Tea Party Activist Takes Over New Hampshire G.O.P.

The candidates Juliana Bergeron and Jack Kimball got together for photos before voting in New Hampshire on Saturday. Mr. Kimball was

The candidate, Jack Kimball, a relative newcomer to party politics who ran for governor last year as a fiscal and social conservative, beat Juliana Bergeron, who leads the Cheshire County Republicans and was supported by former Gov. John H. Sununu, the outgoing party chairman.

The race was watched as a sign of how much influence Tea Party groups will exert here in the lead-up to New Hampshire’s presidential primary, the first in the nation, tentatively scheduled for Feb. 14, 2012. Mr. Kimball wasted no time in saying, minutes after his election, that he wanted the state’s Republican primary voters to choose a “good, strong conservative” candidate.

At least one potential presidential candidate hustled to congratulate Mr. Kimball. Before speaking with reporters, he took a cellphone call from former Gov. Tim Pawlenty of Minnesota, who is scheduled to be here on Monday for a book-signing.

Andrew Hemingway, chairman of the Republican Liberty Caucus of New Hampshire, said Mr. Kimball’s win was evidence that the Tea Party and similar groups were pushing the state’s Republican Party to the right. Mr. Hemingway’s group helped a large number of conservatives, including many with Tea Party support, win election to the state legislature in the fall.

“I don’t think it’s fair to say that New Hampshire is a moderate state, and I think this proves it,” Mr. Hemingway said. “There are new people voting, and they have a conservative outlook.”

Others said that the vote was not a sure sign of a changing Republican electorate. Republican primary voters here chose John McCain in 2008, and Barack Obama won the state decisively in the general election, with help from its many independents. In a presidential straw poll conducted at the party meeting by ABC News and WMUR-TV, Mr. Pawlenty received 8 percent of the vote.

In backing Ms. Bergeron for Republican leader, Mr. Sununu seemed to be sending the message that Mr. Kimball, a self-described “warrior” who has said he would not tolerate deviation from the party platform, would threaten party unity at a crucial time. In a strongly worded speech to state committee members before the vote, Mr. Sununu said that he was worried about divisions within the party and warned that its leaders must not alienate more moderate members, independents — who make up about 40 percent of the state’s voters — or even Democrats.

“We don’t want to be seen as a party that’s a sliver of a party,” he said. “We want to be seen as a party that welcomes all views.”

Mr. Sununu also urged the roughly 425 members in attendance not to alienate any Republican presidential candidates leading into the 2012 primary, saying it was imperative for New Hampshire to provide a “comfortable environment” for all.

“We have a responsibility because every four years the world watches as we are the most significant component in selecting a president of the United States,” he said. “The worst thing for the New Hampshire first-in-the-nation primary is for people to feel this is not a place they want to participate.”

This month, Mr. Kimball alarmed some Republicans here when he said the new chairman should let presidential candidates know that New Hampshire Republicans want their party to “get back to its conservative values and stay there.” Traditionally, the state party chairman remains diligently neutral in presidential primaries, serving more as a good-will ambassador.

Mr. Kimball won the support of several powerful Republicans, including the new speaker of the state’s House of Representatives, William O’Brien, and its majority leader, D. J. Bettencourt. After his victory, which came in a 222-to-199 vote, Mr. Kimball told reporters that he would not take sides in the primary.

“It’s the folks that are going to make those determinations,” Mr. Kimball said. “It is the state G.O.P. chair’s responsibility to remain neutral and to make sure that there is an even playing field for all candidates.”

Addressing committee members, Mr. Kimball promised to build on Mr. Sununu’s successes and keep the party unified.

“I feel I can be that bridge for the new activists and the old,” he said. “I am a Republican — a conservative Republican who happens to have come out of the Tea Parties, but you will find the Reagan values in this guy.”

He also vowed to fight to ensure New Hampshire’s primary remained the first in the nation, a point of pride that was challenged in 2008 and almost surely will be again next year.

In the straw poll, former Gov. Mitt Romney of Massachusetts, who has not curried Tea Party support, won with 36 percent of the vote, followed by Representative Ron Paul of Texas with 11 percent. Mr. Pawlenty was next with his 8 percent, and Sarah Palin received 7 percent. More than a dozen other potential candidates won smaller percentages.