Ugh...

I promised myself I wouldn’t talk too much about politics in my blog, but this event is just ridiculous. And it’s too long for a comment on Patch.

So here starts the story/rant:

For those of you that don’t know, NH has a very large legislature. As a state (which I love and adore), we have one of the most direct democracies in the world. It’s something like one representative for ever 3,000 people.

I love it. I love how my state is set up so I can be very involved in my government. I mean, you want to be a page in the state house for a day? Find your rep. I have 3 for my ward alone. I’m pretty sure I know where they live. I mean, it’s frustrating working on a campaign, because 1 in every 3,000 people in IN the government. Actually more, because I have a relatively open city government and there’s State Senate and the Executive Council. 

The NH House of Representatives is made up of 400 people. They get paid $100 a year and get re-elected every other year. I don’t believe they have term limits, but running an election every other year is exhausting. Fun Fact: It costs $2 to run.  

Now that you know this, I can get to the real story. 

Stacie Laughton is a trangender female from my city. She ran to be a State Rep in another ward, and won. How that happened, I have no idea. My better-candidate friend ran in another ward, and lost by 100 votes. I’d be so mad if I were him. But I don’t think he’s ever been angry. Except the time I broke the shredder. 

Back to the story. Laughton wins, and then the press finds out that she has a criminal history. Apparently back when she was a man, she stole credit card information and faked needing an ambulance? (Who thinks of that?). She has a suspended sentence and just has to pay back the fine. 

Apparently, it’s illegal to be a criminal and still serving a sentence in NH and run for state rep. As most of the people in the House are old people and lawyers, I’m sure this has never come up. Now it’s a question of if she’s still serving her sentence. 

Either way, she resigns. For whatever reason she gives. Everyone applauds and I’m kinda annoyed that we have to spend more money. 

I love my state, but we don’t pay taxes. Which is nice, but I feel like I suffered in education. Like UNH was not a fantastic deal compared to other in-state schools in other states. I digress… again.

So now, we have to pay for a special PRIMARY and a special election. I don’t remember how much it would cost (and I can’t find the source.), but my point is that it’s money would could be spending towards schools, roads, or business micro-loans. Instead it’s being spent towards an election that shouldn’t have needed to happen. 

So not only does she cause this special election, she has the AUDACITY to file to run AGAIN! It’s not bad enough that you, specifically are costing the state money, but you have to run again? My government and tax dollars (not that I pay any to the state because I don’t own property, judge me as you will) are not for you to prove people wrong or change your mind. Make up your mind and stick to it. 

I hope the stick you with the bill if you win. In which case, I will stay FAR away from your ward. 

Go here if you’d like to read this “breaking news”