largely from social conservatives and evangelicals, who pledged to make same-sex unions an issue going forward and insisted the stand will hurt Democrats. 

 

But the comparative quiet from party leaders would have been unimaginable even four years ago, when public opinion hadn't yet shifted so rapidly on a signature social issue. And it marks a dramatic change among some of the top Republican donors and opinion-makers, who are supporting same-sex marriage in state-based gay legislative and legal fights, even as the official GOP platform will remain centered on traditional marriage. 

 

"Most Republican Party leaders seem to have lost the stomach for this fight," said Dan Schnur of the Jesse M. Unruh Institute of Politics at the University of Southern California. "Some of that results (from) the number of large-scale donors who support same-sex marriage, some of it's a result in an increasing number of party leaders who support same-sex marriage, and a lot of it is public opinion polling which shows a shift in the way voters feel about same-sex marriage," he added...

StandingUpForNHFamiles - O'Brien is Obsessed

O’Brien Obsesses Over Gay Marriage
Vows to Continue His Attack on New Hampshire Families If Re-elected
 

CONCORD, NH - New Hampshire House Speaker Bill O’Brien ignited new controversy yesterday when he claimed on NHPR’s The Exchange that married gay and lesbian couples are “weakened families” that “create an unlimited call on government resources.”

He offered zero facts or statistics to support this baseless attack.

Republican Craig Stowell, a Marine Corps veteran and Co-Chair of Standing Up for New Hampshire Families, responded: “O’Brien’s continued attacks on gay and lesbian families are downright disgusting, and out of step with the people of New Hampshire.  This year’s vote demonstrated what repeated statewide polls have shown - the widespread popularity of our marriage law.”

This past March, a repeal of the freedom to marry overwhelmingly failed in the Republican-dominated New Hampshire House of Representatives by a vote of 211 to 116.  This included 119 Republicans who voted to kill the bill, the majority position among House Republicans.  In spite of these results, Speaker O’Brien promised that if re-elected he would continue to pursue a repeal next session. 

“Bill O’Brien’s narrow social agenda does not represent Granite State values. He needs to drop this anti-family crusade and focus on moving New Hampshire forward,” added Stowell.

Standing Up for New Hampshire Families will soon release a full candidate scorecard for legislative races around the state.