A gay Democrat
was a shoo-in to become chairman of the state party just a
year before New Hampshire's all-important presidential
primary. Then a former friend and roommate accused him
of possessing child pornography years ago.
Raymond Buckley's
political aspirations appeared dead until an
investigation cleared him last week.
Now a replacement
candidate has stepped aside to clear the way for
Buckley to lead the party he has worked for since age 8,
when he used plywood and paint to make a sign for a
gubernatorial candidate. Buckley, 47, withdrew from
the chairman's race in January after Republican state
representative Steve Vaillancourt made the accusations. He
resumed his campaign following a strongly worded
report from the attorney general that cast doubt on
the allegations.
''Whenever a
vicious, personal slur is made against someone, it's always
a concern...'How do I get my reputation back?' " departing
Democratic Party Chairwoman Kathy Sullivan said. ''The
way to do that is to hold your head high and continue
to go forward. That's what Raymond did.''
Buckley, the
party's vice chairman, said that if he is elected, it would
send ''a strong message'' to anyone who makes unfounded
political attacks.
In early January,
Buckley had lined up support from most of the delegates
who will vote March 24 for a new party chairman. Then,
Vaillancourt sent Democratic governor John Lynch a
letter alleging that years ago Buckley had smuggled
child pornography from Europe, left porn strewn around his
bedroom, and trawled the Internet for illicit images.
Buckley denied
the allegations but dropped his candidacy while police and
the attorney general investigated.
Vaillancourt said
he wrote the letter because he believed the
presidential primary would be threatened if the allegations
emerged later.
Last week
Attorney General Kelly Ayotte and police said they found no
evidence to support Vaillancourt's accusations. Ayotte said
she even considered filing criminal charges against
Vaillancourt, but she concluded it would be too
difficult to prove he had filed a false report because
he went to the governor instead of police.
On Tuesday, a
former House Democratic leader who had replaced Buckley as
a candidate stepped aside.
Vaillancourt
stood by his accusations. ''I think police, if they got
responses they couldn't verify, weren't asking the right
questions,'' he said Wednesday.
Buckley and
Vaillancourt, who has not stated his sexual preference,
became friends in 1983, and Buckley later moved in with
Vaillancourt. Their friendship lasted 16 years,
although Buckley acknowledged the last few months
''were a struggle for both of us.''
In 1999,
Vaillancourt evicted Buckley, and their personal dispute
spilled into their political lives. By then, both were
serving in New Hampshire's 400-member House.
Vaillancourt
eventually left the Democratic Party and served a term as a
Libertarian before switching to the GOP.
Buckley left the
House after 16 years but stayed active in the party.
When Sullivan announced she would not run for reelection as
party chair, many Democrats felt he had earned the top
position after 39 years serving in virtually every
party job, from answering phones to being executive
director. He is also chairman of the eastern region of the
Democratic National Committee.
''How do you
right a wrong?'' Sullivan said. ''You put everything back to
where it was before the wrong took place.'' (Norma Love, AP)