As with other elections, I dealt with a number of inquiries on the 2014 Speakers election. This included several inaccurate representations of the race that took place that year. This also includes former and current House Representatives working for advocacy groups.
They are consistently giving me biased scores on their voter lists.
This letter will hopefully set the record straight!
Before the 2014 Speaker vote, Representative Jasper approached me and said he wanted to challenge Representative Obrien on the House floor to be Speaker. He told me he would do it if Bill Obrien didn’t prevail on the first vote. As in any election, a majority of the votes are required. He also told me I was on a list of three people to be the Majority Leader.
Because of a potential challenge, Bill Obrien supporters wanted a roll call vote. This differed from the traditional secret ballot. This caused the vote to take on a different outcome. Republican members that were less than supportive of Representative O’Brien felt that Speaker O’Brien’s handling of the NH House hadn’t changed since his previous election. The roll call vote failed, and the first vote was the traditional ballot vote. Bill O’Brien didn’t win on the first ballot vote, even though I voted for him.
Representative Jasper’s name was added as a candidate for Speaker. After several subsequent votes, some I didn’t vote on, Shawn Jasper was voted in as Speaker of the NH House of Representatives. Yes, mathematically, with both Democratic and Republican support.
After the vote, Speaker-elect Jasper approached me and told me I was his choice for Majority Leader. Although it wasn’t what he wanted to hear at the time, I asked him for time to consider his offer. He gave me a day! After consulting with friends, I accepted the position.
In conclusion, Bill O’Brien would have been Speaker for a second time if there weren’t a push for a roll call vote. Additionally, despite a divided caucus, we obtained a number of conservative policy changes that improved the state of New Hampshire. Finally, on a negative note, some friendships I established early on were not the same going forward. To that, I am sorry, Seth, Dan, and Fred.
These FACTS will hopefully end the confusion and falsehoods associated with the 2014 Speakers race.
