Keene City Council Member Jay Kahn announced that he will form a political committee with the NH Secretary of State to explore a run for the NH State Senate. Jay Kahn released the following statements:

 “Sen. Molly Kelly has served our state and region with distinction during her 10 years in the State Senate and I thank her for her dedicated service to people and organizations of the Monadnock Region.”

 “With Sen. Kelly’s recent announcement, I’ve been encouraged by friends and community leaders to consider a run for the democratic nomination for the District 10 State Senate seat. I’m looking forward to expanding those discussions to a wider group of people over the weeks ahead.”

Jay Kahn was elected to the Keene City Council in November after receiving the most votes of any candidate with strong support across the city.

In addition to his service on the Keene City Council Jay Kahn has served the Monadnock region as Chairman of the Cheshire Medical Center, Greater Keene Chamber of Commerce, and Monadnock Economic Development Corporation.

Kahn recently retired from top administrative leadership roles Keene State College where he served with distinction for 27 years as the Vice President of Finance and Planning. In 2012 -2013 Kahn served as Interim President at the College. Kahn has a doctorate degree in Political Science, Policy Studies, and 43 years of experience in public finance.

Kahn also announced that Mike Hoefer of Keene would serve as chairman of the Kahn for Senate committee. In this role Mike will provide strategic advice and build a district wide Campaign Committee. Hoefer has has been involved with NH political campaigns since 2004 and served as Senator Kelly’s Campaign Manager in 2010 and 2012.

Jay Kahn will attend the Cheshire County Democrats Spaghetti Dinner this Saturday night and is looking forward to talking Democrats from across the district at that event.

Interested parties may contact the campaign at kahnforstatesenate@gmail.com. Kahn anticipates spending the next few months assessing priorities of area residents for the next NH legislative session.