Dear Portsmouth Republicans,

I wanted to remind to you that important city elections are coming November 8th, which include selection of the new city council, school board, fire and police commissioners and a ballot initiative regarding city hiring practices. Our thoughts on these races follows.

First, we have been very successful in recruiting Republican candidates in each of the five wards. We hope you will look for them on your ballots and support them with your votes as we grow our party influence here in town.

Secondly, as a party-affiliated organization, we feel it inappropriate to publicly endorse individuals in the non-partisan races for city council, school board and the two commissioners, so the PRCC will not be making formal recommendations on these. That said, I have personally spent time considering the candidates and listening to what they have to say and have made up my mind as to which candidates are the best choices as viewed through the prism of fiscal accountability, a viable vision for the future and controlling local taxes. I’m happy to share my thoughts with you privately if you are interested.

Also, we suggest that you review the recommendations of the Association of Portsmouth Taxpayers (http://portsmouthtaxpayers.com/) who have done an excellent job in monitoring incumbent’s voting records on key fiscal issues over the past session.

Thanks, and please remember to vote on November 8th!

Gary Ellmer
Chairman
PRCC