Longtime Derry resident and community activist Kevin Coyle has announced his run for the Executive Council seat to be vacated by Christopher Sununu.
He will be on the ballot in the Republican Primary for the District 3 seat..
Coyle, 51, has lived in Derry 46 years and is also a candidate for Derry Town Moderator. He is an attorney and has worked 21 years as the Londonderry town prosecutor.
Prior civic involvement includes service as a Derry Town Councilor. He is currently serving in his second term as a Rockingham County Commissioner.
Coyle graduated from Pinkerton Academy and Keene State College before receiving his law degree from Campbell University in North Carolina.
In a phone interview Monday, Coyle said he had been considering a run for Executive Council “for a long time. When I heard Councilor Sununu wasn’t running I thought, ‘This would be a good time to try for it.’” Sununu is stepping down in order to run for Governor.
Coyle said if elected, he will bring fiscal conservatism to the post. “I am not afraid to say ‘no,’” he said. “‘Yes’ is easy, ‘no’ is difficult.”
Coyle explained that the Executive Council holds the Governor accountable. “We need someone who’s willing to say ‘no,’ and I’ve had to do that during my career, sometimes under tremendous pressure,” he said.
What needs to be fixed in Concord? Coyle said while there’s not necessarily waste in state government, there are instances of expecting money to fix problems. For example, he said, “throwing money at” the heroin crisis is not necessarily the solution.
In his service as County Commissioner, Coyle said, he reduced the number of County employees by 5 percent. As a Commissioner, he manages a budget of $80 million and oversees 600 employees.
“I think people who know me know that I will do what I say I will,” Coyle said. “I am not afraid to stand up to special interests. I will not be pushed around.”
Coyle said if elected he will resign as County Commissioner because he can’t legally hold both offices.
Coyle lives in Derry with his wife and three children.
Derry resident Joshua Bourdon, a Democrat, is also pursuing Sununu’s seat.
