Challenger Brianna Weller tries to unseat one of three incumbents in District 7

ALTON — There are three seats in District 7, which represents Alton and Barnstead, for the House of Representatives. Four candidates are seeking nomination from Republican voters in the district. Three of them are incumbents, and one would be a new voice in Concord.

That new voice, Brianna Weller, currently serves on the Barnstead Planning Board. She could not be reached for comment, but her responses to a questionnaire were published online by Citizens for Belknap, an advocacy group.

In her responses, she describes herself as a mother in her early 30s.

“I want to help keep Barnstead and New Hampshire a place my children eventually want to grow up and raise their families in.”

She said she considers herself a “moderate” Republican. “While typically I go to the polls I do receive and vote on a Republican ballot, I feel it is naive to think that only one party can have ideas that benefit people,” she wrote. She said she wants to hear from all in her community, including those who see things from a different perspective.

“I want Barnstead as a whole to feel represented by me, not just a select few,” Weller wrote.

If Weller’s candidacy survives to the General Election in November, she will have to gain more votes than at least one of the three incumbents: Paul Terry, Barbara Comtois and Peter Varney.

Terry, who is seeking a third consecutive term, said he’s been interested in politics since he was in high school and stayed up most of the night to see who won the presidential election of 1968. He grew up in New York, and later worked for his state assemblyman.

Since joining the New Hampshire Legislature, “my experience has been the good, the bad and the ugly,” Terry said, noting one of the best parts of his time has been the friendships he has formed with other legislators, with Democrats as well as Republicans.

“In this highly partisan time in which we live, when people are demonized based on which letter they put by their name,” Terry said he’s found it refreshing to find accord on certain issues with lawmakers from the other caucus.

Terry said one cause he has championed in Concord has been the “Parental Bill of Rights,” which seeks to compel teachers to be forthcoming with parents when students begin to express a different gender identity at school. The bill failed in the House, but he said there’s still support for the legislation among his party and he hopes to bring it back again, should he be reelected.

“What we’re hearing is that many teachers believe they have a right to confidentiality with respect to students that is absolute,” Terry said. “The teacher should be very forthcoming and ought to partner with the parent with regards to raising that child.”

As evidence for the need for such a law, Terry pointed to the case of “Jane Doe vs. Manchester School District,” recently upheld on appeal by the state’s Supreme Court, which found a school district could have a policy that allowed a student privacy from their parents while in school. Terry said the decisions of now two levels of courts “underscore once again the need for a Parents Bill of Rights for New Hampshire.”

Comtois has become one of the most veteran of lawmakers, and would serve her fifth term in the Legislature if reelected. She said she became involved in state-level politics nearly a decade ago in order to bring a farmer’s voice to the lawmaking process, and continues to carry that passion to Concord.

“I truly believe we need better access to local foods,” Comtois said, noting the state’s farmers can now only feed about 6% of the state’s population. “And that’s a concern.”

There can be many unintended consequences for legislation, and farmers are often on the losing end, especially without a representative voice at the table. Comtois believes she can be that voice, and as evidence she cited a law she helped to pass that exempted agricultural activities from noise ordinances.

There are instances when farmers have no better option than to fire up their equipment in the early morning or in the late evening. Spraying crops is one such example, which might need to be done before the the bees are active, or in the evening after the wind has died down.

“We’ve had to start up our tractor at midnight for a calf being born,” Comtois said. “You would think that a noise ordinance is no big deal, but it does have an adverse effect on agriculture.”

Next on her to-do list is to make it easier for farmers to sell their meat. A recent change made it easier for rabbit and chicken growers to sell meats, and Comtois would like to extend that to other animal products. Currently, growers of pork and beef can only sell meat that has been slaughtered at a USDA-inspected facility, and there are only three of those in the Granite State.

Comtois said those slaughterhouses are now booking a year in advance, and that’s only for their existing customers.

“Young farmers who want to get into that, they can’t get their foot in the door,” Comtois said. “If you get your animals slaughtered at a local butcher shop, why shouldn’t you be able to sell that meat?"

Varney, of Alton, did not respond to requests for an interview, and neither Citizens Count nor Citizens for Belknap published responses to their questionnaires from him. According to Citizens Count, he's served in the Statehouse since 2014, and has worked as an engineer, fire chief, in code enforcement and building inspection and owned two small businesses. 

The Primary Election is Tuesday, Sept. 10. The top three vote getters will face Democrats Ruth Larson and Susan Church Stevens in November.