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‘A little red pocket on the New Hampshire border’: The national fissures splitting a competitive Mass. state rep. race – The Boston Globe

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‘A little red pocket on the New Hampshire border’: The national fissures splitting a competitive Mass. state rep. race – The Boston Globe


The district’s longtime Republican consultant, Sheila Harrington, resigned after Governor Charlie Baker picked her for a clerk Justice of the Peace job.

Now, regardless of headwinds that would make the midterms a banner yr for Republicans throughout the nation, Massachusetts Democrats see a main alternative to flip a seat that has been in GOP fingers since 1984, with Margaret Scarsdale, former chair of the Pepperell Choose Board, set to be the get together’s customary bearer within the race.

Two candidates who’ve by no means held elected workplace are vying for the Republican nomination. Andrew Shepherd, a farmer with average politics, and Lynne Archambault, a health studio proprietor who takes a extra MAGA stance.

So, who’s main?

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“I don’t suppose anybody’s a shoo-in proper now,” stated Karen Riggert, a Groton resident, impartial, and a buddy of Harrington who beforehand labored on her campaigns. “Sheila was fortunate to be in workplace for so long as she was.”

The 40,000-resident district — which incorporates all or a part of Groton, Lunenburg, Pepperell, Ashby, Townsend, and Dunstable — sits at a political crossroads. Harrington was first elected in 2010 and reelected 5 occasions, principally with out having to place up a lot of a combat. She’s a popular average Republican who was endorsed by Governor Charlie Baker. However in 2020, a Democrat, Deb Busser, got here near unseating her, shedding by about 800 votes.

Busser, although, isn’t too shocked on the loss.

“You’ve received to know — the district has at all times been extra conservative, and for a very long time has been a bit of crimson pocket on the New Hampshire border,” Busser stated.

Nonetheless, in 2020, Joe Biden would have gained practically 56 p.c of the vote beneath the newly drawn district traces, boundaries that shall be used beginning this election. However traditionally, the realm has routinely elected Republicans on the state degree.

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State Senator Jamie Eldridge, an Acton Democrat who represents cities simply south of the district, described the purple 1st Middlesex District as a far cry from jap Massachusetts.

It’s “ignored by Boston and the State Home, and that’s all the things from fixing roads and bridges to not offering sufficient help to rural college districts to underwhelming job development,” he stated.

That constellation of considerations has made the district fertile political floor for a average Republican, observers say.

Andrew Shepherd, a candidate for the GOP nomination for state consultant, spoke to attendees of Republican candidates evening on the Pepperell VFW Publish 3291. Barry Chin/Globe Workers

And of the candidates operating, the one hewing closest to Harrington’s model of politics is Shepherd, who runs a Townsend water supply firm.

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A mustache-sporting, button-down-wearing farmer whose household has referred to as the district house for greater than 100 years, Shepherd peppers his Fb web page with a hodgepodge of patriotic posts and “Tractor Discuss” movies. And whereas Shepherd holds some conservative views, similar to opposing vaccine mandates, he leans into conciliation and moderation, and says, for instance, relating to abortion, the federal government shouldn’t “inform any individual what to do in that regard.”

“For my part, individuals who supported Sheila and align themselves together with her views and her values will help Andrew,” stated Joanne Foran, who ran a number of of Harrington’s campaigns.

Shepherd, who interned for Harrington and Baker, stated he’s forging his “personal model of Republicanism.”

When requested, he wouldn’t share his presidential vote in 2020.

“I’m not within the nationwide model of politics,” Shepherd stated. He prioritizes securing state funding for the district and juicing what he characterised as a sluggish native economic system.

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“I’m the man that’s shoveling that turkey [excrement],” Shepherd, who raises turkeys, stated at a latest marketing campaign occasion. “And I’m able to go all the way down to Beacon Hill and shovel the [excrement] . . . for our district.”

Lynne Archambault watched as Andrew Shepherd shared his message with Republican and impartial voters on the Pepperell VFW Publish 3291. Each are operating for the Republican nomination for state consultant.Barry Chin/Globe Workers

However there’s a extra conservative pressure of Republican politics within the district, one that’s ascendant within the Massachusetts state get together and the nationwide GOP.

From Shepherd’s proper comes his main challenger: Lynne Archambault, a Pepperell mom of three, schoolteacher, and proprietor of a health studio in Pepperell.

