Gilford, Gilmanton, Laconia Ward 2 weigh incumbents, challengers in primary

In the new Belknap District 6, four incumbents defend their seats against three challengers. Redistricting earlier this year folded Laconia’s Ward 2 in with neighbors Gilford and Gilmanton, currently in districts with Meredith and Alton, respectively. 

Several of these incumbents have a high profile in current county politics. Though far more is on the ballot than the dispute over Gunstock Mountain Resort, the mountain is located in this district and looms large over voters — both physically and psychologically. 

In this race, cleavages over the ski area scrap cross-cut the advantages of incumbency. Reps. Harry Bean and Gregg Hough are among the delegates involved in bringing back Gunstock’s management, while Reps. Glen Aldrich and Norm Silber opposed that action. Challenger Russell Dumais is a former Gunstock Area Commissioner. 

There are four seats in this primary, and the winners will go on to face Democratic challengers Edward Cracraft, Lisa DiMartino, Dana Hackett and Bob McLean in the general election.

Aldrich, of Gilford, is running for his fifth term in the state Legislature. Aldrich is upfront about his Free Stater status: he moved to Gilford from New Jersey in 2010 because he felt burdened by taxes.

“I’m one of the Free Staters; I never hid from it,” he said. “I work hard to make my community a better place.” He highlighted his service through the Free State-affiliated community group Lakes Region Porcupines and noted that, though people have tried to stigmatize Free Staters, his voting record is “nearly identical” to many county delegation members born and raised here. 

Though opponents have painted him as an extremist, Aldrich said that claims the delegation have hamstrung county departments are exaggerated. 

“I'm extreme on one thing,” Aldrich said, “freedom.” He criticized the Citizens for Belknap political action committee, which calls itself nonpartisan, as capitalizing on Gunstock to “turn Belknap County as blue as possible.” The group endorsed Bean, Dumais, Hough and David Nagel. 

On policy, Aldrich said Second Amendment protections and cutting government regulations and spending are key issues. He also said he firmly supports the current state law on abortion, banning the procedure after 24 weeks. 

Aldrich emphasized that, though he voted for the secession amendment, he does not support secession and wanted the voters to get a say. He is most proud of his vote to end the death penalty in New Hampshire, overriding Gov. Sununu’s veto in 2019.

Bean, of Gilford, recently appointed chair of the Belknap County Delegation, is running for a third term. Bean emphasizes his family's deep roots in the area: “My family has lived at the same location on Saltmarsh Pond Road since 1842,” he wrote in a statement to The Daily Sun. 

Bean, whose family real estate rental business H&P Apartments owns dozens of properties in the area, describes himself as community- and service-minded, and listed several projects he and his wife are involved in, notably the Laconia Elks. 

On the issues, Bean highlighted veteran care, immigration and voter integrity as the pillars of his platform. Physical and psychological veterans services, Bean wrote, must be examined because “they deserve the best medical care and to be treated with dignity." On election reform, he wrote that “every citizen’s right to vote must be protected and the value of their vote must be protected against votes from people who aren’t committed to our communities and state.” On immigration, he was clear: “It makes no sense to let criminal illegal aliens stay in our country.” He told Citizens Count that he believes abortion should be banned after 15 weeks in cases where the mother’s life is not at risk.

Bean said his priorities are the protection of individual rights, responsible government spending, and protecting “our American way of life.” 

Richard Beaudoin, of Gilford, born and raised in Laconia, is a retired electronic technician and business owner. Beaudoin said his background in business, which connected him with tens of thousands of people over the years, prepared him for office because he “knows how to handle finances and knows how to handle people.”

Beaudoin described himself as an “easygoing” people’s candidate. “You vote for the people, not for the, shall we say, lobbyists,” he said. 

Beaudoin served as state representative from 2018 to 2020. During this term, Beaudoin attended less than 60% of session days. He also sat on the Public Works and Highways Committee because of his passion for transportation issues — a passion he carries into this race. 

If elected, Beaudoin said he’ll put transportation, housing and employment needs first. He believes the state needs to do more to ensure younger and older people can get around, and advocated a statewide bus system. To increase housing availability, he said he felt the Laconia State School property should be developed into affordable housing. Solving the housing crisis, he said, would relieve the worker shortage.

“Once we get the housing, we'll probably get the bodies,” Beaudoin said. “There’s plenty of industry here in the city.”

Dumais, a former state representative, is running because he believes the reputation of the county delegation — both locally and statewide — has been tainted by the current delegates, particularly members of the Free State Project.

Dumais is a nearly 40-year Gilford resident who served on the town's selectboard and budget committee. He was elected to a single term in Concord in 2014.

