December 4, 2008 Gardner's political service makes history Play video

(NECN: Lauren Collins, Manchester, NH) - When Bill Gardner settled into his office, he didn't plan to stay for very long. He says, "I haven't actually put pictures up in my office. It was a temporary place in my mind."

32 years later, Gardner is the longest serving secretary of state in the nation. On Wednesday, New Hampshire's legislature unanimously elected him to a 17th consecutive term.

"He's recognized throughout the country as a person who really knows how to conduct an election and do it properly," says State Senator Lou D'Allesandro (D, Manchester) who served alongside Gardner as a state rep early in their respective careers. Their shared political interest goes back a bit further. He recalls, "I first met Bill Gardner when he was 13 years old. He was in my Civics class at Bishop Bradley High School. Freshman Civics class."

Gardner's political memory in this state is long and detailed. He smiles to recall the 1974 senate race, the battle that sparked his interest in the Secertary of State's office. He says it was a contest that came down to two votes, and "the US Senate attempted to figure out who the winner of that election was. And after five months, the members of the senate said 'we can't do it.'"

Gardner was on the House Elections Committee that year, and helped write the rules for the special election.

While Gardner's fondest memories of the job are of state level elections, the national focus on this office

is squarely on its influence over the presidential election process and the state's first in the nation primary.

"We're gonna keep it first," Gardner says as he chuckles at the idea that the Granite State would ever lose its first in the nation status. He was here in 1984 when the calendar was threatened, and fought off that challenge. He had no doubts the tradition would be preserved in this last election cycle, when several states tried to schedule their contests ahead of New Hampshire's. He says, "I think (the primary) will end up in a stronger position having been tested again a generation later. And we are."

The longest serving statewide Secretary of State in history was Ben Meier of North Dakota, who served for 34 years from 1955 to 1988. Bill Gardner will beat that record if he is still in office on December 9, 2010.