Archambault is operating on a platform of stopping essential race idea from being taught in colleges, pushing again on vaccine mandates, and supporting the police.

“We share plenty of conservative beliefs,” Shepherd stated of his main challenger. “I believe we go about it a bit of in a different way.”

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She is a self-described “conservative Republican” who voted for Trump in 2020 however stated going ahead she’s a fan of Florida Governor Ron DeSantis if he steps into the 2024 presidential race.

Informational pamphlets propped up a desk leg at Republican candidates evening. Barry Chin/Globe Workers

Archambault launched what she referred to as a voter’s information. It stated her opponent doesn’t oppose vaccine mandates and doesn’t oppose essential race idea in public college curriculums. Shepherd stated he was “disgusted” at this, questioning how she might get away with misconstruing his positions.

One late June night, Pepperell’s senior middle held a candidates evening that includes all 4 challengers. The GOP variations have been stark.

One resident stood up and requested all of the candidates to present a sure or no: “Do you imagine the 2020 presidential election was stolen from Donald Trump?”

Outright “no’s” from three candidates. Archambault paused.

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“I’m going to say there was some fraud,” she stated. “However I’m not certified to say if it was stolen.”

On abortion, Archambault is unabashedly in opposition to abortion rights.

Shepherd highlighted the chance for the district to run an area electrical utility and stated he needed to remain out of federal points. Archambault’s first phrases in her opening assertion on the Republican debate: “Joe Biden.”

Whoever the GOP victor, Democrats are relying on their presumptive nominee, Scarsdale, who has racked up quite a few endorsements from liberal statewide organizations and sitting lawmakers. She is embedded in native politics. A Georgia transplant, she first ran a writing and consulting enterprise and had stints in environmental activism.

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Margaret Scarsdale, a Democratic candidate for state consultant, bumped elbows throughout a NoWoCo (North Worcester County) Pleasure Flag elevating ceremony and celebration in Lunenburg.Barry Chin/Globe Workers

Scarsdale, who will face the GOP nominee together with impartial Catherine Lundeen, stated she is “fiscally conservative” and “socially accountable,” repeatedly describing herself as somebody who rolls up their sleeves. She voted for Baker and Biden, and touted her “lifelong Republican supporters.”

In an interview, Scarsdale struggled to reply questions on a number of of her coverage proposals.

When requested about her priorities if elected, Scarsdale stated she hopes to reform how soil dumping websites, like one deliberate in Pepperell, are chosen, however she stated she’s uncertain if this could possibly be addressed through legislative motion. Scarsdale added she hoped to safe extra state assist for native colleges and fund workforce improvement in environmentally sustainable industries.

No matter points most animate voters, native or nationwide, old-school door-knocking would possibly determine the race.

Stated Foran, the previous Harrington aide: “It’s actually going to be who has a stronger presence.”


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Simon Levien will be reached at simon.levien@globe.com. Comply with him on twiitter @simonjlevien.





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New Hampshire

New Hampshire Passes Texas on Tax Competitiveness – NH Journal

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New Hampshire Passes Texas on Tax Competitiveness – NH Journal


(This article first appeared at JBartlett.org)

 

New Hampshire this year slipped ahead of Texas to claim the No. 6 spot on a national index of state tax competitiveness published by the Tax Foundation.

Formerly the Business Tax Climate Index, the newly redesigned 2025 State Tax Competitiveness Index combines the Tax Foundation’s indexes for corporate, individual income, sales, property and unemployment insurance taxes.

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New Hampshire ranked No. 1 on sales taxes, 12 on individual income taxes, 27 on unemployment insurance taxes, 32 on corporate taxes and 39 on property taxes.

That was good enough to place New Hampshire sixth overall, behind perennial top-five states Wyoming, South Dakota, Alaska, Florida, and Montana.

Texas, previously in the sixth spot, fell to seventh, with New Hampshire edging up one spot by a fraction of a point.

(The foundation applied its new methodology to previous studies going back to 2020 so states could compare their progress.)

Texas ranked No. 1 on individual income taxes, but was in the bottom half on all other taxes. New Hampshire’s only personal income tax—the Interest & Dividends Tax—is scheduled to expire at the end of this year.

