Another week of #NHPolitics Ins and Outs, taking you on a tour 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?

John Lynch the Future Seer — An under appreciated winner of last Tuesday’s primary election was former NH Governor John Lynch. Every candidate in a primary he endorsed won their election, including, Candidates for Governor Joyce Craig, Congress Maggie Goodlander, Executive Council Karen Liot Hill and State Senate Tara Reardon.

Maybe seek the former Governor out if you’re looking for betting tips this football season.

Goodlander’s on HB 1569 Stands the Test of Time — After Governor Chris Sununu signed what some election experts are calling one of the most restrictive voting bills in the nation, we were reminded of recent winner of the NH02 congressional primary Maggie Goodlander, who in June, just after filing to be a candidate for the congressional seat, took time to press NH Secretary of State David Scanlan to join the NH City and Town Clerks Association in opposing HB 1569.

She was the only candidate to go so far in personally confronting the Secretary of State over the bill, and her efforts will likely be recognized as accountability work for the passage of HB 1569 moves forward.

Gwen Walz Keeps the Pressure Up — First Lady of Minnesota and wife to Kamala Harris VP pick Tim Walz made a big swing through New Hampshire this week, firing up Harris volunteers and making phone calls on behalf of the campaign while warning of the dangers of Donald Trump’s Project 2025 agenda. All with Dunkin in tow. Check out our write up of her visit.

Who’s Out!

NH Republicans Assault on Voting Rights — New Hampshire Governor Chris Sununu this week signed HB 1569, what many election experts are calling the most restrictive voting rights bill in the nation.

The bill will eliminate the existing option for individuals to sign a sworn affidavit when registering to vote, instead requiring them to present not just physical proof of identity but U.S. citizenship — documents like a birth certificate or a passport — even if registering on election day. As many as 1 in 10 Granite Staters do not have access to these documents.

Read our story for the full rundown.

NH Republicans Lie About Their Assault on Voting Rights — Maybe the only thing worse than Republican efforts to make New Hampshire one of the most difficult places to vote in the nation is the dishonesty with which they are going about it.

Lawmakers like Joe Sweeney and the unofficial twitter account of the NH GOP have labeled the bill merely a form of voter ID, when the truth is that proof of citizenship is required under this bill. Sweeney goes further, suggesting that opponents of the bill are encouraging non-citizen voting, a Trump-era conspiracy theory with no basis in fact.

Sununu’s Big Failure on NH National Guard — CNN dropped a bombshell story on Friday describing the New Hampshire National Guard as having “a culture where sexual harassment and assault have been allowed to flourish” under Governor Chris Sununu. Despite numerous complaints against one of the officials named in the reporting, Lt. Col. Mark Patterson and clear signs of his inappropriate behavior, top officials, including Governor Chris Sununu, failed to take meaningful action to protect women in the Guard.

Patterson’s harassment of female soldiers, his stalking, and his threats went unchecked for months, creating a toxic environment for women serving in his battalion. When whistleblowers tried to expose this behavior, they faced retaliation rather than support. 

Expect lots more on this next week and read the full reporting here.

The Conservative War on Taylor Swift in NH — 4D political chess player and Republican nominee for president Donald Trump posted on social media Sunday morning a simple statement straight from the heart.

“I HATE TAYLOR SWIFT!”

A remarkable position for a political candidate, but you probably missed a similar sentiment shared from a high profile State Senate candidate earlier this week, when candidate for State Senate in district  Victoria Sullivan posted a lengthy screed attacking Swift for her recent endorsement of Kamala Harris.

“If Harris wins I believe young men will be drafted into war.  Will Taylor Swift take responsibility for manipulating the young people that she convinced to vote for that outcome?” Putting the responsibility for the hypothetical deaths of tens of thousands of Americans on Swift’s shoulders. Very normal!

Goffstown Sues Parents of Hungry Children — News broke on twitter this week that the SAU 19 Goffstown, NH school district has chosen to sue the families of its students to claim unpaid school meal debt, per a post on social media from NH State Rep. Wendy Thomas.

It was later confirmed by InDepthNH, who is reporting the district is refusing to accept gifts from a local church to cover the debt, proceeding with legal action against the parents. Look for more on this from us next week.

Top NH GOP, Ayotte Ally LPNH Goes Too Far (Again) — On Sunday morning the official twitter account of the New Hampshire Libertarian Party — purportedly run by Jeremy Kauffman — tweeted “Anyone who murders Kamala Harris would be an American hero, before deleting the message.

The original message went viral via yours truly, racking up over a million views in a matter of hours. The Chair of the NH GOP was forced to respond by distancing himself from the organization, which counts many NH GOP lawmakers among its ranks.

It will be interesting to see if NH Republican candidate for governor Kelly Ayotte responds in kind. Ayotte was endorsed by Jeremy Kauffman, the NHLP member who purportedly runs the account and appeared with Ayotte at a Republican event last year.