Merideth, NH Rep Matt Coker (D – until a few minutes ago) has announced -more or less – that his party has left him, so he’s decided to leave it. He has changed party affiliation and formally joined the New Hampshire Republican House Caucus.
After extensive reflection and deliberation I’ve made the decision to change my party affiliation from democrat to republican to better align my party with my core values. As I reflect on the first half of my term it is abundantly clear to me my proper place in this body is on…
— Matt Coker 🇺🇸 (@MattforMeredith) February 8, 2024
The NH Republican House Caucus is, of course, very excited about this transition.
Welcome to the Republican Caucus Representative Coker!
The Republican Caucus looks forward to working closely with Representative Coker to champion policies that empower individuals, foster economic prosperity, and uphold the values that define the great state of New Hampshire. pic.twitter.com/fsfspf1F1a
— NH House Republicans (@NHHouseGOP) February 8, 2024
My first instinct was to investigate just what sort of Democrat he was from the lens of the Republican/liberty universe. Coker’s NHHRA score last session, NHHRA measures key votes against the NH Constitution and State Republican Party platform, was 38.6. He voted with Republicans on key Republican bills more than one-third of the time while voting the other way just over 60% of the time.
The New Hampshire Liberty Alliance (NHLA) gave him a liberty rating of C-, which is not terrible while not compelling There are a number of Republicans whose liberty rating was worse. That’s not an endorsement of a C rating. I only want to note that we’ve had worse while we should aspire to better.
Having said that, this presents an interesting opportunity. As the NH House Republicans post on X notes, “The Republican Caucus looks forward to working closely with Representative Coker to champion policies that empower individuals, foster economic prosperity, and uphold the values that define the great state of New Hampshire.”
As the session progresses, there is an opportunity to see if Caucus can help Matt improve his Liberty Rating and HRA scores.
Everything’s a test, so here we go.
And congrats to the NH Republicans for adding another seat to their very slim majority and to Rep Coker for seeing some light if – in fact – that’s what happened.
Let us know in the comments what “improved” Liberty and HRA ratings you’d like to see by the time the session comes to a close.
