Through its Citizens Legislature, First in the Nation primary and same day voter registration, Granite Staters have been leading on democratic engagement
The letter urges the General Court to pass bold reforms to strengthen democracy next session
Seventy-six Democratic New Hampshire candidates for state office, including Gubernatorial candidate Dan Feltes as well as incumbents and challengers for the state legislature, sent a letter today to the New Hampshire General Court calling for the passage of major democracy reforms next session. These candidates are sending an historic message that Concord must bring a renewed focus to prioritizing unrigging the broken system so that New Hampshire’s government is responsive to Granite Staters and not beholden to big donors and corporate special interests.
While the New Hampshire legislature has passed a series of meaningful reforms, Governor Sununu has been a roadblock and has a dismal record of vetoing legislation aimed at getting Big Money out of politics and protecting and expanding the right to vote. This letter sends a message that passing anti-corruption reforms will be a priority in 2021.
You can read the full text of the letter here.
Key elements of the letter include: closing contribution loopholes; ending partisan gerrymandering; allowing easy and readily accessible voter registration; creating infrastructure to allow voting by absentee without an excuse; prohibiting corporations with business before the General Court from making political contributions to elected officials; increasing transparency and disclosure of political spending; and removing barriers restricting access to the ballot.
“With two Democratic chambers, New Hampshire’s General Court has upheld the state’s proud tradition of democracy in action. Despite unprecedented election circumstances due to COVID-19, Moderators, Clerks, Supervisors of the Checklist and other election officials have continued to facilitate well-run elections,” said Tiffany Muller, president of End Citizens United and Let America Vote. “These 76 candidates are redoubling the Granite State’s efforts to root out corruption by limiting dark money’s influence, ending partisan gerrymandering, and tearing down barriers restricting the right to vote. By electing a governor who will work with the legislature and prioritize democracy reform, we will give these reformers a strong partner in the fight to make government more accountable to New Hampshire families. We applaud these candidates’ efforts to combat corruption and repair democracy in Concord.”
The full list of candidates who signed the letter includes:
Sen. Dan Feltes (Governor)
Sen. Melanie Levesque (SD-12)
Rep. Kris Schultz (Merrimack-18)
Rep. Sue Ford (SD-1)
Bill Bolton (SD-2)
Sen. David Watters (SD-4)
Jenn Alford-Teaster (SD-8)
Sen. Jeanne Dietsch (SD-9)
Sen. Shannon Chandley (SD-11)
Sen. Cindy Rosenwald (SD-13)
Becky Whitley (SD-15)
Joshua Bourdon (SD-19)
Rebecca Perkins Kwoka (SD-21)
Sen. Jon Morgan (SD-23)
Sen. Tom Sherman (SD-24)
Natalie Taylor (Belknap-2)
Carlos Cardona (Belknap-3)
Rep. Doug Ley (Cheshire-9)
Lucius Parshall (Cheshire-10)
Gregor Stocks (Coos-7)
Rep. Tim Egan (Grafton-2)
Rep. Richard Osborne (Grafton-7)
Rep. Joyce Weston (Grafton-8)
Rep. Sallie Fellows (Grafton-8)
Rep. Suzanne Smith (Grafton-8)
Rep. Sue Almy (Grafton-13)
Rachel Cisto (Hillsborough-2)
Richard Bruno (Hillsborough-6)
Rep. Iz Piedra (Hillsborough-9)
Rep. Amanda Bouldin (Hillsborough-12)
Rep. Andrew Bouldin (Hillsborough-12)
Rep. Mary Heath (Hillsborough-14)
Rep. Erika Connors (Hillsborough-15)
Rep. Patricia Cornell (Hillsborough-18)
Nikki Fordey (Hillsborough-20)
Rep. Rosemarie Rung (Hillsborough-21)
Rep. Katheryn Stack (Hillsborough-21)
Rep. Wendy Thomas (Hillsborough-21)
Rep. Nancy Murphy (Hillsborough-21)
Bryce Stack (Hillsborough-21)
Mackenzie Murphy (Hillsborough-21)
Alex Lloyd (Hillsborough-23)
Chris Wheeler (Hillsborough-26)
Rep. Kat McGhee (Hillsborough-27)
Rep. Jan Schmidt (Hillsborough-28)
Rep. Bruce Cohen (Hillsborough-28)
Rep. Suzanne Vail (Hillsborough-30)
Rep. Patricia Klee (Hillsborough-30)
Rep. Manuel Espitia (Hillsborough-31)
Rep. Mark King (Hillsborough-33)
Rep. Laura Telerski (Hillsborough-35)
Stephanie Hyland (Hillsborough-38)
Ben Ming (Hillsborough-40)
Rep. Matt Wilhelm (Hillsborough-42)
Rep. Jacqueline Chretien (Hillsborough-42)
Amy Bradley (Hillsborough-43)
Rep. Connie Lane (Merrimack-12)
Eric Gallager (Merrimack-15)
Rep. Safiya Wazir (Merrimack-17)
Rep. Mary Beth Walz (Merrimack-23)
Rep. Lorrie Carey (Merrimack-26)
Rep. Art Ellison (Merrimack-27)
Michael DiTommaso (Rockingham-3)
Erin Spencer (Rockingham-6)
Bonnie Wright (Rockingham-8)
Camron Iannalfo (Rockingham-8)
Rep. Liz McConnell (Rockingham-11)
Rep. Ellen Read (Rockingham-17)
Rep. Lisa Bunker (Rockingham-18)
Rep. David Meuse (Rockingham-29)
Heath Howard (Strafford-3)
Rep. Matthew Towne (Strafford-4)
Rep. Peg Higgins (Strafford-22)
Rep. Lee Oxenham (Sullivan-1)
Rep. Brian Sullivan (Sullivan-1)
Rep. John Cloutier (Sullivan-10)
ECU and LAV merged in January to combat the two biggest challenges facing our democracy: Big Money and voter suppression. Its affiliated project, Fight for Reform (FFR), focuses on bringing transparency and accountability to state and local elections around the country. In July, FFR launched a new grassroots field operation in New Hampshire to elect endorsed candidates, provide volunteers and organizational support for those candidates, and work with in-state partners to make voting safe, accessible and fair.
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