WEIRS BEACH — A Republican candidate for governor was asked to leave a candidate forum at Paugus Bay Pub Wednesday night after disrupting another candidate’s remarks.

Frank Staples, an addiction and recovery counselor from Manchester and candidate for governor, was asked to leave the event by Rep. Mike Bordes (R-Laconia) of the Belknap County GOP, after Staples repeatedly interrupted gubernatorial candidate Kelly Ayotte during her remarks.

Staples indicated he was frustrated by a lack of media coverage of his campaign, his exclusion from a debate set at Saint Anselm College earlier in the week and what he described as “defamatory” remarks made by Ayotte during that debate. He said he and another candidate, Shaun Fife of Gilmanton, were denied participation in that debate. Fife, who describes himself as an agriculturalist, said Wednesday energy independence on an individual level is of great importance and New Hampshire should operate lead mines to provide for ammunition production.

Ayotte, as well as candidates Chuck Morse, Fife and Staples, each had 10 minutes to describe their platforms before a large crowd of Republican candidates and voters at the pub on Wednesday. The event was hosted by Bordes, and the buffet was sponsored by the Belknap County Republican Committee.

Staples spoke before Ayotte, and accused her of defamation among other grievances. He said comments Ayotte made during the Saint Anselm debate were defamatory and that because he was not allowed into the event, he was not able to defend himself. Staples said he’s considering filing lawsuits against Ayotte, the New Hampshire GOP and others, and his exclusion from that debate was tantamount to election interference.

The debate at Saint Anselm College was hosted by NH Journal and was not a GOP event.

“We should have had fair and equal access according to GOP bylaws,” Staples said Thursday morning.

Ayotte did not respond to the remarks made by Staples during her speech at the event, instead focusing on her campaign platform. But about halfway through her time, interrupted several times by Staples, tensions flared and Bordes asked Staples to leave. A representative of Ayotte’s campaign directed questions regarding the incident to Bordes.

“Mr. Staples had 10 minutes to discuss his candidacy, which he did, but following his remarks he repeatedly tried [to] disrupt other candidates during their remarks by shouting out,” a statement from Bordes read Thursday afternoon. “Since he would not stop disrupting our event we asked him to leave.”

Following Staples’ removal, the event, which attracted around 100 supporters and required the use of a shuttle to transport voters there, resumed as normal.

Ayotte, who formerly served New Hampshire as its attorney general and later as a U.S. Senator, is leading former State Senate President Chuck Morse by about 44 points, according to the latest polls conducted by the University of New Hampshire Survey Center. About 13% of voters are undecided in the GOP primary for governor, according to the poll.

She drew a distinction between herself and former Mayor of Manchester Joyce Craig, who leads polls among Democrat candidates for governor, noting she does not support bail reform or sanctuary cities for undocumented immigrants, calling for a statewide ban on the practice.

“Joyce Craig has called me the most dangerous threat that New Hampshire has ever seen. I take that as a compliment, that I’m the most dangerous threat against their agenda,” Ayotte said. “Their agenda is one that wants to take us in a totally different direction, one of higher taxes and less freedom for the people of New Hampshire.”

Ayotte stressed the importance of winning local races, not just races at the state level.

“Let’s make sure that we win this thing, and mean we win it not just at the governor’s race, but we win it all the way down the ticket,” Ayotte said. “I know there’s a number of people here running tonight for state Senate, for representative — it’s critical that we have a strong majority, a much stronger majority now than we have in the House of Representatives and we keep a strong majority in the Senate.”

She described illegal immigration as one of the largest challenges facing the Granite State and said Massachusetts has suffered consequences for being too lenient and noted her experience as a prosecutor and close relationships with law enforcement officials in the state will help her keep New Hampshire secure.

“We’re going to keep this state safe, we’re going to keep it prosperous and we’re going to keep it free,” she said.

Noting that illegal immigration may contribute to fentanyl-related deaths in New Hampshire, Ayotte said drug dealers should face harsh penalties. She said bail reform laws should be rescinded.

“Fentanyl dealers and violent criminals, when I’m governor, are going to face the toughest sentences in the country,” she said.

Morse said his experience in business and building the state’s budget have prepared him to be a successful governor and noted that 2021 saw New Hampshire pass its most conservative budget to date and eliminated the interest in dividends tax as of 2025.

“I was the finance chairman in the Senate, we cut $800 million in spending, we eliminated every tax and fee — that’s how I govern,” he said. “We went on to make sure that we started cutting those business taxes in our state, because it was so important to grow the economy.”

Morse said they approved a $500 million tax refund to property tax payers.

“Because it was your money — we sent it back to you,” Morse said. “We should have done it again. I believe in that, I believe we should be sending money back to the taxpayers to help them out.”

Morse said the state failed to pass bills on parental rights and he’d look to guarantee them if he were elected governor.

“We didn’t pass it, and we should have,” Morse said.

“As governor, I’m going to make sure we pass parental rights because as Senate president, I made sure that we passed Education Freedom Accounts. And we need to make sure that every child in New Hampshire gets to take advantage of Education Freedom Accounts, no matter how poor or rich they are. That’s going to build a stronger school system in our state.”

And Morse said illegal immigration is one of his top priorities.

“I want to make sure that we eliminate all of the drugs in the State of New Hampshire and make sure that we support law enforcement — that’s why I endorsed Donald Trump,” he said. “I want to make sure we close the borders in this country, I want to make sure we stop the illegals from coming in, I want to make sure we stop the drugs from coming in.”