Seacoast businessman and 2010 gubernatorial candidate Jack Kimball has been elected to serve as chairman of the N.H. Republican State Committee. He will replace outgoing chairman John H. Sununu, who did not run for reelection.

Kimball was elected during the state GOP’s annual meeting at Pinkerton Academy in Derry on Jan. 22. He beat out Cheshire County GOP chairwoman Juliana Bergeron to win the two-year term. 

Kimball lives in Dover and owns Great Bay Facility Maintenance in Portsmouth. He ran for governor in 2010 but lost in the primary to John Stephen, who went on to lose to incumbent Democrat John Lynch in the general election.

Sununu, a former governor and White House Chief of Staff under George H. W. Bush, served one term as chair of the party, during which time Republicans regained a majority in the state House and Senate and swept the 2010 Congressional races. 

As chairman, Kimball will attempt to retain those majorities and push for a Republican victory in the 2012 presidential election.