Carl Wikstrom

This page was current at the end of the individual's last campaign covered by Ballotpedia. Please contact us with any updates.

Carl Wikstrom

Republican Party

Elections and appointments

Last election

November 3, 2020

Education

Bachelor's

Rice University, 1978

Ph.D

Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 1990

Personal

Birthplace

Fort Smith, Ark.

Profession

Research engineering executive

Contact

Campaign website

Campaign Facebook

Personal Facebook

Personal LinkedIn

Carl Wikstrom (Republican Party) ran for election to the New Hampshire House of Representatives to represent Rockingham 18. He lost in the general election on November 3, 2020.

Wikstrom completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2020. Click here to read the survey answers.

Biography

Wikstrom was born in Fort Smith, Arkansas. He earned a bachelor's degree from Rice University in 1978 and a Ph.D. from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1990. His career experience includes working as a research engineering executive.

Elections

2020

See also: New Hampshire House of Representatives elections, 2020

General election

General election for New Hampshire House of Representatives Rockingham 18 (4 seats)

The following candidates ran in the general election for New Hampshire House of Representatives Rockingham 18 on November 3, 2020.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Julie Gilman (D)	16.6	5,865
✔		Gaby Grossman (D)	16.3	5,773
✔		Lisa Bunker (D)	15.8	5,598
✔		Mark Paige (D)	15.8	5,583
	Submit photo	Greg Stone (R)	9.4	3,317
	Submit photo	Edward Duncan (R)	9.0	3,191
		Carl Wikstrom (R)	8.7	3,063
	Submit photo	William A. Smith (R)	8.4	2,972
		Other/Write-in votes	0.1	18

---

	Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 35,380
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.
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Democratic primary election

Democratic primary for New Hampshire House of Representatives Rockingham 18 (4 seats)

Incumbent Gaby Grossman, incumbent Julie Gilman, incumbent Lisa Bunker, and Mark Paige advanced from the Democratic primary for New Hampshire House of Representatives Rockingham 18 on September 8, 2020.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Gaby Grossman	25.8	2,107
✔		Julie Gilman	25.5	2,086
✔		Lisa Bunker	24.9	2,030
✔		Mark Paige	23.8	1,945
		Other/Write-in votes	0.0	1

---

	Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 8,169
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team.

Republican primary election

Republican primary for New Hampshire House of Representatives Rockingham 18 (4 seats)

Greg Stone, Edward Duncan, Carl Wikstrom, and William A. Smith advanced from the Republican primary for New Hampshire House of Representatives Rockingham 18 on September 8, 2020.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔	Submit photo	Greg Stone	26.9	804
✔	Submit photo	Edward Duncan	26.2	783
✔		Carl Wikstrom	24.2	725
✔	Submit photo	William A. Smith	22.7	678

---

	There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 2,990
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team.

Campaign themes

2020

Ballotpedia survey responses

See also: Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection

Carl Wikstrom completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2020. The survey questions appear in bold and are followed by Wikstrom's responses. Candidates are asked three required questions for this survey, but they may answer additional optional questions as well.

Expand all | Collapse all

Who are you? Tell us about yourself.

I am a retired research engineer and executive. I seek to maintain New Hampshire's state tax structure with no state income or sales tax.

I currently serve as a volunteer member of the Water/Sewer and River Advisory Committees in Exeter, New Hampshire.

I have a PhD in Chemical Engineering from MIT and a bachelors in Chemistry from Rice University in Houston, Texas.

I love my town support the local arts and restaurants. I enjoy playing bridge on-line and, when we can again, in person.

Please list below 3 key messages of your campaign. What are the main points you want voters to remember about your goals for your time in office?

• I will oppose any New Hampshire sales or income tax.
• I will oppose any infringement of Second Ammendment Rights.
• I support school choice as parents know what is the best way to educate their child.

What areas of public policy are you personally passionate about?

I am emphatically against raising taxes and spending.

