2012 NH Gubernatorial Election: Ovide Lamontagne

Ovide Lamontagne is the Republican gubernatorial candidate in the 2012 election.

Born and raised in Manchester, Ovide is a fourth-generation New Hampshire native, who attended local Manchester schools. He is a 1975 graduate of Trinity High School where he served as Student Council President and state president of the New Hampshire Association of Student Councils. Ovide is a 1979 graduate of The Catholic University of America, where he met his wife of 32 years, Bettie (Watson) Lamontagne. Ovide was a high school social studies teacher for three years before attending the University of Wyoming College of Law where he served as Editor-in-Chief of the Law Review and received his J.D. with honors in 1985. Following graduation, Ovide served as law clerk to the Honorable James E. Barrett of the United States Court of Appeals for the 10th Circuit.

In the fall of 1986, Ovide returned to Manchester to practice business law with the regional law firm of Devine, Millimet & Branch. During his private practice, Ovide has been recognized as one of New Hampshire’s top business attorneys. He served as legal counsel for the New Hampshire State Senate in 1991. In 1993, he was appointed by Governor Stephen Merrill as Chairman of the New Hampshire State Board of Education, where he served until 1996.

Ovide has established himself as a leader in New Hampshire’s civic and non-profit communities, having been honored in 2009 as New Hampshire's Distinguished Citizen of the Year by the Daniel Webster Council – Boy Scouts of America. His past civic service includes Chairman of St. Mary's Bank Board of Directors, Director of the Easter Seal Society of New Hampshire, Trustee of the Bishop's Charitable Assistance Fund, CASA of New Hampshire, Manchester Crimeline, the Mayhew Program, New Hampshire Judicial Council, and the Governor’s Commission on Domestic Violence. From 2002 through 2006 Ovide served as President of the Daniel Webster Council, Boy Scouts of America. He is the founding President of the Franco-American Center and was past Honorary Consul of France to New Hampshire. In 2002 Ovide was named Franco-American of the Year.

Ovide is an active member of his home parish, St. Anthony Parish, in Manchester, where he served as co-chair of the 2001 St. Anthony Community Center Capital Campaign. He has served in a variety of roles with the Diocese of Manchester, including as Chairman of the Diocesan School Board, a member of the Corporate Campaign for NH Catholic Charities and the Catholic Lawyers' Guild of New Hampshire. In 2007, Ovide received the Pope John Paul II Campus Ministry Center Award for public service from Trinity High School.

Ovide and his wife, Bettie, have been foster parents since 1987. They reside in East Manchester, in the home where he was raised, and have two daughters, Madeleine and Brittany, as well as a foster son. The oldest of eight children, Ovide is the son of Ovide A. and Jeanne (Brisson) Lamontagne. When not at home in Manchester, Ovide might be found at the family camp on Lake Umbagog where he and his family enjoy hunting, fishing and snowmobiling.