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Wyoming and South Dakota, the top two states for years, tied as usual for No. 1 on both corporate and individual income taxes.

Florida (with which New Hampshire competes for residents, workers and retirees) also tied for No. 1 in individual income taxes. It ranked No. 10 in unemployment insurance taxes, 14 in sales taxes, 16 in corporate taxes, and 21 in property taxes.

The Tax Foundation praised New Hampshire lawmakers for voting in 2023 to let businesses fully deduct interest expenses in the year incurred, rather than over time.

“This change, following on the heels of rate reductions to New Hampshire’s two business taxes, helped New Hampshire’s corporate component ranking improve by eight places, from 40th to 32nd,” the report noted.

New Hampshire was dinged for high property and corporate taxes.

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The report noted that the Interest & Dividends Tax rate change from 4 percent to 3 percent did not alter this year’s ranking because the state was already so competitive. But eliminating the tax is seen as a positive step.

“New Hampshire will officially join the ranks of the individual income tax-free states once its low-rate interest and dividends (I&D) tax is eliminated in January 2025, further solidifying its competitive standing overall,” according to the report.

To improve New Hampshire’s tax competitiveness, the Tax Foundation recommends “eliminating the I&D tax…adopting permanent full expensing” and improving the state’s treatment of net operating loss carry forward,” all things legislators have tried to address in recent years.



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New Hampshire

Motorcyclist dies after crash Wednesday in Bedford, NH

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Motorcyclist dies after crash Wednesday in Bedford, NH


A 33-year-old man was killed in a motorcycle crash in Bedford, New Hampshire, on Wednesday.

State police said they responded to a report of a motorcycle crash on the off-ramp from Raymond Wieczorek Drive onto South River Road in Bedford around 5:09 p.m. Wednesday.

Their preliminary investigation determined that Brandon G. Roy, of Nashua, was riding a 2020 Honda motorcycle on the off-ramp when he failed to negotiate a right-hand turn, lost control of the bike and crashed. The off-ramp was closed while the Bedford Fire Department attempted to provide life-saving measures. He was taken by ambulance to Elliot Hospital in Manchester, where he was pronounced dead.

The off-ramp reopened around 7:30 p.m. after state police completed their on-scene investigation. They were assisted by Bedford police and fire and the New Hampshire Department of Transportation.

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The crash remains under investigation, and anyone with information is asked to contact Trooper Noah Brown at 603-223-4381 or noah.c.brown@dos.nh.gov.



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New Hampshire

Police shoot and kill man following standoff at NH bed and breakfast

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Police shoot and kill man following standoff at NH bed and breakfast


Police shot and killed a man following an hourslong standoff at a historic bed and breakfast in New Hampshire’s White Mountains region early Thursday morning.

The New Hampshire Attorney General’s Office said in a 3 a.m. press release that they were responding to a report of a fatal police shooting that occurred early Thursday morning in Plymouth. They said an adult male was fatally shot at the Federal House Inn on Route 25.

The identity of the person who was shot is being withheld pending notification of family, the attorney general’s office said. An autopsy will be conducted by the chief medical examiner’s office.

The attorney general’s office said police responded to the area following a disturbance call at the inn on Wednesday afternoon. When they arrived, they found a man armed and barricaded inside.

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No law enforcement officers were injured in the incident, according to authorities.

The name of the officers involved in the shooting and what agencies they were associated with have not been released and the exact circumstances remain under active investigation, the attorney general’s office said.

Plymouth police said in a Facebook post around 9 p.m. Wednesday that they responded around 2:40 p.m. to a report of shots fired with injury in the area of Route 25 and the traffic circle. They said the nearby Mountain Village Charter School and numerous surrounding businesses were placed in lockdown as a precaution, and all children have since been reunited with their families.

In a follow-up post at 3:50 a.m. Thursday, the department added that Route 25 from the traffic circle to Hawkenson Drive in Rumney remains closed. Motorists are urged to seek an alternate route.

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New Hampshire State Police had provided several updates on the incident on social media on Wednesday night.

Their first post around 4 p.m. Wednesday said that state police troopers had responded to reports of shots fired and a barricaded subject on Route 25 in Plymouth near the traffic circle. They said the subject was contained and there was no threat to public safety.

In subsequent posts later in the evening, state police said the situation was “active and ongoing” and the road remained closed.

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