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Hello,First and foremost, I want to thank the thousands of folks who supported me in 2018, and for those that didn't, I hope my efforts to represent everyone in the district to the best of my ability have made you feel included. The reality is this. Grafton County's 17th district will be one of the most contested in New Hampshire. It could go either way. Whether you are a Republican or Democrat, we all know Concord needs more people who don't just show up to argue about stupid nonsense and aimless shenanigans. I have a proven record of accomplishing tasks, sometimes casting votes unpopular with my party because I thought they were the right ones to cast, and really getting past the brass tacks on the things we can get done, working together in divided government, while never abdicating my principles. I'm not interested in the career, or the license plate, I show up to Concord everyday with a desire to flush out legislation, solve problems, and move on. I hope as you check out this site, you will consider supporting this campaign, and if you have a question, feel free to hit the contact button at the bottom of the page. Thank you for taking the time to check me out, and I hope to see you in November!
Josh |
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Josh was born in Lebanon, New Hampshire in 1995, and attended Bridgewater Hebron Village School, Newfound Memorial Middle School, and graduated from Newfound Regional High School in 2013. After attending Plymouth State University and serving in the Marine Corps Reserves, Josh got into politics at the local level, running to serve the friends and neighbors he grew up with in the Newfound, Squam, and Mascoma communities.
Representative Adjutant has been a stalwart for education funding for years, knowing a greater commitment from the State of New Hampshire was the key to real local tax reduction for residents. In his 2018 campaign, Josh promised to raise taxes on out of state mega corporations to pay for this increase, because if Concord had hundreds of millions of dollars to give to Walmart, they had money to invest in kids and tax payers, and this is the framework that was adopted in the 2019 budget. It wasn't without challenges. Senate Democrats tried to dramatically reduce this tax relief, and instead put it into programs that would have made their lobbyists and donors in Concord happy. Josh didn't stand for it though, as he comes from Bridgewater, not Planet Concord. |
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The Establishment sought to dramatically reduce municipal aid for the North Country, cutting it for almost all the municipalities in Grafton and Coos county, while giving huge increases to wealthy communities like Moultonborough and Sunapee. Josh led the effort to successfully reverse this. At the end of the day, Josh made Democratic leadership stand their ground, and New Hampshire residents got over $200 million in tax relief between education and municipal aid, the largest investment in decades.
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Josh's opponents will paint him as a far left wing radical, but Josh has an independent voting record in Concord, opposing long waiting periods for gun purchases and using his position within the Democratic majority as a gun owner, to make bad gun bills more tolerable before they came out of the House, and stopping some from moving forward. Josh supports background checks, but believes in rural areas, the ability to defend oneself is important.
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At the outbreak of the COVID-19 Crisis, Josh stood up for an organization that he's loved and been involved with for years, Meals on Wheels. Keeping seniors out of the grocery store was going to be paramount to their safety, and Josh got on the phone and immediately began attempting to direct State and Federal funding toward this crucial program. This will be a fight that he will continue to keep up until our parents and grandparents can safely return to the store again. Josh also recognizes that for seniors up on Bridgewater Hill Rd, and out on Lockehaven Rd, Meals on Wheels is the only hot meal and human contact they get, and believes we need to fully fund the program.
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Josh believes that the role of government is solely to provide the best, most robust safety net so nobody can fall through the cracks, but issues of personal choice are left to the individual. That's why Josh has been one of the leading advocates for cannabis legalization in New Hampshire, introducing legislation to help medical cannabis patients cut through the Concord red tape. He's also argued on the floor for safer regulations for vaping products, while also keeping the choice for users what flavors they want to use. Josh believes if you are allowed to purchase apple juice flavored alcohol on the highway, an adult can use a vape product if they do so choose.
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Josh is an advocate for local energy in New Hampshire, and has tried to keep diversity in our energy portfolio by supporting the biomass plants in Bridgewater and Alexandria. When the legislature failed to override a veto by the Governor of a biomass support bill, Josh picked up the baton and reintroduced the legislation in the second year, changing minds of lawmakers who had previously voted against the bill, and getting ready to make Concord pass the legislation to support our local timber industry in Grafton County.
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Josh has taken time out of the legislature to visit with members of the community in his large, spaced out district, whether it's attending the dedication of a wonderful new piece for the Mascoma High School Library...
