Jon Morgan to challenge for Janet Stevens' NH Executive Council seat

BRENTWOOD — Former state Sen. Jon Morgan, a Democrat from Brentwood, plans to run in the 2024 election for the New Hampshire Executive Council District 3 seat currently held by Republican Janet Stevens of Rye.

Morgan announced his intent to run May 4 at the Rockingham County Democratic Committee’s 20th annual clam bake.

“We’re in a really scary time for our country. I think a lot of people are scared and don't know really what to make of it, there's a lot of lack of trust, we see a lot of lack of integrity at so many different levels of government, and it's just really disheartening,” Morgan said of his decision to run. “If we acknowledge that someone needs to stand up and we are people that can stand up, we can make it work professionally and personally, then then we have to. That's an obligation.”

New Hampshire’s Executive Council is made up of five people representing five districts. They work with the governor to oversee the administration of state affairs and vote on nominations and state contracts.

Stevens, who is a Republican, has represented the third Executive Council district since 2020. She won reelection in 2022 against Democrat Katherine Harake with 53.2% of the vote. Stevens confirmed she intends to run again this year.

The district includes the city of Portsmouth and stretches along the coast south to Pelham. Its northwest border includes the towns of Newington, Newmarket, Epping, Raymond, Chester, Derry, and Windham.

According to a 2022 analysis of the district by the ACLU of New Hampshire, District 3 leans Republican. But Morgan said he “knows how to win in districts where we’re not supposed to win.”

Who is Jon Morgan?

In 2018, Jon Morgan defeated incumbent Sen. Bill Gannon, R-Sandown, to be elected as a New Hampshire state senator who represented District 23, which at the time included the towns of Epping, Exeter and Fremont.

That was a race he “didn’t have any business winning,” Morgan said, as the district leans red. The next election year, 2020, he lost re-election to Gannon.

Now, he’s running again “to make sure that voters know that they have a choice, even in an aggressively gerrymandered district like this.”

Morgan is currently a Brentwood selectman and works in cybersecurity.

Who is Janet Stevens?

Stevens was first elected to the Executive Council in 2020, defeating Democratic candidate Mindi Messmer with 52.7% of the vote.

“I have a record of delivering much needed services to District 3 municipalities and I intend to continue the progress I have made,” Stevens said of her decision to run again. She added that she has consistently advocated for the allocation of federal funds to municipalities in her district.

Stevens said some of her accomplishments as executive councilor include transportation projects in District 3, like repairs for seawalls and the replacement of the red-listed bridge connecting Hampton to Seabrook, supporting the InVestNH housing program, and helping to get additional school infrastructure safety funding for District 3 school systems.

Stevens has lived in the Seacoast for 30 years. She said she is "fiercely competitive" and "protective" of her constituents, but also advocates for all New Hampshire residents.

Morgan says current executive councilors put 'politics first'

Morgan emphasized his disappointment with certain Executive Council votes over the past few years; specifically on reproductive health care centers and on federal money for COVID vaccination efforts.

The four Republicans on the Executive Council have voted five times in the last three years to reject funding for three reproductive health care centers that provide low-cost basic reproductive health care, like cancer screenings, STD testing, and contraception for low-income women because the centers also provide abortions, despite audits showing the state and federal funds aren't used for abortions. Gov. Chris Sununu, a fellow Republican, urged the councilors to approve the funding, but they did not.

“It's really been upsetting to see that happen over and over and over again,” Morgan said. “We have thousands of Granite Staters who really rely on those health clinics for many things, not just their reproductive health, and they're now really struggling to keep the doors open.”

Stevens said she knows access to health care is critical, and she will “continue to support funding for women’s health clinics and expanded healthcare access for Granite Staters.” She also said she supports New Hampshire’s current abortion law, which allows abortion up to 24 weeks.

Morgan also criticized Stevens directly for her vote to reject $27 million of federal money for COVID vaccination efforts in the state, and then for her “flip flop” when she later joined four members of the Council in voting to accept the funds. Sununu criticized the GOP councilors for the vote to reject the funds.

“The current Executive Council has made the disastrous decision of putting politics before the health of Granite Staters,” Morgan said. “We’re going to make sure that we don’t do that.”

Stevens said her hesitancy on the initial vote was “to ensure that the funds were not with requirements by the federal government such as school closures, business closures, and requirements beyond our state recommendations.”

“It would be akin to signing a lease, loan agreement, or mortgage without knowing the terms,” Stevens said.

Morgan and Stevens share their top issues

Morgan said some of the big issues he’s focused on are cost of living and women’s health care.

As a father of three young kids, he said his family understands the struggles many people in the state face with the “crisis of affordability,” including housing, health care, and food costs.

“Folks have a really hard time finding jobs that can keep them here in New Hampshire because the cost of living here is so extraordinary, and that's really upsetting. I think that's a perspective that I will help to bring to office,” Morgan said. “For various reasons, the vast majority of folks who are serving in Concord on the Executive Council simply don't have that perspective.”

Morgan added he wants to make sure that large out-of-state corporations are footing their fair share of the bill as part of a way to stop increasing property taxes, saying that a lot of costs are falling on Granite Staters.

Top priorities for Stevens include affordable workforce housing, behavioral healthcare, transportation, and drinking/wastewater infrastructure. She said she has already worked to find solutions for all these issues, saying her commitment to constituent service has been described as “unprecedented.”

Morgan, Stevens look to election in fall 2024

Morgan said one of the biggest drivers behind his decision to run for office comes from his late father, Michael, who was the superintendent for SAU 16, the Exeter area school district.

“He had this big thing my entire life growing up about always leaving the woodpile higher than you found it,” Morgan said. “I want to set that example for my kids. I want to leave the woodpile higher for my community, for the state, and I think that that's what we're going to be able to do by winning this race and the Executive Council for District 3.”

The filing period for all candidates running for state offices is June 5-14. The primary election is Sept. 10 when either candidate could face a challenger for their party's nomination. The general election is the same day as the presidential election on Nov. 5.

This article originally appeared on Portsmouth Herald: Jon Morgan to challenge Janet Stevens for NH Executive Council seat