Republican Fraser to challenge Gulick for New Hampton & C. Harbor seat in N.H. House

NEW HAMPTON — Valerie Fraser, who is serving her first term on the Board of Selectmen, has filed to run for the seat in the New Hampshire House of Representatives from New Hampton and Center Harbor.

The seat is currently held by Democrat Ruth Gulick, a retired attorney, who filed for re-election to a second term yesterday.

A Republican, Fraser said that she entered the race as advocate of public banking, believing that the state and counties should be authorized to establish banks that would hold public revenues from taxes and fees as deposits and fund investments in local commercial enterprises and infrastructure projects. North Dakota has successfully operated a public bank for almost a century, Fraser said. She said that no matter what the issue, "it always comes down to money" and public banking could provide some.

Fraser is a registered nurse and veterinarian, who recently sold her veterinary practice in Tilton and now operates from her home, where she raises dairy goats and keeps horses. Apart from public banking, she said "I've always been curious about what goes on in Concord."