John Lynch

John Lynch
Lynch speaking at a campaign rally for Barack Obama in 2008.
90th Governor of New Hampshire
Incumbent
Assumed office  January 6, 2005
Preceded by	Craig Benson
Born	November 25, 1952 (age 58) Waltham, Massachusetts
Political party	Democratic Party
Spouse(s)	Susan Lynch
Children	Jacqueline Julia Hayden
Residence	Bridges House
Alma mater	Georgetown University Harvard University University of New Hampshire
Profession	Attorney
Religion	Roman Catholicism
Signature
Website	Official website

John H. Lynch (born November 25, 1952) is the 80th and current Governor of New Hampshire.^[1] Lynch was first elected in 2004 and has been re-elected every two years since.

Personal life and career

Lynch was born in Waltham, Massachusetts, the fifth of William and Margaret Lynch's six children. He attended local schools prior to earning his undergraduate degree from the University of New Hampshire in 1974, an MBA from Harvard Business School, and a Juris Doctor degree from Georgetown University Law Center.

Prior to his election, Lynch's career included work as Director of Admissions at Harvard Business School, CEO of Knoll Inc., a national furniture manufacturer, and president of The Lynch Group, a business consulting firm in Manchester, New Hampshire. Lynch was serving as Chairman of the University System of New Hampshire Board of Trustees when he announced he would run for governor.

While CEO of Knoll Inc., he transformed the $50 million a year losses into a profit of nearly $240 million. Under his leadership, Knoll created new jobs, gave factory workers annual bonuses, established a scholarship program for the children of employees, created retirement plans for employees who didn’t have any, and gave workers stock in the company.^[1]

He and his wife, Dr. Susan Lynch, a pediatrician at Concord Hospital and a Childhood Obesity Activist, live in Hopkinton, New Hampshire. They have three children, Jacqueline, Julia and Hayden. Jacqu the eldest, recently graduated from University of New Hampshire. Julia currently attends Dartmouth College in New Hampshire. Hayden currently attends Brooks School in North Andover, Massachusetts.

Governorship

Elections

A businessman and Democratic Party politician, Lynch was elected the 80th Governor of New Hampshire on November 2, 2004, defeating Republican incumbent Craig Benson by a narrow margin. Lynch was the first challenger to defeat a one-term incumbent in the state in 78 years. He was sworn in on January 6, 2005.

Lynch was elected to a second two-year term by a 74-26 margin over Republican Jim Coburn. Lynch's 74 percent share of the vote was the largest margin of victory ever in a New Hampshire gubernatorial race.^[2]

Lynch was elected to a third two-year term in 2008 by a 70-28 over Republican state senator Joe Kenney.^[3]

Governor Lynch won a historic fourth term on November 2, 2010. According to the Concord Monitor "When he begins his fourth two-year term in January, Lynch will become the state's longest-serving governor in nearly two centuries. John Taylor Gilman was the last governor to serve longer than six years, serving 14 one-year terms as governor between 1794 and 1816. (The state switched to two-year terms in 1877)"^[4]

Job approval ratings

In a Survey USA Governor's Ratings poll released on December 20, 2005, Lynch was ranked as the most popular of all Democratic incumbents, with 69 percent approval versus 21 percent disapproval. As of February 2008, he had an approval rating of 73 percent, one of the highest such ratings in the country.^[5] As of June 20, 2008 his approval rating was 57 percent good or excellent and 11 percent poor.^[6]

After his successful re-election in 2006, his approval rating rose to 79 percent in November and his disapproval rating dropped to 17 percent. This made him the second most popular governor in the nation behind John Hoeven.^[7] The latest poll released April 23, 2009 by the University of New Hampshire Survey Center found 70 percent of New Hampshire adults approve of how Lynch is handling his job as governor.^[8]

April 2010 polling by Rasmussen reports that Lynch's approval ratings stand at 59%. Rasmussen reports that for the first time, Lynch receives less than 50% of the vote against GOP challengers John Stephen.^[9]

Work as Governor

As governor, Lynch has refused to enact a Sales or Income Tax for New Hampshire, in spite of the fact that such broadbased taxes had the support of the Democratic majority in the NH house. He has increased the state's Rainy Day reserve fund to record levels.^{[citation needed]} When the national economic downturn hit New Hampshire, Lynch cut spending while preserving essential services.^{[citation needed]} In 2008, New Hampshire won the "Most Livable State Award" for the fifth consecutive year.^[10]

In his second term, Lynch supported efforts to help small businesses better afford health insurance for their workers; to join a regional effort to fight global warming; to help more young people graduate from high school; and to build New Hampshire's economy. Under Lynch, New Hampshire offered a research-and-development tax credit to encourage businesses to innovate; a new tax credit focused on bringing jobs to the struggling North Country; and a job training fund to help workers and businesses compete globally. Lynch is currently working to bring New Hampshire in line with the Renewable Energy Act.

