Ron DeSantis announced a slate of 44 delegates and alternates pledged to his Republican presidential campaign, led by House Majority Leader Jason Osborne and State Sen. Regina Birdsell, the New Hampshire Union Leader reported. The announcement came on the eve of his next New Hampshire visit.
The slate of 44 delegates and alternates pledged to Republican presidential contender Ron DeSantis includes a wide variety of activists led by House Majority Leader Jason Osborne, R-Auburn and State Sen. Regina Birdsell, R-Hampstead.
the New Hampshire Union Leader
The campaign leaned heavily on sitting lawmakers, according to the New Hampshire Union Leader.
DeSantis chose 15 incumbent state legislators among the 22 delegates
the New Hampshire Union Leader
Other prominent House Republicans rounded out the list, the New Hampshire Union Leader reported.
Other prominent lawmakers include House Majority Floor Leader Joe Sweeney, R-Salem, Election Laws Committee Chairman Ross Berry, R-Manchester and Rep. Jess Edwards
the New Hampshire Union Leader
As the New Hampshire Union Leader noted, DeSantis made the announcement before appearing alongside Gov. Chris Sununu at a town hall forum at the Backyard Brewery in Manchester, with a factory plant tour and a later town hall in Keene. The slate also included former state Rep. Melissa Blasek, executive director of the Rebuild NH political organization, among the delegates.
Among the other delegates were Rep. David Lundgren, Rep. Leah Cushman, Rep. Erica Layon, Rep. Kristine Perez, Rep. J.D. Bernardy, Rep. Ralph Boehm, Rep. Brian Cole, Rep. Emily Phillips and Rep. James Spillane, along with activists such as Kate Day of Keene, Doug Lambert and Scott Maltzie.
The roster of alternates included former state Sen. Harold French, former NH GOP Vice-Chair Pamela Tucker, Rep. Jordan Ulery, Rep. Jeanine Notter, Rep. Lisa Mazur and Rep. Katherine Prudhomme-O’Brien. The mix of activists, sitting legislators and former party officials reflected the breadth of support the DeSantis campaign sought to display in the first-primary state.
The breadth of the slate, spanning sitting legislators, former lawmakers and grassroots activists, was meant to project organizational strength as DeSantis prepared to compete in the first-primary state. The list arrived as the Florida governor stepped up his New Hampshire schedule ahead of an expected formal campaign launch. The delegate roster doubled as a snapshot of where much of the House Republican leadership stood as the 2024 nominating contest took shape, with Osborne and other senior members anchoring the effort. For a candidate still formalizing his bid, lining up that many recognizable names signaled an intent to organize aggressively in a state that often rewards retail campaigning and early ground games. Several of the named delegates chaired key committees or held leadership posts, giving the slate added weight inside the caucus. The announcement was timed to coincide with the governor’s next swing through the state, pairing the show of legislative support with a pair of public events. Taken together, the roster and the visit reflected an early bid to build the kind of in-state infrastructure that has historically mattered in New Hampshire.
Read the full story at the New Hampshire Union Leader.
