Another week of #NHPolitics Ins and Outs, taking you on a tour of the ins and outs of the ever-changing world of New Hampshire Politics, keeping score of the winners and losers week-by-week — and letting you know who’s in and who’s out.

Let’s get into it.

Who’s In?

Maggie Tamposi Goodlander’s Big Launch — The much rumored third Democrat vying for New Hampshire’s second congressional district announced her campaign this week.

Her launch ad garnered high praise among NH Democratic insiders, with a video which revealed a deeply personal account around losing a pregnancy, and at the NHDP’s 2024 convention many rated her speech the best among candidates for the 2nd district congressional seat, but an overemphasis on national press for her Thursday rollout gave some local Democratic activists pause, as did the decision to make her announcement with an out-of-state news outlet over a local paper or station.

Hassan Honored for Bipartisanship — Newly released ratings on the Bipartisanship Scorecard by the Common Ground Committee ratings this week ranked New Hampshire Senator Maggie Hassan as the most bipartisan senator in the country, with Senator Jeanne Shaheen close behind.

WBZ’s Jon Keller offered some top-notch coverage of the honor.

NHDems 2024 Convention — New Hampshire Democrats held their annual convention on Saturday with keynote speaker Congressman and lead impeachment manager Jamie Raskin, who delivered a blistering takedown of congressional Republicans that bled into the party at large, accusing them of working to enact a christian nationalist agenda in Washington, saying, “They’re theocrats, I’m sorry.”

The event was attended by hundreds of activists and party leaders from across the state. Highlights included fiery speeches from House Democratic Leader Matt Wilhelm, who offered an eye-popping rundown of the various high-profile misdeeds for House Republicans over the last year, remarks from Senate Democratic Leader Donna Soucy, who had many currently-sitting state senators join her on stage with this year’s strong batch of Democratic state senate candidates, a rousing display that had the crows on their feet, and a powerful, personal speech from New Hampshire Young Dems chair Jay Bowie.

Also big, NHDems selected their most diverse set of electors for the electoral college ever, with  Rep. Gerri Cannon, Rep. Latha Mangipudi, Manchester Police Commissioner Eva Castillo Stefani, and the Honorable Jackie Weatherspoon serving as electors. They represent the state’s  first transgender elector, first AAPI elector, first Latino elector, and second African American elector, respectively.

Jon Morgan for Executive Council — In a surprise weekend announcement, major state Democratic behind-the-scenes player Former state Senator Jon Morgan declared his run for Executive Council District 3 seat currently held by Republican Janet Stevens of Rye. Margie Cullen has the full story.

Who’s Out!

“Ripe” and “Fertile” — State Rep Jess Edwards explosive comments defending child marriage in New Hampshire— a vote which ultimately failed — continued to garner attention this week both local and national.

We spoke with leading Democrats in the House and Senate who led the fight to raise the age to 18, to check out what they had to say.

“The worm that ate part of his brain will not affect his ability to serve as president” — This week many were… well, surprised is probably the wrong word, but definitely interested to learn that a worm ate part of the brain of RFK Jr, Independent candidate for President, causing brain damage.

The timing of the brain eating parasite surprisingly doesn’t appear to line up with Kennedy’s previous appearance at Porcfest, which many New Hampshire politicos would have considered the most likely source of the infestation.

Thankfully Kennedy seems to be taking the reveal in good stride, offering to consume as many as six additional worms.

More Attacks on LGBTQ+ Granite Staters — House Republicans this week killed SB 422, a bill which would have formally recognized gay and lesbian couples on their children’s birth records. House Democrats’ campaign committee released a strong statement reacting to the vote.

“The Republican Party has made their intentions clear – they wish to stigmatize LGBTQ+ parenthood.”

ANOTHER State Rep Serving Out of District??? — Hot on the heels of the Troy Merner fiasco which resulted in an investigation by the New Hampshire Attorney General’s office and claims of a cover up by Republican leadership, this time it’s former Republican State Rep. Dan Hynes, who resigned in February after the Attorney General’s office notified legislative leaders he was living outside of Bedford where he was serving as a State Rep at the time. This from Steven Porter of the Boston Globe.