Democratic: Built by the grassroots and led by activists

It’s in our name, Democratic Party, that is why democracy should be the heart of our party. That is why our party should be built at the ground level, with activists and everyday members being a part of decision making within our party. Democracy is not just about the right to vote but about bringing more people into the decision making process. We do this by electing our delegates, so that every registered Democrat has a say in the direction of our party. We do this by making the State Convention the heart of our decision making, where activists and grassroots members are best represented. We do this by making positions on the State Committee and Rules Committee open to everyday party members. We do this by having the State Committee elect members of the Executive Committee instead of having the Chair appoint them. We are the DEMOCRATIC Party, it’s time we start acting like one.

Removing a corrupt party elite

Chairman Buckley is problematic… he cares more about his power and ego than he does state politics. He cares more about his position at the DNC than the state house. That is why he focuses on federal politics and leaves the House and Senate Democratic Committees to fend for themselves. He claims he is the only one that can save the First-In-The-Nation Primary due to his contacts in Washington and the DNC yet, DNC members I’ve talked to dispute his popularity.

In 2021, after voting against him, Ray Buckley blacklisted me from the party. Later that year, as an openly gay legislator and the youngest member of the NH House, I was dealing with a string of hate crimes, with one of my supporter’s pride flags being burnt, my friends and family being harassed online, threats of violence, stalking, and cyber attacks. I reached out to Ray for help, and he responded (paraphrased) “I’m busy, send me an email.”. Which I did… and CC-ed the state party and never heard back. Ray would rather let the youngest member of his House Caucus out to dry instead of being the leader he was elected to be. Eventually, Ray would push me out of the party in 2022 after unrelenting attacks.

My opponent, Maura Sullivan, is a Buckley loyalist who has enabled him at every step of the way.

A more wholistic campaign

For far too long, state politics has been neglected and set aside in favor of federal races. Sure, there is a consolidated coordinated campaign in 2020, it was apparent to me that the scripts heavily favor the top of the ticket, with state and county candidates virtually never having time to be mentioned. It is time we flip the script and work from the bottom up. By electing a Democrat in every community, we will have a presence and a local face to our party. Voters in turn will be able to see our work directly in their community and how we advocate for them. This is invaluable in building our base of support.

A 10-county, year-round, every-door strategy

There’s a difference between paying lip service and sending money to rural counties and actually embodying and advocating for their interests. The state party has focused too much on southern New Hampshire and not enough on places like Littleton and Berlin. If we want to win, we need to embody the issues important to them and use the entire party to advocate for their interests, it is not enough to let their state representatives do the work.

We also need to reach out to EVERY voter. Republicans are out there knocking on every door and picking off Democrats left and right, they understand that being a representative is being a Representative for ALL. It is time that the Democratic Party starts being the party for ALL, we must be out there being active and engaged members of our communities. We need to be knocking doors year round and not only every election year, asking people what the issues they care about are and message to them how we are responding. By being pillars in our communities, we will be seen as indispensable leaders who will make our state a better place.

Social Media Strategy

It is time that we accept that the world has change and everything, including election campaigns, have gone digital. Most political discourse today takes place on town Facebook groups, comment sections, TikTok, Instagram, and other platforms. We cannot ignore this reality. We must be ever-present across social media to make us, and our work, visible to the voters of NH. It is apparent to me that we need to up our media game, this is one area where we have the opportunity to get ahead of the other party.

Social media, at least a large part, is what I attribute to why I was able to flip my district in 2020: I was 18 years old and had a mastery of social media. It is this experience that I hope to bring to the party.

Governance & Transparency

In line with the memorandum sent to party leadership by eight out of the ten county chairs (found: here), we must institute more transparent practices. Currently, bylaws are not followed, budgets are kept secret, and accountability is a buzzword. For example, the filing period for this election, which is outlined in our constitution, was simply ignored. Here, we can do the bare minimum and more, we can make the budget accessible to state committee members, we can make meeting minutes available to the state committee, county committees, and town chairs, alongside delegates, and at a minimum, we can follow our constitution and by-laws.

Bringing in the youth

Our party is built on the engagement of young people. Young people today are some of the most politically engaged on issues such as Climate Change and Gun Violence among others, we should be providing them with the toolkit and resources to become the leaders of tomorrow. We can do this by bringing them into the party apparatus and leadership. One small thing we could do is to allow the officers of every College and High School Democrats chapter to be delegates at our state party conventions.