Stephen Stepanek (born July 20, 1951) is an American politician from New Hampshire. A member of the Republican Party, he served as chair of the New Hampshire Republican Party from 2019 to 2023.
Education and background
Stepanek attended Villanova University, where he received a B.S. degree in 1975.[1] In 2010, Stepanek confirmed he was arrested for drunk driving.[2]
Political career
New Hampshire House of Representatives
In 2014, Stepanek was elected to the New Hampshire House of Representatives, representing the town of Amherst in the 22nd Hillsborough district.[3] He did not seek re-election in 2016. During the 2016 presidential election, Stepanek was a New Hampshire co-chair for Donald Trump's campaign.[4]
General Services Administration (GSA)
On March 5, 2018, the U.S. General Services Administration named Stepanek Regional Administrator of GSA's New England region. As the New England Regional Administrator, Stepanek oversaw all of GSA's operations in New Hampshire, Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, Rhode Island and Vermont, including management of federal real estate and information technology.
In this role, he was responsible for an inventory of 419 government-owned or leased buildings and 288 employees.[5] On May 24, 2018, Stepanek resigned from his position with the agency for an undisclosed reason.[6]
State party leadership
In 2019, Stepanek was elected to lead the New Hampshire Republican State Committee, defeating Keith Hanson, the chair of the Sullivan County Republican Party, by a margin of 300 to 81.[7] In 2021, he was reelected to lead the party with the support of Governor Chris Sununu.[8] Following the 2020 New Hampshire elections, Stepanek chose to step aside as state party chair.[9]
2024 presidential election
In 2023, Stepanek was chosen by Donald Trump's presidential campaign to help oversee the candidate's operations in the state ahead of the 2024 New Hampshire Republican primary.[10]
References
- ^ "New Hampshire Rep. Stephen Stepanek (R) | TrackBill". TrackBill. Retrieved 2023-03-04.
- ^ "N.H. lawmaker confirms DWI conviction". Portsmouth Herald. 2010-12-11. Retrieved 2023-03-04.
- ^ "Our Campaigns - NH State House - Hillsborough 22 Race - Nov 04, 2014".
- ^ "Trump kicks off 2024 bid with events in early voting states". Greater Milwaukee Today. January 28, 2023. Retrieved March 4, 2023.
- ^ https://www.gsa.gov/about-us/newsroom/news-releases/stephen-stepanek-named-regional-administrator-of-gsa's-new-england-region [dead link]
- ^ @WMUR9 (May 25, 2018). "New: GSA officials announced internally yesterday that Steve Stepanek, former Trump NH campaign co-chair, 'has resi…" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
- ^ DiStaso, John (2019-01-26). "Conservative activist Stephen Stepanek elected new chair of NH Republican Party". WMUR. Retrieved 2023-03-04.
- ^ DiStaso, John (2021-01-30). "NH Primary Source: Sununu endorses Stepanek for NHGOP chair, Tucker for vice chair". WMUR. Retrieved 2023-03-04.
- ^ "Chris Ager, candidate for NH GOP chair: 'I trust people to go make things happen'". Granite Memo. 2022-12-09. Retrieved 2023-03-04.
- ^ Kashinsky, Lisa (January 28, 2023). "Trump makes his first big move in New Hampshire". POLITICO. Retrieved March 2, 2023.