New Hampshire Republican state senator snoops on, shames food stamp recipients

Over the weekend, freshman New Hampshire State Senator Victoria Sullivan of Manchester posted on social media her recent experience watching one of her constituents buy “junk food” with Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) funds, also referred to as food stamps, and proceeded to harshly judge the individual for their food choices. 

“I was in line at Market Basket last week. The person in front of me paid with EBT.  Their food consisted of soda, chips, and lots of junk food,” Sullivan wrote in a post on social media.

In subsequent posts, Sullivan made clear she did not approve of how their constituent was using their Electronic Benefits Transfer (EBT) card. 

“These people are not using their money–they are using yours,” Sullivan wrote in another post. ”If I have to ask my neighbors to buy my food, I would not be wasting it on junk. I would be responsible with their money.” in another post.

According to the New Hampshire Fiscal Policy Institute, about one in eighteen Granite Staters were enrolled in SNAP Assistance in the state fiscal year 2024, with 13,768 Manchester residents receiving food stamps, representing nearly 12% of the population of the city, nearly double that of the state average.

SNAP provides food assistance for individuals and families that have incomes below 200 percent of federal poverty guidelines, with an an average of 5.5 percent of the state’s population was enrolled in SNAP assistance during any given month during State Fiscal Year (SFY) 2024, which spanned from July 1, 2023 to June 30, 2024.

Recent budget proposals from Republicans in Washington are eyeing deep cuts to social services like SNAP and medicaid.

RELATED: NH State Senate candidate Victoria Sullivan has long history of anti-LGBTQ views, harassment

This is not the first time Sullivan has attacked her own constituents, having previously gone after New Hampshire’s LGBTQ+ community for using the rainbow as a symbol for Pride month.

Many responses were highly critical of the sitting senator’s decision to publicly shame the buying habits of her own constituents, and pointed out the hypocrisy of her position against the senator’s own support for systems like New Hampshire’s school voucher program, which lacks basic oversight for how public funds are used. 

“Imagine thinking you should be allowed to dictate what food people buy for their own families. Oh but it’s fine because EBTs are tax-funded? Well okay then, so are EFAs – are we agreeing that the government gets to dictate what those funds are used for? Hmm, didn’t think so,” State Representative Alissandra Murray wrote in response to Sullivan.

Monica Venzke, a high-profile former New Hampshire political staffer, summed up the situation using the state’s own motto.

“The least live free or die take ever btw.”