Veteran, nurse and family business owner Noveletsky aims to bring synergy to Washington

Hollie Noveletsky thinks she's the only candidate with a winning combination: she's a veteran, a healthcare professional, and the owner of a family business, who can bring synergy to Washington, D.C.

She's running for a seat to serve the 1st Congressional District. The State Primary is Tuesday, Sept. 8.

Who is Hollie Noveletsky?

Noveletsky, a Republican candidate from Newfields, is proud of her diverse background. She owns Novel Iron Works, family owned going into a third generation of fabricating structural steel. The business has been going for 70 years, with 50 of them in the Granite State.

“We do anything from a house beam to the skyscrapers in Boston,” she said.

Noveletsky owns a separate, yet related, company called Rose Steel which erects the projects. Both companies are non-union, and she said this is important.

“Novel was originally in Massachusetts, in Malden, and it was union,” Noveletsky said. “The unions would shut my dad down every year. He said, ‘You shut me down one more time, I’m moving to New Hampshire.’ They shut him down in ’75, he moved up. But he bussed up everyone who wanted to continue to work for him until they retired. So, we’ve been open shop ever since.”

Noveletsky is a geriatric nurse and nurse practitioner, and combined the two specialities to focus on dementia care, in her own private practice for the past decade.

She is also a veteran with eight years in the Army Reserve Nurse Corps, and three years in the NH National Guard. Her inspiration was her father, who was of the famed Merrill’s Marauders of World War II, after which a bridge in Merrimack is named.

Running for office

Noveletsky was a narrow runner-up in the 2024 primary election, then became vice chair of the Republican Party of New Hampshire. She said she would step down if she decided to run again, but initially, she didn’t think she would.

“I ran the first time, because I was angry,” Noveletsky said. “Open borders, shut off our energy independence, we destabilized the world with our weakness on the world stage. I thought, [Donald] Trump’s got this down. I don’t need to do it. We unleashed our energy, closed our borders, we’ve had eight peace accords. I said, 'I don’t need to run again.' Then, I started really thinking about it.”

Noveletsky has been advocating for the Buy American Act since 2000. She said the current administration is focusing on growing American manufacturing, and increasing opportunities for middle-class, blue collar jobs and trades. Noveletsky serves on the board of directors for the American Institute for Steel Construction, advocating for trade and participating in a federal trade case against China, Mexico and Canada.

She thinks this is vital experience, and her run gives her a chance to bring the voice of the American worker to the national level.

Affordability

Noveletsky said wages simply haven’t kept up with inflation, an issue affecting all Americans, regardless of political affiliation. She said jobs, wages and opportunities have been “hollowed out.”

“I don’t care if you’re a Democrat, independent, or Republican — we’re all facing the same issue,” she said. “We define it differently. We may address it differently, but we’re all at the same kitchen table, dealing with housing, healthcare, energy, and jobs."

Noveletsky believes in local zoning control, and doesn’t think the federal government should be involved. She said they can help put infrastructure in place, so communities can decide what is right to build.

“If we could bring back money for infrastructure spending — roads, bridges, telecommunication, water treatment, sewer — we can put in the infrastructure in the state,” Noveletsky said.

She said this also relates to wages, because to grow manufacturing, they need energy.

“Let’s build out the infrastructure, so that manufacturing can grow,” Noveletsky said. “If we grow out manufacturing, we grow wages, we grow opportunities, and we grow a tax base. It’s a win-win right down the line.”

Security and ICE

She also stands for security, and the support of police and Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

“One thing that’s concerning for me, is that I go across this district, I’m hearing more and more towns are passing these non-binding referendums, saying they don’t want their local law enforcement working with ICE,” Noveletsky said.

Noveletsky said if the judicial, court and prison systems and local police were allowed to work with ICE, then those who have come here illegally and subsequently broken the law could be “handed off.”

“We wouldn’t have what happened in Maine,” Noveletsky said in reference to the fatal shooting of Durán Guerrero, by an ICE agent, in Biddeford, July 13. “We wouldn’t have what happened in Minnesota. But when our local communities are passing these non-binding referendums, not allowing that, it’s very concerning.”

