Political Action Committee Targets Shurtleff for Bearcat, Tax Votes

A new political action committee has sent to mailers out to voters in Penacook nailing state Rep. Steve Shurtleff, D-Concord, for his votes in support of a federal grant for a Bearcat police vehicle as a city councilor as well as legislation that raised property taxes for city residents by more than $15 million during the last five years.

Packing NH shot off two mailers to voters just days before the election, pointing to a number of issues that Shurtleff has taken in both the House and Conord City Council, as he tries to win re-election, and possibly, the House speakership, in a tight race against newcomer, Republican Ben Tasker.

The mailer pointed to a 2009 vote by Shurtleff which suspended revenue sharing with New Hampshire cities and towns and required the city to pass most of the cost of doing business onto the local property taxpayers of Concord and Penacook. The mailer also pointed to other tax increases, including on rooms and meals and cigarettes, and a 15 percent rating out of 100 with the New Hampshire Federation of Independent Businesses as reasons not to vote for him for re-election.

The mailer also criticized Shurtleff for voting to arm the Concord Police Department’s SWAT team with an armored vehicle known as a Lenco Bearcat (Ballistic Engineered Armor Response Counter Attack Truck).

The Shurtleff-Tasker race is one of a few potentially tight races in the city this year made all the more interesting by the exceedingly close result the two candidates received in September primary. Shurtleff received 228 votes while Tasker received 221 votes, with slightly more Republicans voting in the primary in Ward 1 than Democrats (282 to 261). Four Democrats wrote-in Tasker’s name while four Republicans wrote-in Shurtleff’s name on their ballots, according to online reports by the Secretary of State.

If all the voters from Ward 1 voted for their party’s candidates instead of blanking their ballots though, Tasker would have bested Shurtleff by 34 votes. That tight primary result has been the talk of the city’s politirati and is probably why Packing NH blasted the anti-tax, anti-BearCat mailers to the district.

State Rep. J.R. Hoell, R-Dunbarton, one of the organizers of the PAC, said in a statement that the org was targeting Shurtleff because he was “a legislator that is working against the will of the citizens,” pointing to the 1,500 residents that signed a petition opposing the Bearcat.

“In addition to accepting the $258,000 Bearcat, Shurtleff also voted against the PEACE act, HB1307 [Police Equipment And Community Engagement], an act that would have restricted the acquisition of this military hardware in the future,” Hoell said. “Concord does not need more military hardware.”

Shurtleff, in an email, didn’t offer comment about the mailers saying he said he hadn’t seen them. He added that he had only seen mailers from Tasker and the New Hampshire Republican Committee.

Tasker didn’t offer comment on the mailers either but did say that he hadn’t sent out any negative mail against Shurtleff.

“The mail I have paid for has my name it,” he said. “I am talking with voters everyday, going directly to their door to learn our communities issues, so that I can address those issues within the Legislature.”

The candidate wondered though why Shurtleff would vote for the Bearcat while at the same time telling voters that Penacook and Concord were fine and crime was decreasing. Tasker added that he had learned “a significant amount from the residents in Penacook” while campaigning and voters had “a great choice ahead of them.”

It’s unknown how much was spent on the mailer but according to online reports with the New Hampshire Secretary of State’s Office, about $4,200 was spent by the PAC during the last two weeks of the general election.