An NH Journal analysis cast the hard-fought passage of the GOP state budget as a “Star Wars” drama, naming Gov. Kelly Ayotte and House Majority Leader Jason Osborne among the biggest winners. The piece described a process that nearly fell apart before passing.
According to NH Journal, the outcome defied the usual expectations of unified Republican control.
A long time ago, in a political galaxy far, far away, a New Hampshire Republican governor with a GOP state Senate supermajority and a 40-seat margin in the House would have meant a budget process with little drama.
NH Journal
Instead, the analysis says, the budget repeatedly looked doomed.
Instead, Granite Staters were treated to a “Star Wars” budget, a seat-of-the-pants adventure that often appeared doomed, only to be rescued by last-second plot twists.
NH Journal
The piece credited Ayotte with using early wins to build momentum, NH Journal reports.
But the stagecraft of selling win after win helped build the momentum Ayotte needed for her most audacious ask: the fiscally dubious but politically popular Group II pension deal.
NH Journal
It portrayed her as a newly proven force in Concord.
She didn’t get everything she wanted — as friends of state Senate President Sharon Carson are quick to point out — but she’s shown the New Hampshire political establishment she’s a real force in their universe.
NH Journal
And it cast Osborne as the dealmaker at her side, NH Journal notes.
If Ayotte is Luke Skywalker, Auburn Republican Jason Osborne was her Han Solo.
NH Journal
The analysis framed the budget’s passage as a near-run thing, repeatedly saved by last-minute maneuvering, and singled out Ayotte and Osborne as the figures who came out ahead, NH Journal reports. It described an unusual dynamic in which a Republican governor with large legislative majorities still faced a white-knuckle path to a signed budget, crediting Ayotte with selling a string of early wins including bail reform, the sanctuary cities ban, and parental rights.
The piece leaned on its Star Wars framing throughout, comparing the reconsideration vote that saved the budget to a second chance at destroying the Death Star, NH Journal reports. In the end, it argued, the drama only reinforced how central Ayotte and Osborne had become to the legislative process, contrasting their performance with what it called an ineffectual Democratic opposition.
The analysis framed the budget’s passage as a near-run thing, repeatedly saved by last-minute maneuvering, and singled out Ayotte and Osborne as the figures who came out ahead, NH Journal reports. It described an unusual dynamic in which a Republican governor with large legislative majorities still faced a white-knuckle path to a signed budget.
The piece credited Ayotte with selling a string of early wins, including bail reform, the sanctuary cities ban, and parental rights, to build momentum for her priorities, according to NH Journal. It cast Osborne as the dealmaker who repeatedly kept the budget alive and delivered the votes Ayotte needed, contrasting their performance with what it called an ineffectual Democratic opposition.
Read the full story at NH Journal.