Noveletsky is a proponent of the ICE partnership program, which the Belknap County Sheriff’s Office participates in, and deputizes its members as ICE agents. Sheriff Bill Wright has lauded the program, as it gives his department a seat at the table. Noveletsky agrees with this notion.

“I think it’s a great opportunity, one, for more training and more funding, a more orderly handoff. Like I said, these people who have subsequently broken the law again, and getting them out,” Noveletsky said.

She's seen immigration issues first-hand, in Greenland, where her business is located. While running for federal office, she thinks, on a state level, there needs to be a larger, collective voice of saying “we do want to work with ICE.”

Critics of ICE often point to use of masks and aggressive tactics. This is not the case in Belknap County, and Noveletsky said this isn’t happening in New Hampshire.

“We’re not having that in New Hampshire,” Noveletsky said. “And when you have these nice handoffs, you know, ICE is not a Gestapo. They’re not going into churches and temples. They’re not going into hospitals and taking people. They were being doxed. They were trying to protect their families. Here in New Hampshire, we’re a good state. We do things right. If we allow ICE to work hand in hand with our local law enforcement, prison systems and judicial system, we will have a nice, orderly handoff.”

Noveletsky thinks outside agitators are coming into the Granite State.

“I think that is setting off a lot of what we see across the country,” Noveletsky said. “I don’t necessarily think that they are locals, and I think they are getting paid.”

Wars and conflicts

Noveletsky recognized there was no Congressional vote to go to war with Iran, but said it wasn’t necessary.

“So, Iran, I do think it was right to go in initially, because they have been for 47 years, saying, ‘Death to America, death to Israel,’” Noveletsky said. “We’ve had over 1,000 of our soldiers killed, and numerous wounded by them or their proxies.

"But now, we’re in this prolonged war. We should have gone in, and just taken care of it.”

Noveletsky said the U.S. is dealing with a culture which has a “completely different paradigm,” and this is a religious war for them, so it makes negotiation more difficult. She said it is important now that they don’t have nuclear weapons, proxy group funding is discontinued, and allies need to be safe.

“Right now, I think we need to be much more decisive, because we have to not flinch first,” Noveletsky said. “When you flinch first in a culture like this, it’s a sign of weakness. You have to be very strong.”

Noveletsky said she has always been a strong supporter of Israel, and the nation’s close ties with the country need to continue.

“I’m Jewish, and my stepmother is Jewish, so I do believe that Israel is our only democratic ally in the area,” Noveletsky said. “We need to make sure that we can keep a strong relationship with them.”

Leading in a divided time

Political division doesn't happen just in the confines of political offices, but extends to neighbors, family members and friends. When looking at issues affecting the citizens of New Hampshire, and the country, they are all the same, she said. She doesn’t think there is quite as much division as some think.

“It’s not like I, as a Republican, am facing something different than you, as a Democrat,” Noveletsky said. “That’s where I think a lot of the disengagement has come, especially from the young, because they feel like they’re not being heard, or their issues are not being addressed.”

Noveletsky thinks Republicans need to be better with their messaging, something she admits Democrats have had an upper hand with, despite Republicans having better policies.

“We need to get better at messaging, and how we are going to address the issues that are most concerning, because we’re all one country, and we’re all facing the same thing.”

Why vote for her

Noveletsky said family-owned businesses represent 85% of companies in New Hampshire, and she has a unique understanding of issues transitioning from one generation to another.

Healthcare, she said, is critically important in this election. She knows Stefany Shaheen is running on a healthcare platform on the Democratic side, but she thinks she is the only candidate on either side of the aisle who understands it both as a provider and employee.

Noveletsky said there is a need for a voice for veterans at the table for a myriad of reasons, including working to bring a full-service Veteran Affairs clinic to New Hampshire.

“I have a really wide, broad background that can look at issues from multiple viewpoints.”