Council rejects Sununu judgeship over Bedford ballot mess
Mar. 23—CONCORD — Bedford lawyer Brian Shaughnessy became Gov. Chris Sununu's first judicial nominee to be rejected since voters gave Republicans a 4-1 majority on the Executive Council in 2020.
Councilors Cinde Warmington, D-Concord, and Joseph Kenney, R-Wakefield, said Wednesday they couldn't back Shaughnessy's candidacy for circuit court judge while Attorney General John Formella's office is still investigating a case of missing ballots in Bedford, where Shaughnessy is town moderator.
"I don't think it was appropriate to bring forth a nomination while that investigation was still pending," Warmington said.
The council rejected the nomination, 4-1, with only Councilor Ted Gatsas, R-Manchester, backing Shaughnessy's candidacy.
"This is not like a volunteer appointment to a commission," Kenney said. "When you place someone on the court system who are passing judgment on all the people of New Hampshire, this investigation should be complete so the public feels confident moving forward."
Kenney tried to table the nomination, but no one else on the council supported that idea.
Warmington, who is a lawyer, said tabling the nomination could damage Shaughnessy's private law practice.
Formella agreed that Sununu could bring Shaughnessy's nomination back to the council for a second attempt once the investigation is complete, which is expected by the end of April.
But with "many qualified other candidates," Sununu said he will move on to other nominees.
"I think the council is pretty clear on this one," Sununu said.
During his public hearing earlier this month, Shaughnessy came under sharp questioning about his role in Bedford's 2020 ballot controversy.
In November 2020, Shaughnessy was assistant town moderator when he advised the town clerk and town moderator not to talk with anyone, including the elected town council, once the Attorney General's office began investigating why 190 absentee ballots were put into a box and never counted on Election Night.
"It was general advice, given that is legal advice, that if you are being interviewed during an investigation, you shouldn't be talking to anyone else," Shaughnessy told the council.
According to Shaughnessy, he didn't learn about the uncounted ballots until the assistant town clerk told him about it nearly two weeks after the election.
In hindsight, Shaughnessy admitted he should have updated his advice to local officials.
"In a perfect world had I been thinking that through, I would have said, 'Gee, you should get your own attorney,'" Shaughnessy said.
Two weeks ago, voters elected Shaughnessy to be town moderator, a post he previously held from 2012-18.
He ran unopposed, but an aggressive write-in candidate raised the ballot issues in his campaign.
The AG's initial Bedford ballot investigation took nearly a year to complete.
Then, Formella's office opened a new probe after a few additional ballots from the 2020 election were found in a voting machine before a special legislative election last September.
Formella said the state is making sure all affected voters have been contacted. This second probe isn't examining the conduct of Shaughnessy or other local officials.
"I don't anticipate over the next few weeks we will have more to say than we have already said," Formella said.
After the 2020 election, Sununu nominated Rockingham County Attorney Patricia Conway of Salem to be a superior court judge. Conway withdrew her candidacy after questions were raised about where she had voted in 2014.
The council on Wednesday unanimously approved Sununu's other judicial pick, Jacki A. Smith of Sharon, to a seat on the superior court.
