Former state senator, and Hanover resident Jim Rubens officially announced he will run for the Republican nomination to face Jeanne Shaheen in next year’s U.S. Senate election. He’s the first to enter the race.
Rubens has an eclectic platform that could be hard to sell to some Republican voters. He says he prioritizes reducing the federal deficit and repealing and replacing Obamacare, but is pro-choice and in favor of gay marriage. He also advocates cutting the payroll tax in order to institute a carbon tax.
But he downplays any suggestions that he is not a serious challenger saying he’s used to tough fights. As head of the Granite State Coalition Against Casino Gambling, he says “against David versus Goliath odds, I have worked with democrats and republicans and defeated the casino gambling industry for nine straight years running.”
Ruben’s stiffest competition may come early, when he has to sell Republican primary voters on the need to address man-made climate change. He does not yet face any official opposition, but conservative activist and social conservative Karen Testerman is considering a run.
A poll out Tuesday from Public Policy Polling suggests more than seventy percent of voters have never heard of Testerman or Rubens.