A man named Nobody, who unsuccessfully ran for mayor in N.H., now says he is running for governor

Nobody, formerly known as Rich Paul, stood on the porch of his Keene, N.H., home. Now he says he plans to run for governor.Erin Clark for the Boston Globe

Fresh off being soundly rejected in his bid to be the mayor of Keene, N.H., a man who legally changed his name to Nobody, partly for the way it sounds as part of a campaign slogan, has announced he intends to run for governor.

While largely a libertarian in his personal politics, Nobody said he intends to challenge incumbent Governor Chris Sununu in a Republican primary in September 2020 election. (The Libertarian Party isn’t officially recognized by the state of New Hampshire.)

In the preliminary election for the open Keene mayor’s seat earlier this month, the top two finishers, both city councilors, advanced to the November runoff with more than 1,100 votes each. Nobody, who formerly went by the name of Rich Paul, received 47 votes.

“Well, the people of Keene have spoken, and clearly they prefer to see me as Governor than as Mayor,” Nobody wrote on his website when announcing his run for governor.

Nobody, who has a long criminal record including for drug possession and disorderly conduct, may have a harder challenger in Sununu next year. Polls have consistently found him to be popular among Granite State Republicans, and a large national survey found Sununu was the fifth most popular governor in the country overall.