Eddie Edwards of Dover was unanimously confirmed as the state's new assistant commissioner of the Department of Safety in a vote by the five-member Executive Council on Wednesday.Edwards, a former State Liquor Commission enforcement chief and 2018 Republican congressional nominee, was praised by District 1 Councilor Joe Kenney and was approved for the post by the lone Democrat on the council, Cinde Warmington of Concord, as well as by the four council Republicans.(Our earlier report, published Feb. 17, follows.) Former State Liquor Commission enforcement chief and 2018 congressional candidate Eddie Edwards was nominated by Gov. Chris Sununu on Wednesday to serve as an assistant commissioner of the state Department of Safety.“Eddie’s extensive experience in public safety, law enforcement, and business administration make him the perfect candidate for this critical position in state government,” Sununu said. “I would like to thank Eddie for agreeing to put his name forward to serve, and I am looking forward to the Executive Council giving this exemplary nominee fair and impartial consideration.” Edwards thanked Sununu and Commissioner of Safety Robert Quinn for nominating him to the post. “If confirmed, I look forward to the privilege of serving New Hampshire citizens and working with the men and women in the Department of Safety,” Edwards said. “It is truly an honor to be given the opportunity to serve.”Edwards last year was denied a post as executive director of the state Office of Professional Licensure and Certification after three Democrats who were then in the majority on the five-member Executive Council first said they would hold a public hearing on the nomination by Sununu, and then did not schedule one.After three months in limbo, Edwards, who is Black and has strong conservative beliefs, asked Sununu to withdraw his nomination. Edwards charged that the three councilors – none of whom are currently on the council -- “structurally denied me a public hearing through tactics masquerading as delays.”“I have to ask,” Edwards wrote in his letter to Sununu asking that his nomination be withdrawn, “is my sin being a black Republican who disagrees politically with three white liberals? Why would they support and cry out for justice in the streets for some and not others?“I'm not sure if there has ever been a better example of structural political racism,” Edwards wrote. “This is textbook discrimination; delaying, redefining, denying, moving the goal post or using a different set of standards.“I feel very strongly that no unqualified person should ever be appointed to any position based upon their ethnicity or race. Equally true, no elected official should use implicit bias to disqualify a qualified person.”He specifically blamed former Councilor Andru Volinsky, who, Edwards charged, “appears to have gained control over” the other two Democrats who were then councilors.Volinsky, who was a candidate for governor at the time, denied that his opposition to Edwards was based on race. He said Edwards was not qualified for the post and called his nomination by Sununu politically-driven.The Edwards controversy occurred at the same time the council rejected Sununu’s nomination of another Black conservative, Ryan Terrell, to the state Board of Education. The party line vote was 3-2.As a result of the November election, there are now four Republicans and one Democrat on the Executive Council, which makes Edwards’ confirmation likely.Sununu renominated Terrell to the education board earlier this year, and on Feb. 3, the council voted 4-1 along party lines to confirm him.Edwards, if confirmed, will fill a vacancy left by the resignation last June of Perry Plummer, who returned to state service in December to oversee the distribution of the COVID-19 vaccine statewide. He would be one of two assistant commissioners, along with Richard Bailey of Bow. Edwards, 52, is a longtime Republican activist and was the GOP nominee for the 1st District U.S. House seat in 2018, losing to Democratic U.S. Rep. Chris Pappas.Edwards most recently served as a member of the state Commission on Law Enforcement, Accountability, Community and Transparency (LEACT), having been appointed by Sununu.Sununu's office said that as assistant safety commissioner, Edwards duties will include "overseeing the department’s operations, diversity initiatives, and LEACT report progress."Edwards was chief of the State Liquor Commission’s Division of Licensing and Enforcement from 2005 to 2013. He is also a former police chief in South Hampton and later ran his own consulting firm, specializing in helping private businesses, including business involved in alcoholic beverages, with regulatory compliance.During a contentious 2018 Republican congressional primary campaign against former state Sen. Andy Sanborn, Edwards told WMUR in an interview that he endured eight years of “pervasive” racist insults while working at the liquor commission.He filed a complaint with the New Hampshire Human Rights Commission in 2009, and four years later, he received $160,000 from the state in a settlement.In the settlement, he agreed to leave the liquor commission and to not seek reemployment with the commission, although he was not barred from working elsewhere in state government. Also as part of the agreement, the liquor commission denied Edwards’ allegations.