Nagel running for reelection to Statehouse, now as Democrat

GILMANTON — Rep. David Nagel (D-NH) has had an interesting ride in the Statehouse. He changed parties this year, after thinking he didn’t align with the current Republican Party.

Now the doctor and Gilmanton resident of more than three decades is making a run for reelection to serve Gilford, Gilmanton and Laconia Ward 2, this time as a Democrat.

Who is David Nagel?

Nagel’s mother has always been a source of inspiration. She was “disabled but very able,” diagnosed with rheumatoid arthritis at a young age. This left her with pain and dysfunction for most of her life, and Nagel learned a few things from her battle.

One was the value of family support, because his father was always there for her. The other was even though she couldn’t do a lot, she could always help others.

“I grew up with that way of thinking, of standing up for vulnerable people,” Nagel said.

He learned that in caring for another human being, there are immeasurable rewards. He also knows doing the right thing can also be painful.

“This is really appropriate for what has happened to me in the last year and a half of the Legislature, but I learned that you can’t just follow people blindly,” he said. “Sometimes, you’ll just follow them right off a cliff.”

Nagel developed a model of advocacy, which he calls the John the Baptist model, one he's followed all his life, leading into his profession as a physician. In healthcare, Nagel said thinking outside the box has led to innovative work.

“The only thing I ever wanted to do was stand up for people with disabilities and other stigmas,” Nagel said. “That’s all I’ve ever done.”

Why politics?

The concept of being a politician wasn’t always in Nagel’s plans, but now he is wrapping up his second term in the Statehouse.

Nagel moved to the Granite State from near Buffalo, New York, in 1989, and started at Easterseals before working at Concord Orthopedics. He said it became clear those in medicine don’t treat pain, or teach it well, and he has put his effort into curriculum at the University of Rochester, where he's a faculty member.

Nagel said he was amazed at the stigma, and not just for people in pain, but for all groups. He said New Hampshire is a “very white state,” and very different from most of his experience. He worked for the Indian Health Service in Alaska, and the Center for Practical Bioethics in Kansas City, where he was often the only white person.

“I am used to be around people who aren’t like me. And then you come into an environment where you see all sorts of stigmatization against people because of color, race, ethnicity,” Nagel said.

Nagel authored a book called “Needless Suffering” in 2016, which sold worldwide, validating what he was doing. He began receiving calls from all over the world to get involved, including from the NFL Players Association and the Center for Practical Bioethics, where he became the Kathy Foley Chair of Pain Management. He wondered where to go from there, to make his work most effective.

Nagel said a lot of policy was in the book, and a nonprofit was created as a patient-run and directed advocacy group for people experiencing pain.

“We ended up proposing legislation to undo some of the damage that Gov. [Maggie] Hassan had done when she created her opioid laws,” Nagel said. “That got me involved with the Legislature.”

Former Rep. Gary Merchant, a Democrat from Claremont, created a committee to look at alternatives to opioids. This was important to Nagel, and when he showed up for meetings, he realized they didn’t know much. He was happy to help, from his 35 years of experience.

Nagel said representatives from both parties said he should be in the Statehouse, and it meant a lot to have bipartisan support.

“My message has always been uniting,” Nagel said. “Party shouldn’t matter when it comes to making decisions. And everything I’ve ever done, we ask them to leave their partisanship outside the door, and just be prepared to come in and work with each other and not have preconceived notions about each other. By doing that, it is amazing what you can get done.”

Switching parties

Nagel referred to former Sen. Joe Manchin (I-WV) saying 51% of American voters identify as independent, and feel abandoned by both parties. He said 20% identify as political moderates, and can be called RINOs and DINOs. Nagel intends to give the 70% a vote, hence a big part of his shift.

Nagel thinks those “running the show” politically are polarized.

“I think we, as the people, are not polarized,” Nagel said. “Political ideology and tolerance for political ideologies is a bell-shaped curve.”

