Editor’s Note: Dr. Bill Marsh said he will officially announce his run for NH Senate on Tuesday. Last Thursday, Senate President Jeb Bradley, R-Wolfeboro, announced he is not running for re-election for NH Senate District 3. See Paula Tracy story here: https://indepthnh.org/2024/05/02/republican-senate-president-jeb-bradley-wont-seek-re-election/
Dr. Marsh, once vice chairman of the Health and Human Services Committee in the House, lives in Brookfield and will run as a Democrat. He caused a stir in 2021 as a member of the House when he switch from being a Republican to a Democrat because of what he called “extremists” in the House. See story here: https://indepthnh.org/wp-admin/post.php?post=2341189&action=edit.
In 2022, he ran against Bradley and lost, with Bradley getting 15,972 votes to Marsh’s 10,929. Marsh’s new website is here: https://marsh4senate.com/.
Dr. Marsh’s interview with NBC 10 about the Free State Project is here: https://youtu.be/Gek0oh-ekl8?si=oq4x22xIPv1k6f4l
Republican Rep. Mark McConkey was the first to announce for Bradley’s seat: https://indepthnh.org/2024/05/02/republican-rep-mark-mcconkey-announces-campaign-for-state-sen-jeb-bradleys-seat/
By Dr. Bill Marsh
Two years ago my time in the NH House was over. Clearly NH still has a lot of issues to solve – protecting our democracy, preserving choice, climate change and electric costs, and how to fairly fund our children’s education. All of these issues are things I care a lot about, right beside and fully integrated into the issues I have worked on for years: access to medical care in rural NH, protecting the right to vote, and our public health.
But retirement brings a new perspective – these problems are “our problems” not “my problems.” Our society needs to address all of them. And people intimately involved in each and every one of them – people like you in this room — need to step up and do your part to solve your piece of this complex puzzle. No matter how much I care, I don’t have all the answers, and even if I did, until enough people take ownership, the right answers are not enough.
On Thursday May 2nd, I was at the North Main Street cafe in Wolfeboro encouraging one such person to step up and engage with an important problem when suddenly my phone and texts and emails started nonstop.
To quote former Senator Jeanne Dietsch, “We need you in the Senate!”
For years, Jeb Bradley, our Senator from NH District 3 demonstrated an ability to bring disparate parties together and pull off a “Wolfeboro Special”, breaking logjams in the NH legislature and solving problems for the people of New Hampshire.
I wish my old friend the absolute best in his well-deserved retirement. I really enjoyed retirement. But yes my friends, I got your message. I am willing to step up again and do my part.
The citizens of New Hampshire still need someone able to carry on this tradition and work with both sides to solve real problems. I demonstrated that ability by passing more bills into law than any other Representative during my last 4 years in the House. I became a Democrat when I became convinced there was no longer room for that kind of bipartisan cooperation in today’s Republican party. That is unfortunate. But we still need to work together to find answers for everyone in NH.
The people of Carroll County already know me well. I served as Representative from district 8 for 6 years. I took care of them and their families as a local doctor for 30 years, practicing out of both Huggins and Memorial Hospitals. I served as Brookfield’s Moderator for 12 years and as their Health Officer for 20 years.
I look forward to again serving in our legislature for you, my friends and neighbors.