Several questions have been asked about a candidate for state representative in Londonderry. Katy Gehling was not listed on the final candidate list furnished by, Sherry Farrell, the Londonderry Town Clerk. Gehling is running for the newly formed District 35 which represents Windham and Londonderry. The town clerk researched the question and found that the candidate did not file in Londonderry, instead, filed with the Secretary of States office on June 14th, four days after the Londonderry deadline. The candidate filed based on RSA 655:32 which allows political parties to nominate a candidate after the filing period has closed.
655:32 No Declaration Filed. –
I. In case no declaration shall be filed by a candidate for any nomination to be voted for at a primary, the nomination may be made by the appropriate party committee as provided in this section. The appropriate party committee shall notify the secretary of state in writing of a person it designates to fill the vacancy. The person so designated may accept the nomination by, on or before the Wednesday following the expiration of the period for filing declarations of candidacy as provided in RSA 655:14, filing with the secretary of state a declaration of candidacy as provided in RSA 655:17. Any candidate accepting a nomination under this paragraph who has already filed for an incompatible office as defined in RSA 655:10 shall withdraw the prior filing. Any vacancy created by the withdrawal of a filing may be filled pursuant to this section. If the candidate is designated for the office of governor, councilor, state senator, or state representative, he or she shall also file on or before the Wednesday following the period for filing declarations of candidacy the appropriate affidavit as provided in RSA 655:29. Any candidate so designated by a party committee who has not filed all the forms required by this section within the required period of time shall not have his or her name printed on the state primary election ballot for that office.
II. For the purposes of this section, the term “appropriate party committee” shall be as defined in RSA 655:36.
655:36 Definition. –
For the purposes of this chapter, the “appropriate party committee” shall be defined as:
I. The state committee of that party or, if previously authorized by the same, the executive committee thereof for the offices of United States senator, United States representative, governor, councilor and state senator.
II. The county committee of that party for county offices and state representative if from a representative district containing more than one town, ward, or unincorporated place.
III. The town or ward committee of that party for state representative if the representative district contains only the town or ward.