FILE- In this Thursday, Sept. 23, 2010 file photo Republican 1st District congressional candidate Frank Guinta speaks at a press conference in Londonderry, N.H. Guinta says he has repaid 355,000 that the Federal Election Commission said he took in illegal campaign donations from his parents and confirmed his re-election bid. Guinta announced the repayment in a news release Friday Jan. 29, 2016. (AP Photo/Jim Cole/FILE)
Donald Trump (Credit: AP/LM Otero)
"Guinta endorses Trump for president"
By Nick Reid, Concord Monitor Staff, May 24, 2016
U.S. Rep. Frank Guinta endorsed Donald Trump for president Tuesday in an interview with WMUR.
Guinta, a two-term Republican running in a swing district, said Trump is seen as a “different and refreshing” candidate who is bringing new faces into the party.
“I want to lead and let people know in New Hampshire that I think given the choices our country faces between Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump, I think Donald Trump is the better alternative,” the 1st Congressional District Republican told WMUR.
Guinta said the priorities on which he hopes to work with Trump are growing the economy, repealing and replacing the Affordable Care Act, addressing the heroin crisis and improving services for veterans.
In the interview, Guinta declined to support Trump’s controversial call for a temporary ban on Muslims entering the United States.
Guinta will have at least one Republican challenger in the primary for the 1st Congressional District in businessman Rich Ashooh.
Ashooh hasn’t made an endorsement in the presidential race, his campaign manager, Dante Vitagliano, said Tuesday.
Carol Shea-Porter, the three-term 1st District Democrat who is running again this year, has endorsed Hillary Clinton for the presidency. Her primary challenger, businessman Shawn O’Connor, endorsed Bernie Sanders.
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"Shame on Guinta"
The NH Union Leader, Opinion: Letter, August 16, 2016
To the Editor: Rep. Frank Guinta has endorsed Donald Trump, finding him “different and refreshing.” Tea Partier Guinta is comfortable endorsing a candidate who gets increasingly reckless by the day. Recently we heard the horrifying news that during an hour-long briefing by a foreign policy expert, Trump asked three times, “Why can’t we use nuclear weapons?”
This was an anonymous source, but Trump’s record displays a cavalier attitude toward nuclear weapons. In an interview with Chris Matthews, Trump said if “Somebody hits us within ISIS — you wouldn’t fight back with a nuke?” Matthews said this was destabilizing. Trump said, “Then why are we making them?”
Trump was open to using nuclear weapons in Europe. He also said, “I think, for me, nuclear is just the power, the devastation is very important to me.” He isn’t coherent, but his intent is clear.
Knowing all of this, Guinta remains unmoved by the existential threat of placing the nuclear codes in the tiny hands of the incredibly thin-skinned Trump, a man who goes ballistic over tweets. Refreshing? Shame on Guinta!
Let’s vote to keep Trump’s enabler Frank Guinta out of Congress, and Trump’s little fingers away from the nuclear button.
BETH OLSHANSKY
Durham
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Newly-elected Rep. Frank Guinta sits for a potrait in his office on Capitol Hill on Wednesday, January 5, 2011 in Washington, DC. (Brendan Hoffman for The Boston Globe/File 2011)
"N.H. Republican ties his fortunes to Trump"
By James Pindell, Boston Globe Staff, September 12, 2016
PORTSMOUTH, N.H. — Republicans running in major elections throughout New England have been doing all they can to keep their distance from Donald Trump, their party’s controversial presidential nominee. Except one.
Representative Frank Guinta of New Hampshire stands out not just for his full-throated endorsement of Trump but also because he is increasingly using his alliance with Trump in an attempt to save his political career.
A few months ago, Guinta was politically left for dead. The Federal Election Commission found he had accepted $355,000 in illegal contributions from his parents — after denying wrongdoing in three previous elections — and reaction was swift.
The New Hampshire Union Leader newspaper published an editorial with Guinta’s picture and the words “damned liar.” The chairwoman of the New Hampshire Republican Party urged him to resign, as did Senator Kelly Ayotte and the Republican leadership at the State House. The University of New Hampshire Survey Center conducted a poll in April with particularly grim results: Just 6 percent of Republicans in his First Congressional District said they would definitely vote for him for reelection.
A month later, Guinta endorsed Trump and began to plot his comeback, in a state whose voters gave Trump his first big win in the Republican primaries. Now, in the weeks before Tuesday’s primary, interviews with many Republicans in the district have yielded an optimistic prognosis for Guinta to win the nomination — thanks in part to backing from the bevy of steadfast Trump supporters.
