Original article published on Boston Globe by James Pindell available here
Former Massachusetts governor William F. Weld filed to place his name on the New Hampshire Republican presidential primary ballot in person Wednesday just moments before the US House began public impeachment hearings into Weld’s primary opponent President Trump.
After handing over the one-page form and a $1,000 check to New Hampshire Secretary of State Bill Gardner inside of the State House in Concord, Weld acknowledged the juxtaposition of his filing to replace Trump at a time when impeachment proceedings were beginning was poignant.
“The first-in-the-nation New Hampshire primary has never been more important than today,” Weld said.
Just a day earlier, another Republican presidential candidate, former South Carolina representative Mark Sanford, dropped out of the race, saying “impeachment has sucked the oxygen out of the room” for his candidacy.
Weld said he disagreed and that while he is not running a campaign based on the impeachment process, the hearings could “put a lot of oxygen into the race.”
Weld is technically the 13th Republican to place their name on the Granite State ballot, according to New Hampshire Secretary of State Bill Gardner’s office. That said, most of those candidates lack the financial resources to get their message out. Last week, Vice President Mike Pence filed paperwork to put Trump’s name on the ballot. On Thursday, former Illinois US representative Joe Walsh is expected to file.
Weld said that as the official ballot filing season is underway, he was put on the ballot in Alabama last week, Arkansas on Monday, and New Hampshire and Michigan on Wednesday.
“We are off to the races, as they say,” Weld said.
