By Rich Gulla, president of the State Employees’ Association of New Hampshire, SEIU 1984.
Secretary of State Dave Scanlan has earned another term. On Dec. 2, the New Hampshire House and Senate will meet to elect our secretary of state. Democrats have the votes to replace Dave Scanlan. They should vote with Republicans to give him another term. Simply put, Secretary Scanlan represents the independent streak that is the New Hampshire way. A bipartisan vote to re-elect him would send a strong message that the way you do the job still counts in Concord.
When the Democratic National Committee tried to move New Hampshire behind South Carolina in 2024, Scanlan followed state law and set our presidential primary for Jan. 23, keeping it first. He has said he will defend our place again in 2028. And when the Trump administration demanded New Hampshire’s full voter registration file, Scanlan refused to hand over confidential voter information. Even when he has received threats from Trump’s Department of Justice, he did not blink one bit. In both cases, the powers that be in Washington wanted something from New Hampshire, and our secretary of state stood his ground.
Scanlan has brought that same independence to the people he’s put in charge. When he took over from Bill Gardner, a Democrat who had relied on Scanlan as his deputy for two decades, Scanlan named former Democratic state Rep. Patricia Lovejoy senior deputy and made Dave Lang, also a Democrat and a retired firefighter, his chief of staff. He also formed a bipartisan committee that heard directly from the public about how to build confidence in our elections.
The job goes well beyond elections. The secretary’s office oversees public risk pools such as HealthTrust, which helps towns and school districts provide health benefits. Scanlan understands the actuarial questions at the heart of that debate. How much should a pool set aside when medical claims can jump unexpectedly? Who pays when the money runs short? HealthTrust argues that larger reserves help prevent surprise bills. Scanlan has pushed for closer scrutiny of how pools set rates and reserves. As someone who represents public employees, I know we need a secretary who understands what those decisions mean for workers’ health coverage and for the local budgets that help pay for it.
If Democrats replace a capable secretary simply because they have the votes to put a Democrat in the job, they will hand Republicans a ready-made reason to do the same the next time control flips. Pretty soon, every election for the Legislature could become an election for a new chief election official. The town clerks and moderators who run our elections deserve a steady partner at the State House. Voters deserve to know the person overseeing their elections can apply the same rules no matter who holds the majority.
Democrats can set a standard they are willing to live by when Republicans are back in charge. We should judge Scanlan by the job he’s done and not by his party’s affiliation. He has stood up to President Trump and the DNC and he has earned another term. Give him one.
Rich Gulla is president of the State Employees’ Association of New Hampshire, SEIU 1984.