Noyes: Democratic Mailer 'Deceitful'

A last minute attack mailer sent out by the New Hampshire Democratic Party is being called “deceitful, dishonest, and vile” by the popular Concord musician it targeted.

Republican state representative candidate Ron Noyes was stunned by a Nov. 5 political mailer that appears to have been sent citywide that he says misrepresents his political positions and borders on libel.

The mailer calls Noyes a “Tea Party politician” who is obsessed with social issues and supports repealing the state’s kindergarten requirement, increasing local property taxes, cutting access to women’s healthcare, and converting Medicare into a voucher program. The attacks are many of the same talking points leveled at the party’s gubernatorial nominee, Ovide Lamontagne, in mailers sent to voters by special interest groups.

Puzzlingly, the mailer was sent to Ward 5 and other areas inside and outside of Noyes’ district. Noyes is running for the Merrimack 27 floterial district that covers Ward 1, 2, 3, 4, 6, and 7.

Noyes, a father of four who teaches students with Aspergers and other special needs how to play guitar, challenged the mailer, saying he was “hardly” a Tea Party member obsessed with social issues, adding that he supported keeping gay marriage legal and other positions that most Tea Party members don’t support.

When asked how the NHDP came to believe he held theses positions, Noyes said, “I have never taken a position on any of these (things) … my priorities are jobs, the economy, encouraging civil and honest dialogue between the parties, and advancing personal freedom and liberty.”

Noyes said the mailer is what’s wrong with the state of politics adding, “I am the first one to stand up for a Democrat candidate if I think they have been wrong or misrepresented.” It was disappointing to see “how dishonest and vile politics has become and its affects on the country,” he said.

“This type of nastiness is what people hate about politics and for good reason,” Noyes said. “I am floored.”

Ray Buckley, chairman of the New Hampshire Democratic Party, whose name appears on the mailer, said the party sent more than four million pieces mail for the 2012 election cycle. He added, “I don’t have a distinct memory of this specific mailer.”