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Or spending time with local friends and judging pie at the Grafton Garlic Gathering, Josh knows the only way to be an actual effective lawmaker is to stay in touch with the people who sent him there, and be available to assist with constituent service, be it helping vunerable residents find homeless sheltering, assisting seniors with admissions into county and local nursing homes, or being a comforting voice in a time of crisis for local families, Josh takes this part of the job the most seriously. Seeing the effort that many local volunteers put into their communities gets Josh excited to support them in Concord.
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Josh knows healthcare is out of reach for still too many Granite Staters as long as one of them is uninsured. Josh will introduce legislation to eliminate the maximum income threshold for Medicaid, and raise the Medicaid reimbursment rate, so that any New Hampshire resident who wants Medicaid can get it, and we do it without bankrupting our local hospitals. Josh will also introduce legislation to require the New Hampshire Insurance Commisioner to allow for 2 free check ups a year for every Granite Stater, something we already proved we could do during COVID-19. Early detection for many illnesses saves lives, and Josh knows this as the Grandson of two people who both died from late stage cancer.
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Josh has stood up for many worker protections in Concord, as it's the labor force that's the real driver of the New Hampshire economy. Josh fought to raise the New Hampshire minimum wage, and supports a Paid Family Leave program that covers more than just 60% of a persons income while on leave. Most people Josh knows couldn't afford a 40% reduction in their wages to care for a new born, and Josh will not support a tax on all Granite Staters just so that the Dollar General employee new mom has to go back to work after giving birth to subsidize the administrative assistant at Catholic Medical Center.
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Josh supports solar and hydro energy projects for local control of our energy supply and strongly opposes Grantie Bridge, a gas pipeline that is obviously doing to leak into our water supply as they always do. He was also a consponsor on legislation that reduced cancer causing arsenic from our drinking water.
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Josh supports a dramatic investment in New Hampshire's roads and bridges, using the funding that residents pay in our incredibly high vehicle registrations, to ensure folks from our state and abroad can enjoy our incredible landscapes. Josh also opposed efforts to create a tax on ski tickets, which would have had a negative impact on our local economy.
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For a lot of voters in the district, Josh is one of the only Democrats in their chain of command. Republican President, Governor, State Senator, other State Reps...
While Josh has friends from both parties in Concord, he has used his position within the Democratic Caucus to hold Concord to funding education and property tax relief, and this is in real numbers, what that has looked like for money returned out of the 1.3 million dollars that Josh was able to get returned for tax relief to his community, starting with Ashland.. |
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Bridgewater..
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Bristol..
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Alexandria..
Grafton... |
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And Enfield..
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On the Veterans Affairs Committee, Josh grilled the Director of the Manchester VA on improving the facility, and ensuring that any veteran who calls the crisis hotline at any time will not be sent to voicemail. Josh was active in reorganizing the Department of the Adjutant General to be more accessible for service veterans instead of the confusing mess that it was before, and ensured that the reorganization wasn't going to mean fewer services availible for those who served our state and country.
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And lastly, and probably his favorite, Josh has attended the 4th grade tours of the State House for all of the elementary schools in his district, reminding the kids that he went to one of their schools as a kid and remebered coming to visit the legislature, and if they really cared about people and wanted to get involved, they could end up taking our seats one day to serve in the New Hampshire House.
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Josh has taken a lot of hard votes in Concord and the job hasn't always been easy, but one thing is for sure if he gets re-elected, he knows the community he came from, he's going to keep standing up and getting real results in real dollars for them, and the relationships he's established in the Legislature will aid him in doing that.
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We need your help to be able to keep doing this good work
In 2018, our margin of victory was just over 300 votes, a race so close that this seat will be one of the most targeted in the state. We need everyone to vote, whether by mail, or to turn out in person, if we are to have any chance of winning. This will be the most contentious election year of our lifetime, and I hope you will join me, so that we can keep leadership in Concord that puts Granite Staters first, is willing to fight members of both parties when they're wrong, and is never willing to back down from providing our kids a great future, our seniors a well deserved retirement, and working class folks the kind of opportunity they deserve in New Hampshire.
Questions on issues you didn't see listed?
Email: josh.adjutant@leg.state.nh.us
Thank you!