Dumais criticized any representative who prioritizes their personal ideology over the will of their constituents. 

“I think we have some folks in [the delegation] who are of a particular ideology that they would fall on the sword for,” Dumais said, declining to be more specific. They “put the county's reputation — the county's goodwill — on the line with some outrageous statements and outrageous positions. That doesn't do us any good.” Dumais sees himself as a mainstream candidate who can build bridges in the state House and who the county can be proud of. 

He acknowledged that, with his experience, some might see him as an insider candidate. He asserted that, as a longtime small business leader and resident — Dumais notably built the former Airport Country Store — he is deeply in touch with the base.

On the issues, Dumais is against all broad-based taxes and approaches fiscal matters from a “dollar in, dollar out” philosophy. Starting new programs and projects, he said, requires cutting extraneous spending elsewhere. 

Gregg Hough is a Laconia native running for a second term in Concord; he currently represents a district that includes all of Laconia. Hough has worked in education, restaurants and retail and describes himself as an everyman.

“It truly is the people’s house,” Hough said. “To be a representative, you’ve just got to be of the people.”

He highlighted his research and preparedness as a representative and said he values small, noninvasive government. 

“I'd like to be remembered as a naysayer,” he said. “In other words, I think people can do fine pretty much on their own. Most of the stuff that comes by me is just not necessary.”

Hough said he is different from other candidates in this primary because he has been offered a position in party leadership in Concord that will allow him to better drive policy that matters to the county. “As big as our delegation is, and as important as it is for the state ... nobody's actually in leadership,” Hough said. As a freshman representative, he has formed relationships with party leadership “because I can work with people [and] because my people skills are functional. I hear, I learn, I pay attention.”

Hough takes pride in being someone willing to sit down with voters to talk through the issues, even if that takes hours. 

On the issues, Hough said he sees parents' rights in education, improving local education and promoting the free-market economy as key in the next term. He highlighted his co-sponsorship of the parental bill of rights, state budget and proposed Right-to-Know reform from this past term. Hough also dismissed claims that the county delegation had deprived the county nursing home of funds and oxygen as exaggerated and inaccurate, saying that the delegation has provided sufficient resources and any issues come from them not being managed or organized appropriately.

Nagel of Gilmanton, a longtime government advocate for those dealing with various types of chronic pain, is running for office because, “As a citizen running a couple of nonprofits, sitting in an audience testifying, I have very little clout. And I really thought that it was important that I have more say.”

Nagel has helped write opioid and health insurance policy in New Hampshire for decades and raised alarm to the dangers of prescription opioid abuse “way before that became a national issue.” In addition to his work as a doctor, Nagel runs several nonprofits, chairs the NFL Players Association's Pain Committee and is a co-founder of the New Hampshire Pain Collaborative, a group of patient advocates, making him “extremely familiar with the workings of the Legislature.”

Nagel is an expert on health care reform and addressing the opioid crisis and highlighted his history working on bipartisan solutions. 

Nagel admits that his policy background may be narrow, if deep. But he believes that no legislator can be sufficiently informed on all policy areas. 

“For me to tell you that I know everything about everything is absolutely insane,” Nagel said. In the Legislature, “you realize you're not the best person to solve every problem. So you develop your network of people that really know the ins and outs of an issue and you turn to them for advice.”

Nagel knew many conservatives might dub him a RINO; he shrugged this off. 

“I really do believe the Republican model is better,” Nagel said, expressing admiration for Ronald Reagan and Jack Kemp. 

Nagel was a youth sports coach and leader of the Gilmanton Cub Scouts. In politics and life, he said, “I will not be the person to walk to the other side of the street. I'll be the person to walk up to you and help you.”

Silber of Gilford is running for a second term as state representative. Silber moved to Gilford in 2012 after semi-retiring from his career as a lawyer in Florida. He served on the Gilford Planning Board and chaired the town Budget Committee and is the current chair of the Belknap County Republican Committee. Silber has stated that he is not a member of the Free State Project. 

But, as he told AP News this week, Silber believes that “People on the left, or people who don’t like fiscally conservative Republicans, have a tendency to refer to people they don’t like as Free Staters,” he said.

In a letter to the editor about his campaign, Silber highlighted his co-sponsorship of the parental bill of rights and the “now successful phaseout of the tax on interest and dividends.” He wrote that he is against personal income, capital gains and sales taxes. He is also a member of the House Judiciary Committee.

Silber has vocally advocated for the lease of Gunstock to a private corporation such as Vail. He was the only member of the county delegation not to sign a pledge against leasing the county-owned ski area. 

He asked voters to "reject Soros inspired Marxist rhetoric and vote for me on Tuesday."

The state primary is Sept. 13 and the general election is Nov. 8.