Lynch has worked with the Attorney General, police chiefs from across New Hampshire and lawmakers to pass sex offender laws; increased the state police; and increased the number of state prosecutors. New Hampshire was rated the "Safest State" in the Nation in 2008 and 2009. New Hampshire again boasts the nation’s lowest murder rate and the second-lowest rates for aggravated assault, according to CQ Press. Lynch issued the following statement after the announcement of the award in 2009:

I am proud that working together we continue to keep New Hampshire the ‘Safest State’ in the nation. Our low crime rate has long been a part of what makes this such a great place to live and work, and it is important that we work to maintain our high quality of life. With this recognition, we should take time to thank the hard-working men and women of New Hampshire law enforcement who work every day to help keep us all safe.^[11]

In April 2006, Lynch was awarded the National Chairman of Volunteers Award for Volunteer Excellence by the American Red Cross, mainly due to his leadership during the 2005 floods.^[12]

On June 3, 2009, Lynch signed a same-sex marriage bill into law, despite being personally opposed to gay marriages, making New Hampshire the fifth state in the U.S. to allow such unions.^[13]

Organizations

As Governor, Lynch is a member of both the National Governors Association and the Democratic Governors Association.

2008 presidential election

Lynch, one of eight superdelegates from New Hampshire,^[14] remained neutral during the 2008 primary to "focus on being a good host to the primary", according to a statement by spokesman Colin Manning. At an event on June 27, 2008 in Unity, New Hampshire, Lynch formally endorsed Barack Obama for President.^[15] His wife, Susan, endorsed Hillary Clinton during the New Hampshire Primary and served as national Co-Chairwoman of "Hillary for President". "As a mother and as a pediatrician, I share Hillary Clinton’s commitment to fighting for children and families. We face big challenges, and I believe Hillary Clinton is the best candidate to deliver the changes we need," Dr. Lynch said in a statement shortly before an appearance with Clinton. During the 2004 presidential election, Dr. Lynch supported Former Vermont Governor Howard Dean for President and was a member of "Doctors for Dean".^[16]

Electoral history

New Hampshire Gubernatorial Election 2004
Party	Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Democratic	John Lynch	340,299	51.07	+12.87
	Republican	Craig Benson (Incumbent)	325,981	48.93	-9.67

New Hampshire Gubernatorial Election 2006
Party	Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Democratic	John Lynch (Incumbent)	289,677	73.5	+22.5
	Republican	Jim Coburn	104,223	26.5	-22.7

New Hampshire Gubernatorial Election 2008
Party	Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Democratic	John Lynch (Incumbent)	477,254	69.8	-3.7
	Republican	Joseph Kenney	190,590	27.9	+1.4
	Libertarian	Susan Newell	14,987	2.2%	+2.2

New Hampshire Gubernatorial Election 2010
Party	Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Democratic	John Lynch (Incumbent)	240,436	52.6	-17.2
	Republican	John Stephen	205,626	45.0%	+17.1
	Libertarian	John Babiarz	10,089	2.2%	+0.0

References

External links

• New Hampshire Governor John Lynch official state site
• John Lynch for New Hampshire official campaign site
• Biography at the National Governors Association
• Biography, interest group ratings, public statements, vetoes and campaign finances at Project Vote Smart
• Biography at WhoRunsGov.com at The Washington Post
• Appearances on C-SPAN programs
• Issue positions and quotes at On The Issues
• Campaign contributions at FollowTheMoney.org
• Collected news and commentary at The New York Times

Party political offices
Preceded by Mark Fernald	Democratic nominee for Governor of New Hampshire 2004, 2006, 2008, 2010	Most recent
Political offices
Preceded by Craig Benson	Governor of New Hampshire 2005–present	Incumbent
United States order of precedence
Preceded by Joe Biden as Vice President	Order of Precedence of the United States Within New Hampshire	Succeeded by Mayor of city in which event is held
Succeeded by Otherwise John Boehner as Speaker of the House of Representatives
Preceded by Nikki Haley as Governor of South Carolina	Order of Precedence of the United States Outside New Hampshire	Succeeded by Bob McDonnell as Governor of Virginia