Gov. Chris Sununu has nominated Eddie Edwards, a one-time Republican congressional candidate with a background in state and local law enforcement to be the next assistant commissioner at the Department of Safety.
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Sununu cited Edward’s experience when he announced his nomination Wednesday.
Last year, Sununu tapped Edwards to oversee the state's licensing board. But when the then Democratically-controlled Executive Council moved slowly on the nomination, Edwards, who is Black, withdrew his name and accused the Council of racism.
Sununu also tapped Edwards to serve on his Commission of Law Enforcement Accountability, Community and Transparency last year.
Edwards, who lives in Dover, ran and for Congress in 2018, losing to Democrat Chris Pappas,
Edwards served as chief of the South Hampton Police Department and also spent more than a decade overseeing enforcement at the state Liquor Commission. In 2013, the state paid Edwards $160,000 to resolve complaints that he faced racial discrimination in that job. A settlement then barred Edwards from seeking work at the Liquor Commission ever again.
If confirmed by the Executive Council to the assistant commissioner job at the Department of Safety, Edwards would succeed Perry Plummer, who now oversees the state’s COVID-19 vaccine operations.
