Let me be clear: a “Legislature from Hell 2.0” was never something I wanted, but here we are today, living through the aftermath of a train wreck worse than 2018. Pundits, analysts, strategists, and talking heads have already begun sharing their thoughts, at the mic and at the keyboard, and obviously will continue doing so in the days to come. As the finalized results, pending any recounts, as I’m sure there will be many, trickled in over the past 24 hours, I thought I’d share my own off-the-beaten-path thoughts.
I’m sure that regular readers know where I’m going with this, so without further delay, below is the list of reps that voted for the RTK tax in 2024 and will NOT be part of the incoming legislature due to their forced retirement on Tuesday.
- Alexander
- Aures
- Aylward
- Boyd*
- Drye*
- Griffin
- Harrington
- Lascelles
- Love
- Toupee MacDonald*
- McGough
- Nelson*
- Notter
- Pauer
- Post
- Potucek
- Seaworth
- Thackston
- Tripp
The departures of some of the above-named reps give me more pleasure than others, especially if they were “sticker tax sympathizers.” I have asterisked the ones who voted no on HB649 last year. Furthermore, Bill Boyd has been an abject disappointment right out of the gate because he won a special election in April 2021 to fill a seat made vacant by the untimely December 2020 death of Speaker Hinch. Lots of money went into that race, and Bill Boyd voted no on all school mask bills (HB1131 in 2022, HB1093 in 2024, and HB361 in 2025). With Republicans like that, the Dems don’t even need to show up for the People’s Work!
Another special election winner that didn’t waste any time becoming a disappointment was Jodi Nelson, who has her own army of critics from the family justice groups, but they can speak more intelligently to that than I can. Let’s now look at the “other side of the wall,” as they say in both chambers.
I’ve said before that every senator who was in office before the 2024 election needed to be primaried. Three of them have been since the spring of 2024, two of whom are still in office, and the one who won’t be returning on Organization Day wasn’t at the top of my list of bad actors in the upper chamber. In fact, the 9 surviving members of this bloodbath are NOT exactly the list I would choose in a “senate fantasy sports” wish list if I had the power to choose the 9 members of Team Red for next season.
The first swap-out that comes to mind is Howard Pearl goes, and Victoria Sullivan stays. Another would be that Kevin stays and that big Ayotte stooge Gannon gets nixed instead. Another would be that Senator Murphy stays and Queen Sharon gets the boot. I could offer more fantasy swap-outs, but the reality is the 9 we have. As the saying goes when playing cards and a player has a grievance against the dealer, one would often hear “you didn’t deal me a hand, this is a foot.” The ninesome we have is what we have; in other words, it is what it is.
November is often called “Gratitude Month.” The top of our gratitude list should be that, considering the House is in complete shambles, we have a 9-15 Senate instead of an 8-16 Senate because that 9th seat is what keeps a veto from being useless. And as much as I despise Howard Pearl, I will acknowledge his impeccable attendance. Unlike various other senators, he has never missed a Senate session. Kevin skipped Veto Day in the past. If any Republican senators do that in the next 2 years, they will need to be pilloried in front of the state house. Another item of gratitude should be Tim McGough’s return to private citizenry. That’s something that senators and staff members should agree on, not that any sound-minded person wanted or wants Baby Shamu in that seat.
And back to the purging of those enemies of 91A, Tim Lang was not a member of Senate Judiciary, but he was a cosponsor of HB1002 and signed in with his support on the day of its hearing. He also railed for the paint tax. He’s a bad seed, and I am thrilled to death to see him get nixed, even though I would have preferred that his demise be by way of losing a primary against someone winning in November.
It is what it is, and I’ll take it! I only wish that the staff would set up one of those livestreaming cameras, like the ones in the hearing rooms, but in his office. That way, we could watch him packing up all his personal effects and moving out. Unlike the previous occupant, D’Allesandro, Tim should have far less stuff to pack out. Let’s all be grateful that NH won’t be stuck with Tim Lang as long as it was with D’Allesandro.
Say it with me, “na na NA na, na na NA na, hey hey hey, good-bye.”
