Buckley wins another term as New Hampshire Dems chairman

(The Center Square) – Longtime New Hampshire Democratic party chairman Raymond Buckley has fended off a challenge to his leadership after winning an eighth term.

On Sunday, Buckley was re-elected by the nearly 260-member New Hampshire Democratic State Committee, which announced the results during a live-streamed meeting, after he handily defeated Emmett Soldati, a Somersworth businessman. The vote was 168-90.

In a show of unity, Buckley and Soldati issued a joint statement following Sunday’s election, vowing to continue to build party membership, elect more Democrats to office and “hold (Gov.) Sununu and Republicans accountable” for their policies.

“This vibrant election highlighted the best our party has to offer, and that’s the activists and leaders who make up the New Hampshire Democratic Party,” the statement read. “We know that when we lift up the diverse voices that make up our party, in communities large and small, we can win.”

Soldati, 32, launched his bid in December and argued that the party needs a younger voice to help retake the state Legislature in the 2022 elections. He had pledged if elected to amplify the voice of local party committees through a “Local First” platform.

Buckley, 61, was first elected to the post in 2007 and has been reelected every two years, only facing one other challenge to his tenure during that time.

He also has served on the Democratic National Committee for more than two decades, and was the first openly gay vice chair of the national party.

He has faced criticism over the Democratic loss of the state Legislature in the recent elections, with the House and Senate, plus the Executive Council, swinging back to Republican control.

Buckley called for a renewed effort among the state’s Democrats to take back the governor’s office and legislative seats in the next election.

“Regardless of who won, we are one party with a shared goal of making our community, state, country and the world a better place – a place where justice prevails both socially and economically,” he said in remarks following Sunday’s vote.

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