Guinta called Trump “different and refreshing,” and praised him for bringing newcomers into the Republican Party. Last month, Guinta was the only major Republican in the state to attend a rally in Manchester for Trump, who most polls show is behind in New Hampshire by between 5 and 15 points.
“In what is expected to be a low-turnout Republican primary, Guinta has been smart to appeal to Trump’s voters in the political base,” University of New Hampshire political science professor Dante Scala said.
Guinta has criticized his main Republican primary opponent, businessman Rich Ashooh, for not fully embracing Trump.
“We need a Republican president who is going to lead on these issues, and my opponent refuses to support Donald Trump or refuses to endorse Donald Trump,” Guinta said in a recent televised debate. “I don’t understand that. He has said that he is about himself and his own election. I am about the team. I am about making sure that we have good public policy initiatives at the local, state, and the federal level and I think that Donald Trump is going to focus on these areas.”
Ashooh has said he is not endorsing Trump but will vote for him.
“In a choice between Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton, that choice is very clear: I will support Donald Trump,” Ashooh said at the same debate, broadcast on NH1. “Having said that, he and I disagree on many things, both in tone and temperament and in substance.”
Guinta’s stance is in sharp contrast to those of many other Republicans in the region. Ayotte, like Ashooh, has said she would support but not endorse Trump — even after he endorsed her. Governor Charlie Baker of Massachusetts and Senator Susan Collins of Maine both have said they won’t vote for Trump.
In the hotly contested race in Maine’s Second Congressional District, Republican freshman incumbent Bruce Poliquin refuses to answer questions about Trump at all. (Governor Paul LePage of Maine, the most forceful defender of Trump in the area, is not up for reelection this year.)
All four of New Hampshire’s Republican candidates for governor have said they support Trump, but none have appeared at a Trump rally in recent months.
In an interview, Guinta suggested that beyond being just a Republican “team player,” he was using his embrace of Trump to come across as antiestablishment despite being a sitting member of Congress.
“I think that most people at this point view me as an antiestablishment candidate, and I think that people see me as the guy who is fighting that establishment zone,” Guinta said. “I am the guy who will buck the establishment and leadership when necessary, and I think that people like that. I think people are drawn to that, and I think it is also in part why Donald Trump won the nomination.”
After a recent campaign visit to a business in Portsmouth, Ashooh noted that Trump’s candidacy is not something that voters really ask him about.
“They want to know what I am going to do to make their lives better and solve their problems,” Ashooh said in an interview.
As for how he feels about Trump, Ashooh said, “We’re very different people. He’s making his case, and I need to make my case.”
In at least one policy area, Trump’s influence is making itself felt. Guinta has embraced Trump’s opposition to the Trans-Pacific Partnership trade deal.
Ashooh is strongly for free trade and for much of his career worked as a lobbyist for the Britain-based defense manufacturer BAE, which has a large facility in Nashua.
To be sure, if Guinta succeeds in the primary, it won’t all be because of Trump. Guinta is a talented campaigner. And Ashooh has struggled to gain name recognition and convince voters he is the clear alternative for those who don’t believe Guinta was being truthful about his campaign finance issues in the past.
While public polling on the Republican primary has been scant, many activists believe that Guinta will probably prevail in the primary.
“The way that Guinta has slowly fought back is very impressive,” said Brian Murphy, the Rockingham County Republican Party chairman, who is neutral in the race. “Guinta knows who these primary voters are, and he has been working his butt off to earn their support, if not their trust, back.”
If he wins Tuesday, Guinta will face a much greater challenge in November’s election against former representative Carol Shea-Porter — a contest in which Guinta’s alliance with Trump will be much less beneficial.
James Pindell can be reached at james.pindell@globe.com. Follow him on Twitter @jamespindell or subscribe to his daily e-mail update on the 2016 campaign at www.bostonglobe.com/groundgame.
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“Ayotte's misdeed backfired”
The New Hampshire Union Leader, Letter to the Editor, November 22, 2016
To the Editor:
Those in battle on the ground are in a squad, each squad is composed of two fire teams, each is charged with protecting the other fire team. Now, one reason that our senator lost is she forgot basic principles.
Although priding herself in being an independent, she joined the illiberal cabal in condemning my congressman, Frank Guinta. This contributed to his defeat and left our First Congressional District with that irresponsible and incompetent Carol Shea-Porter, who voted for a bill she had not bothered to read and lied to we the people about its contents.
Frank Guinta kept his promise to vote against the unaffordable health care act and he stood almost alone in voting against the recent omnibus bill that funded this monstrosity. If she wishes a comeback, she should apologize to Congressman Guinta. Sen. Ayotte’s misdeed backfired on her and led to her own defeat.
