Union-Leader (NH) provides more info on Merrill, stepping down from RNC to become NH Co-Chair
The Manchester Union-Leader’s Kristen Senz provided some more information on Nancy Merrill, just announced as Senator McCain’s state co-chair in New Hampshire. Here is the text of the article:
Lebanon – Lebanon resident Nancy Merrill announced yesterday that she plans to resign from the GOP national committee to become state co-chairman of Sen. John McCain’s Presidential campaign.
Merrill, one of two New Hampshire representatives to the GOP national committee, has served as committeewoman since 2000. She said her longtime support for Sen. McCain led to her decision to step down.
“I have really enjoyed representing the state on the RNC and it’s been a privilege to be able to do it, but I believe strongly that Sen. John McCain is the man who ought to be President of the United States, and I’m excited to go out and help in that effort,” Merrill said in a telephone interview yesterday.
Merrill was state vice-chairman of McCain’s 2000 campaign, when he won the New Hampshire primary by a significant margin. She will serve as co-chairman of the 2008 campaign with former New Hampshire Executive Councilor Peter Spaulding.
Michael Dennehy, McCain’s senior national campaign advisor, said Merrill’s leadership and organizational experience make her the best person to coordinate campaign efforts in New Hampshire.
“There’s no better person in the state of New Hampshire to help organize a heavy, heavy grassroots effort on behalf of John McCain.” he said.
Although the senior Arizona senator hasn’t spent as much time campaigning in New Hampshire as other Presidential hopefuls this year, both Merrill and Dennehy said he has strong support in the Granite State and plans to make more frequent appearances throughout the summer and fall.
Merrill said McCain’s common-sense leadership style is in the tradition of many New Hampshire Republican leaders.
“I think he’s a man of strong principle with the experience in the leadership capacity to be a great leader for this country,” Merrill said. “… He doesn’t always tell you what you want to hear, but he tells you what he thinks is right.” Before becoming vice-chairman of McCain’s New Hampshire campaign in 2000, Merrill stepped down as chairman of the Grafton County Republican Committee.
She served as a member of the Republican State Committee from 1992 to 2005, and was state vice chairman for the Bush-Cheney campaign in 2004.
She also helped former Congressman Charlie Bass and Rep. John Sununu get elected to Congress.
During her time as representative to the Republican National Committee, Merrill sought to preserve the first-in-the-nation status of New Hampshire’s primary. She said four plans recently submitted to the RNC for review retain that status, and some look to prevent the front-loading of primaries in other states.
“I think there will definitely be some changes, but from where we are right now, I don’t think New Hampshire is going to be challenged, at least in a serious way,” she said.
Merrill said she will begin work in her new role this summer, and the RNC will reconvene in September to vote on her replacement.
She said she doesn’t know who will succeed her. “I think there are a number of Republican women who will be interested in the position,” she said.
A former Lebanon mayor and city councilor, Merrill currently serves on the Board of Overseers for Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center and is employed as the business development coordinator for the city of Claremont.
Read the entire article here.
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