Guinta makes it official

Manchester Mayor Frank Guinta (R) took the much anticipated step on Monday of announcing he will challenge Congresswoman Carol Shea-Porter (D-N.H.) next year.

Guinta, a top recruit for the National Republican Congressional Committee (NRCC), emphasized his record on crime, the economy and education on a conference call with reporters.

“I am proud of the work that we’ve accomplished in our city,” he said. In particular, he touted fiscal responsibility and balancing the city’s budget.

Guinta said that Washington has adopted policies that spend too much. “Our government has become irresponsible,” he said. “It is broken.”

“In this year alone,” Guinta also said, “federal spending will be almost 30 percent of gross domestic product.”

The mayor also aimed a few blows at Shea-Porter. The two term congresswoman, he said, “is out of touch and out of step with the vast majority of the people in the 1st District.”

Guinta’s jumping in the race has been expected for a few weeks. At the beginning of May, we interviewed Guinta and took a close look at the race. Most observers said Guinta will pose a significant threat to Shea-Porter but that Shea-Porter has proven to be a savvy pol in her campaigns and will be hard to knock off.

In part because his name has been out there for so long, Democrats are already ready and willing to take some shots at Guinta. On Monday, the New Hampshire Demcoratic Party put out a release pointing to statistics that crime in Manchester has actually increased under Guinta’s watch. The party also says Guinta abandoned a no-new-taxes campaign pledge as soon as he got into office. And, most recently, Democrats say more Manchester schools have failed while Guinta has been in office.

“At a time when layoffs and drastic cuts are being proposed in our schools and on our streets, Frank Guinta has shown he’ll check out when the going gets tough,” New Hampshire Democratic Party Chairman Raymond Buckley said in the statement. “While city teachers and police are working to uphold our communities in the face of possible layoffs, Frank Guinta has set his sights on his next job.”

Get ready for another no holds barred New Hampshire congressional race…

jeremy.jacobs@digital-stage.thehill.com