Manchester Mayor Frank Guinta (R) has filed to run against Democratic Rep. Carol Shea-Porter. CQ has more:
Guinta recently announced he would not seek re-election as mayor and was mulling a run for federal office in 2010. But Guinta has not publicly announced whether he will run for the open Senate seat or for the 1st Congressional District seat.
Guinta's advisor, Mike Biundo, stressed Friday that the mayor has yet to make an official announcement, adding that one is expected in the coming week.
Guinta is a pretty good grab for the GOP, but as the folks at Blue Hampshire argue, he's a pretty rabidly right-wing dude who may find his own mouth to be his undoing once he spends some time on the stump. An NRCC-sponsored poll found CSP leading Guinta by only 43-34, but who knows what kind of sampling skullduggery their pollsters were engaging in order to make the race more enticing for their leading recruit.
In the meantime, though, CSP's sluggish fundraising (only $111K raised in the first quarter of 2009) will certainly keep this one interesting.
