Grafton
Four Republicans and one Democrat have filed to participate in a July 18 primary for Grafton District 9 seat, a floterial district that represents the towns of Grafton, Alexandria, Bristol, Bridgewater and Ashland.
The seat was left vacant when then-Rep. Jeff Shackett, R-Bridgewater, resigned in February. At the time, Shackett said work-related travel and responsibilities made it difficult to represent constituents in Concord.
Shackett, who was in his third term, said he was making more trips to Texas, Louisiana and Mississippi to assist his wife working for an environmental services company. He also owns Shackett’s Super Market in Bristol.
Gov. Chris Sununu and the Executive Council voted on May 17 to set a special election to fill the seat.
Republicans Paul Simard, of Bristol, Vincent Migliore, of Bridgewater, Timothy Sweetsir, of Ashland, and Burton Williams, of Bristol, filed to participate in the July 18 primary, according to the New Hampshire Secretary of State’s Office.
Democrat Tom Ploszaj, of Grafton, also filed for the primary. He is being challenged by write-in challenger Joshua Adjutant, of Bristol.
The top vote-getters in both parties will then face off in a Sept. 5 special election.
Several of the candidates said on Wednesday that they’re running to provide voters with an experienced voice at the Statehouse.
Simard served two terms in the House, once in the early 1970s and then again in the 2011-12 session. Simard also served on a commission which looked into energy infrastructure corridors and recommended burying transmission lines as part of the proposed Northern Pass project. He’s been active in local government too, serving 17 years on the Bristol Budget Committee.
“I know the people, I know the policies, I know the programs,” Simard said of the House. “If we send a freshman down to Concord now, we’re not going to get the representation we should have.”
Williams also said his decade of experience in the House would also benefit voters. He was a state representative between 2001 and 2010, and also spent 19 years on the Bristol Selectboard.
Every two years, new legislators are given an orientation of the Statehouse and state government, Williams said. But because the special election will take place between sessions, he said, whoever is elected won’t have that training.
“I’ve been around for quite a bit and I know a lot of people in Concord,” Williams said, adding there’s no specific legislative issues he’d like to work on.
While he’s never served in the House, Migliore said he’s garnered enough experience through other forms of public service to represent the district. For the past decade, he’s been elected to the Newfound Area School Board, serving as its chairman for two of those years.
Migliore, who left Intel to run his own company for the past 14 years, recently retired and said he would devote all of his time to constituents and the House, if elected.
“This is not something I take lightly,” Migliore said in an emailed statement. “Representation of the public view should only be done after developing some wisdom, which comes from from doing this sort of thing in one capacity or another prior to declaring one’s candidacy.”
Migliore is opposed to towns spending money on the special election, which was called after the town of Ashland made a request to the Executive Council. He said a single community in a floterial district shouldn’t have that power and it’s something he would hope to address while in the Legislature.
Sweetsir is also running in the Republican primary. He currently serves on the Ashland Zoning Board and has 13 years of law enforcement experience, including positions in Stonington, Maine and Northwood, N.H, according to the Laconia Daily Sun. Messages left for Sweetsir on Wednesday were not returned.
Sweetsir told the Daily Sun he supports lowering taxes but wants to hear from potential constituents about their concerns. He also expressed support stronger laws to protect police from lawsuits.
On the Democratic side, Ploszaj said he declared his candidacy after seeing a lack of Democrats in the race. He retired to New Hampshire in 2008 after a career as a chemical scientist and former machine operator. Since then, he’s run two unsuccessful campaigns for the House. He’s also served as a member of the Grafton Cemetery Trustees, Planning Board and volunteer fire department.
“I do not have a personal or party agenda,” Ploszaj said in an email. “I will make decisions on facts to best represent the district, New Hampshire and the concerns of the residents without involvement in the political rhetoric.”
Ploszaj said he’s in favor of combating the opioid epidemic with more recovery programs and is opposed to cost shifting from the state to towns. Some have associated him with the libertarian-leaning Free State Project, but Ploszaj said he’s just friends with some members and doesn’t consider himself one.
He’ll face a write-in challenge from Adjutant, who was not able to get on the ballot because of a recent move from Bridgewater to Bristol. Adjutant, a Marine Corps reservist, ran for the seat last year on a campaign styled on Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders. He supports increasing the minimum wage and legalizing marijuana.
“It’s still the same issues that we had in 2016,” he said on Wednesday, adding he still wants to protect the state’s Medicaid expansion and push to protect public education.
People can find more information on the special election at the Secretary of State’s website sos.nh.gov.
Tim Camerato can be reached at tcamerato@vnews.com or 603-727-3223.