Andrea Polizos of Keene talks with State Rep. Kurt Wuelper R-Stafford as he gets ready to enter the State House Thursday morning during the protest against Rep. Robert Fisher of Laconia. “He (Wuelper) was respectful and listened to what I had to say,” Polizos said.
Andrea Polizos of Keene talks with State Rep. Kurt Wuelper R-Stafford as he gets ready to enter the State House Thursday morning during the protest against Rep. Robert Fisher of Laconia. “He (Wuelper) was respectful and listened to what I had to say,” Polizos said. Credit: GEOFF FORESTER / Monitor staff


Concord — The House voted overwhelmingly on Thursday to look into the conduct of embattled state Rep. Robert Fisher, recently accused of being the secret creator of a misogynistic online forum.

The decision came hours after more than two-dozen people rallied outside the State House calling for the Laconia Republican’s resignation.

Top party leaders, including Gov. Chris Sununu, have called on Fisher to step down ever since the Daily Beast reported the second-term representative appears to have founded “The Red Pill” and made online comments degrading women’s intelligence. Fisher has said his words were taken out of context and has resisted calls to resign.

He voted in favor of the inquiry on Thursday, saying he is confident the matter will be resolved quickly.

“I think the truth will be out at the hearing,” Fisher said, before referring all other questions to a written statement he released earlier.

Though Democrats proposed the inquiry to look at Fisher’s conduct, Republicans voted to add in Democratic Rep. Sherry Frost, who has faced criticism from the right over her tweeting. Democrats bemoaned her inclusion in the probe and questioned why it hadn’t come sooner if there was real concern.

The Legislative Administration Committee will question the members in public next week and make a recommendation to the House by June 1. The suggested action could range from doing nothing to expelling the member, but any option would need a majority vote to pass.

Republican Speaker Shawn Jasper said the committee will only be able to look at the members’ conduct this session, which may bar most of Fisher’s comments from consideration because many were made years ago, according to the Daily Beast. The two-year legislative session began in January. According to the Daily Beast, Fisher is no longer moderator of “The Red Pill” forum and made his last comment on the site in October 2016.

While the House voted 307-56 in favor of the inquiry, some critics said the chamber shouldn’t regulate free speech.

The Republican-led House added Frost to the probe in a vote largely along party lines. Jasper barred discussion about the two representatives’ conduct during the floor debate, so members could not outline specific concerns with Fisher or Frost’s behavior.

In February, the New Hampshire GOP criticized Frost for tweeting “we have a terrorist problem, all right, and they’re mostly white, Christian men.”

Republican Rep. Victoria Sullivan, of Manchester, who put forward the amendment to include Frost, said it’s about fairness. “All representatives should be held to the same standard,” Sullivan said. “This body cannot pick and choose who they support and who they do not.”

Frost questioned her inclusion in the inquiry with Fisher, but said she voted for it because she has nothing to hide.

“Hyperbole is not the same as vicious misogyny,” she said.

The Legislative Administration Committee will meet May 9 to hear from Fisher and May 10 to hear from Frost, according to House Majority Leader Dick Hinch.