Concord, NH – Governor-elect John Lynch could be an asset to the efforts of the NH Freedom to Marry Coalition... or not. It's too soon to tell, says NH Freedom to Marry Coalition Board Chairman Brian Rater.
      We don't have much information on him," Rater said in a telephone interview. "There's no legislative history, since he wasn't in the legislature." Nor did Lynch discuss gay marriage during the campaign, unlike his defeated Democratic primary opponent Paul McEachern (although observers opined that McEachern was defeated in part for advocating a broad-based tax).
     Lynch's predecessor, Craig Benson, was staunchly opposed to gay marriage. He signed NH SB427, which prohibits recognition of any marriage-like arrangement between partners of the same sex performed outside of the state that wouldn't be legal under current statutes, regardless of whether it is legal where it was performed.
     The same bill established a commission to examine civil unions as a possible option the commission is to be made up of four representatives; four senators; one person each from the Attorney General's office, the Department of Health and Human Services, and the Governor's office; four citizens (2 appointed by the House Speaker, two by the Senate President); and the chief justice of the NH Supreme Court. Rater said the commission was stacked with gay-marriage opponents.
     Former state Senator Cliff Below was on that commission. "It met once," he snorted when contacted by phone, "in July, when I was away, ironically, for a wedding. They elected a chair, Tony Soltani. And they never met again to my knowledge." Below, a Democrat who spent 12 years in the legislature representing Lebanon and surrounding towns, supported a form of civil union open to anyone. He chose not to run in the 2004 election; since he was on the commission ex-officio, he will no longer serve.
      The commission's report is due on December 1, 2005.
Below is also serving on Lynch's transition team, although he said he's working peripherally on just one corner of it. He characterized the new governor as a "moderate" Democrat.
     Governor-elect Lynch was unavailable at press time to comment regarding his intentions for the marriage-alternatives commission. His communications director, Pamela Walsh, did not know anything about the commission, admitted that the new governor does not support equal marriage for same-sex couples, and pointed to Lynch's support for continuing the University of New Hampshire's domestic partnership benefits program when he was on the Board of Trustees.
      "The Governor will look at all appointments," Walsh said. "I don't know the status of the commission. He will look at what the commission is doing, but as a legislative commission, he has no direct control. There are other pressing challenges, including a $300 million deficit. The governor is going to look at all the issues, I wouldn't want to imply that he wouldn't."
     Lynch, who turned 52 last Thanksgiving, was born in Waltham, MA, as the next-to last of six kids. His father ran a Boys' Club and his mother taught elementary school.       According to his official bio, he worked his way through the University of New Hampshire and later got an MBA from Harvard and a law degree from Georgetown. He resigned the chairmanship of the University of New Hampshire Board of Trustees to run for governor.
      John and Susan Lynch have three children, two daughters and a son. They live in Hopkinton, a few miles west of the state capital, Concord.