Nagel said when people are asked why they become undeclared, the common answer is “dissatisfaction with party leadership.” He has always been moderate, saying he was a middle child born on a Wednesday, and in the middle of everything his whole life.

“The reason why was because I think more like a moderate Democrat than I do a far-right Republican, or a far-left Democrat,” Nagel said. “For me to go on one side or the other was based on two simple things: Process is everything. The structure has to match the function, and if it doesn’t, you have problems.”

Nagel said there were a series of bills which came before the Health and Human Services Committee with no community support, and Republicans were told by the party to support them.

“I don’t follow people blindly. And last I checked, as George Washington pointed out, our primary responsibility is the constituent, not the partisanship.”

Nagel said he couldn’t support the bills, because he heard from experts they weren’t good ideas, and he wondered why the experts weren’t being listened to.

“They brought me up to the office,” Nagel said. “I think they tried to bully me. I mean, it was certainly intimidating, at least. As I said, I work for the NFL. Big people don’t scare me anymore.”

Nagel told the group of Republicans he was elected to support his constituents and felt obligated to do so, even if he didn’t agree, because he was their representative. He wrote an email to the leaders of the state Republican Party asking who made the bills a priority. The next day, he was kicked off the Health and Human Services Committee, leaving his question unanswered.

“Then I called the Democrats, and I said, 'I really need to know how you decide what’s a priority,'” Nagel said. “Within three minutes, they gave me an answer. That would have meant nothing if it was just talk, but what I observed was that is how they do things.”

Nagel said four Republican leaders in a “room upstairs” instructed him on what to believe. He saw it in action, and said when you see more than 100 people get an A-plus rating from the New Hampshire Liberty Alliance, it is telling.

“The structure and the function doesn’t match, and I felt a strong need to be part of something that made sense,” Nagel said. “I held off for over a year before I switched. People on both sides didn’t want me to switch. They liked where I was, but I finally just said I am absolutely miserable; I’m being forced to do stuff I don’t believe in.”

Platform

Nagel has done plenty over the last four years he's proud of, much dealing with standing up for the vulnerable, and working to save a dying healthcare system. He said the nation’s healthcare ranks 69th in the world, last in the developed world for cost, access, equity, and efficiency.

He knows his experience working as a doctor, a member of the Health and Human Services Committee, a university faculty member, an author, and an advocate have all made an impact, and will continue to do so if reelected.

He has also spent this summer learning about childcare, housing, and education, and said these things all intertwine.

New Hampshire is one of the only states where the cost of a starter house is rising. He noted it is upward of $560,000 at this point.

“I can’t think of anybody that can afford that. And one of the other big things that I want to do that’s related is to create a public medical school at" the University of New Hampshire, he said. “The reason why is it has to do with retaining our people here, so they come here, they get educated here, we want them to stay here. They’re not going to stay here if it costs $560,000 to buy a house.”

He said everyone has looked at the costs for building materials, and supply and demand, but one thing not looked at is housing speculation. He knows of someone who was buying 50 houses per week, with a budget to do so, outbidding everyone with the purpose of using them as short-term rentals. That means the person is outbidding people in need of a home. Nagel said this behavior needs to stop.

“Housing speculation is a real problem,” he said. “It’s a real problem, especially in states like this, that are kind of tourist desirable.”

He also said homelessness is an issue, and it has often been lumped into one group, when it is much more diverse. There are many reasons people experience homelessness. One is the cost of housing and lack of available affordable housing.

How he'll lead

Nagel has about four decade of experience in advocacy legislation, noting he passed his first bill in 1995. He said he listens to people, saying if you don’t, you will be wrong a lot, and has proven he can unite people in the process. He said this includes both parties, far left and right, but most of all, his constituents.

“I’ve also proven that people assume that being fiscally and socially responsible are two different things; that they can exist together,” Nagel said. "I have proven I can do both by uniting people. I’m not just saying it, I did it, and I have been doing it for a long time.”