I fully support second amendment rights and will oppose "red flag" laws.

I want parents to be able to choose the educational path for their children.

I support efforts to end qualified immunity for government officials because ALL persons should be responsible for their own actions

Who do you look up to? Whose example would you like to follow, and why?

Thomas Massey (R-Kentucky) because he has tried to fight against the Swamp in Washington, even though it is a Quixotic effort.

What characteristics or principles are most important for an elected official?

Legislators sometimes have to compromise, but should never compromise their own principles or contradict the postions that they took in order to get elected.

What qualities do you possess that you believe would make you a successful officeholder?

Determination and Honesty

What do you believe are the core responsibilities for someone elected to this office?

Fiscal Responsibility, including protecting the taxpayer

Protecting Individual Freedoms, including the Second Amendment

Supporting education by allowing parents to have the decision in how their children are schooled

Protecting civil rights by making government officials, including police, accountable for their actions

What legacy would you like to leave?

No changes to New Hampshire Tax Structure

Reduced regulations

School Flexibility for Parents

No new gun regulations

Accountability of all government officials, including police

What is the first historical event that happened in your lifetime that you remember? How old were you at the time?

Election of John F Kennedy. I was five years old.

What was your very first job? How long did you have it?

Newspaper delivery. About one year.

What is your favorite book? Why?

The Game of Thrones book series AKA Fire and Ice. I just love fantasy.

If you could be any fictional character, who would you want to be?

Superman. I would like to be able to fly,

What was the last song that got stuck in your head?

Night and Day

Every state besides Nebraska has two legislative chambers. What do you consider the most important differences between the legislative chambers in your state?

The House has 400 members, the Senate only 24. Thus the House is more local with small districts, while the Senate members have much larger districts and tend to have more expensive campaigns. A contested campaign in the House can be run with $2000-$3000. Due to the size of the chamber, the House committees are much larger.

Do you believe that it’s beneficial for state legislators to have previous experience in government or politics?

No.

What do you perceive to be your state’s greatest challenges over the next decade?

Maintaining low taxes and fewer regulations as more of the left is living in New Hampshire and commuting to Massachusetts.

What do you believe is the ideal relationship between the governor and the state legislature?

Ideally, there would be a check on bad legislation by the Governor and cooperation on good legislation. Of course, "bad" and "good" are not usually agreed designations by both parties,

Do you believe it’s beneficial to build relationships with other legislators? Please explain your answer.

Yes, most certainly. There are thousands of bills that are proposed in the House and having an ally that can communicate problems with bills is a necessity. Also, being able to cosponsor bills with others, maybe even the other party, helps to ensure passage of bills that I dem to be good,

What process do you favor for redistricting?

I would like for the districts to be chosen by population, without any deference to party affiliation. I would like it to be strictly by population and geography, objectively along latitude and longitude, instead of density of any particular party.

If you are not a current legislator, are there certain committees that you would want to be a part of?

Given my background, i feel I am most qualified to be on the Science, Technology, and Energy Committee.

I would also like to serve on the Education Committee or the Environment and Agriculture Committee,

If you are not currently a member of your party’s leadership in the legislature, would you be interested in joining the leadership? If so, in what role?

As a Freshman, I do not believe I have the experience to be in the leadership of my party.

Is there a particular legislator, past or present, whom you want to model yourself after?

I would like to perform my role similarly to Alan Bershtein or Mark Warden, who are both friends of mine.

Are you interested in running for a different political office (for example, the U.S. Congress or governor) in the future?

No

Note: Ballotpedia reserves the right to edit Candidate Connection survey responses. Any edits made by Ballotpedia will be clearly marked with [brackets] for the public. If the candidate disagrees with an edit, he or she may request the full removal of the survey response from Ballotpedia.org. Ballotpedia does not edit or correct typographical errors unless the candidate's campaign requests it.

See also

2020 Elections

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Footnotes

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