KEENE, NH – Keene’s Mayor has announced he won’t be seeking a third term as mayor.

George Hansel has served as Keene’s Mayor since January 2020, succeeding Mayor Kendall Lane. In a news release Monday morning Hansel announced that he won’t be seeking re-election this November.

In an interview with WKBK shortly after the announcement, Hansel said it’s time for a fresh face in the position.

“I think one thing is I don’t really believe that anybody should do this type of job for a really long time,” Hansel said in the interview. “One of the great things about a good, healthy mayor’s election is it gets to focus the community on the issues that are important and have them decide which direction they want to go.”

Hansel won his second term in 2021 with 91% of the vote, and previously served two terms on the Keene City Council.

“It’s a hard job,” Hansel said. “I’ve done the mayors thing for almost four years now, I was a city councilor for four years before that, and I think it’s time to encourage new people to come up and get involved in City government … I want people to have that experience and not have ‘old-timers’ or people who have been around too long stand in their way.”

In the release, Hansel highlighted steering the city through the COVID-19 Pandemic as one of his greatest achievements while in office.

“Three months after I took office, COVID hit, which was not something anyone saw
coming. My primary focus was keeping the community informed and making sure our businesses stayed open and survived,” he said, adding, “Those actions kept Keene on an upward trajectory, building momentum and vibrancy. We’re now in a good place financially.”

The release also notes that since Hansel took office in 2020, over a dozen new businesses opened in the city, tourism increased, and the city’s debt went down by 35%, or about $9 million.

Hansel’s platform for his mayoral campaign focused on change in the city, particularly in city government with bringing in councilors of varying ages and backgrounds, and economic development efforts.

“I just feel like the city is on an upward trajectory and in the right place, and it’s time for someone to come in and make sure we continue that or even accelerate it in the future.”

Hansel told WKBK he had always planned on only serving two terms, and he began really considering whether or not he would run for re-election a couple months ago. He feels confident in the potential pool of candidates that could come forward to succeed him.

The filing period for candidates for the Municipal Primary is set for August 16th –  September 5th. The primary election is scheduled for October 3rd, and the General election on November 7th.