Her replacement, Dirty Maggie Hassan, a protector of a sexual pervert and an absolute failure as governor of our state, remains on the dole. Just because she won the election, Dirty Hassan is still dirty.
Eugene M. Long Jr.
Eaton, NH
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“Ayotte, Guinta should stand up to Bannon appointment”
fosters.com – A service of seacoastonline.com – Letter to the Editor – November 24, 2016
November 22, 2016 - To the Editor:
When President-elect Donald Trump made his acceptance speech, he said something “Presidential.” He said he wanted to bring the nation together. He said he wanted to be the President of All People. Despite his past divisive rhetoric, I was relieved to hear his change in tone. I wanted to believe he meant what he said.
Then he appointed Steve Bannon as his White House Chief Strategist. Bannon is a known white supremacist, anti-Semite, and domestic abuser. President-elect Trump wants this man to become his chief advisor. What kind of a message does that send to the people of this nation who happened to be born of non-European decent? What message does it send to Jews? What message does it send to young girls and women across the country? What kind of a message does it send to nations around the world that are watching us? How can we, a nation based on equality of all human beings, permit a rabid racist and misogynist to be chief advisor to the president?
No decent person, Democrat or Republican, should allow Bannon’s appointment! Senator Kelly Ayotte and Congressman Frank Guinta, why have you not spoken out? Why are you putting party politics over decency as human beings? You and fellow Republicans have every power to stop Bannon from reaching the White House. It is shameful and embarrassing that you have remained mute on this matter.
In your last remaining weeks in office, I implore you to take a stand. Denounce Bannon’s appointment!
Beth Olshansky
Durham, NH
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“Ex-New Hampshire congressman under consideration as Trump’s ‘drug czar’”
By Dylan Scott @dylanlscott – STAT – February 10, 2017
WASHINGTON — Frank Guinta, a former New Hampshire lawmaker who helped create an opioid crisis task force in Congress, has discussed serving as President Donald Trump’s “drug czar” with Trump’s team, according to several individuals familiar with the discussions.
Since the election, Guinta has spoken with top Trump aides about serving as director of the Office of National Drug Control Policy — a position colloquially known as the nation’s “drug czar”— multiple individuals, speaking on condition of anonymity, told STAT this week.
The ex-congressman, who lost his re-election race in November, hampered by a campaign finance scandal, made the opioid crisis a central focus in his most recent term. He helped found a task force working on the issue and advocated for the major opioid legislation that passed last year, as well as the accompanying funding for its programs.
A Guinta spokesman declined to comment. The White House also declined to comment.
Guinta’s name has been circulating in Washington as a possible drug czar since Trump’s election. Another prominent candidate said to be in the mix is Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi, a top Trump ally who has pursued an anti-drug campaign in that office. Bondi has met with Trump since his election and is believed to be in line for a top administration position.
Other possibilities include Dr. Andrea Barthwell, who worked in the drug policy office in the George W. Bush White House and is also believed to be under consideration, according to an individual familiar with the discussions.
A Bondi spokesman did not respond to requests for comment, and an aide to Barthwell declined to comment.
Formerly a tough-on-crime mayor of Manchester, N.H., Guinta told STAT in an interview last year that he had come to view drug addiction as a public health problem as much as a law enforcement one. New Hampshire is among the states hit hardest by the opioid crisis, with one of the highest per-capita rates of overdose deaths.
“After the research that I’ve done and the people that I’ve talked to, both people who are addicted and people in the field, as well as law enforcement, I believe that addiction is an illness and we need to treat it as such,” Guinta said. “Once you have the facts, it’s very clear to you.”
If he were tapped to be drug czar, Guinta would bring a mentality to the issue that aligns with the president’s. Trump spoke during the campaign about the need to help people who are addicted, but also to crack down on drugs entering the country from Mexico. Guinta, in his interview with STAT, said he now considers addiction an illness that needs to be treated, but also believes more can be more to stop the supply of heroin and other opioids like fentanyl from entering the country.
Trump repeatedly pledged during the campaign to address the opioid crisis as president. More than 30,000 Americans died of opioid-related overdoses in 2015.
The epidemic will likely be the focal point for the next drug czar, whoever it is. Other contentious issues, such as marijuana legalization, also fall under the office’s domain.
The director of the Office of National Drug Control Policy is formally nominated by the president and must be confirmed by the Senate. Kemp Chester, who worked in the office under Obama, is currently serving as acting director.
Dylan Scott can be reached at dylan.scott@statnews.com
https://www.statnews.com/2017/02/10/frank-guinta-drug-czar-trump/
Guinta seen as possible Trump ‘drug czar’
The ex-congressman, who lost his re-election race in November, made the opioid crisis a central focus in his most recent term.
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