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David DePuy

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David DePuy
Image of David DePuy
Elections and appointments
Last election

November 5, 2024

Education

High school

Ramsey High School

Bachelor's

Lehigh University, 1966

Law

Boston University School of Law, 1969

Personal
Birthplace
Paterson, N.J.
Religion
Protestant
Profession
Retired
Contact

David DePuy (Democratic Party) ran for election to the New Hampshire House of Representatives to represent Rockingham 31. He lost in the general election on November 5, 2024.

DePuy completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2024. Click here to read the survey answers.

Biography

David DePuy was born in Paterson, New Jersey. He graduated from Ramsey High School. He earned a bachelor's degree from Lehigh University in 1966 and a law degree from Boston University School of Law in 1969. His career experience includes working as a lawyer and mediator. He has been affiliated with the International Society of Barristers.[1]

Elections

2024

See also: New Hampshire House of Representatives elections, 2024

General election

General election for New Hampshire House of Representatives Rockingham 31 (2 seats)

Incumbent Jess Edwards and incumbent Terry Roy defeated Charlotte Lister and David DePuy in the general election for New Hampshire House of Representatives Rockingham 31 on November 5, 2024.

Candidate
%
Votes
Image of Jess Edwards
Jess Edwards (R)
 
33.1
 
8,166
Image of Terry Roy
Terry Roy (R)
 
30.0
 
7,397
Charlotte Lister (D)
 
18.8
 
4,641
Image of David DePuy
David DePuy (D) Candidate Connection
 
18.0
 
4,425
 Other/Write-in votes
 
0.0
 
11

Total votes: 24,640
Candidate Connection = 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 31 (2 seats)

Charlotte Lister and David DePuy advanced from the Democratic primary for New Hampshire House of Representatives Rockingham 31 on September 10, 2024.

Candidate
%
Votes
Charlotte Lister
 
53.5
 
1,379
Image of David DePuy
David DePuy Candidate Connection
 
46.3
 
1,193
 Other/Write-in votes
 
0.2
 
6

Total votes: 2,578
Candidate Connection = 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 31 (2 seats)

Incumbent Jess Edwards and incumbent Terry Roy advanced from the Republican primary for New Hampshire House of Representatives Rockingham 31 on September 10, 2024.

Candidate
%
Votes
Image of Jess Edwards
Jess Edwards
 
52.8
 
2,591
Image of Terry Roy
Terry Roy
 
46.5
 
2,282
 Other/Write-in votes
 
0.7
 
35

Total votes: 4,908
Candidate Connection = 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.

Endorsements

Ballotpedia did not identify endorsements for DePuy in this election.

Campaign themes

2024

Ballotpedia survey responses

See also: Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection

Candidate Connection

David DePuy completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2024. The survey questions appear in bold and are followed by DePuy's responses. Candidates are asked three required questions for this survey, but they may answer additional optional questions as well.

Expand all | Collapse all

I am a resident of Candia, where I have resided for the past 38 years. I am retired from the McLane Law Firm (now McLane Middleton), where I practiced law for 51 years. I was president of the New Hampshire Trial Lawyers Association (now the New Hampshire Association for Justice), 1989-1990, and a member of several law-related associations.

From 2012 to 2015, I was privileged to serve on the Candia Board of Selectmen, which taught me a lot about the tough choices faced by town selectboards regarding funding town services. I also became aware of the underfunding of school budgets by the state and the challenges faced by local school boards. Currently, I am a member of the Board of Trustees of the Fitts Museum, which, along with the Candia Historical Society, seeks to preserve the town’s history.

I enjoy gardening, being outdoors for almost any reason, observing the wildlife of our rural communities, and spending time with my children, grandchildren, friends, and neighbors.
  • Property tax relief for the homeowner. An incredible 60% of total state and local taxes is paid by property owners as of 2022. The state is continually reducing or eliminating taxes at the state level. Those tax cuts reduce support to the communities, which have no alternative but to raise property taxes. This year, the state is eliminating the Interest and Dividends Tax. In 2023, that tax brought in approximately $150 million. In 2020, 52% of the tax was paid by 1,723 tax return filers who each earned over $200,000 in interest and dividends alone. The elimination of this tax benefits those who can most afford to pay and places the onus of greater taxes on those who can least afford to pay.
  • Instead of cutting taxes at the state level, we need to disburse a larger share of revenue surpluses to the towns. Instead, the state has been cutting taxes that bring in revenue from large businesses, out-of-state tourists, and other sources, forcing towns to raise property taxes to make up for that lost revenue. These cuts have resulted in lost revenue since 2015 of between approximately $450 million and $725 million. We do not want a broad-based income or sales tax, and these cuts do not help keep that lion at bay. Yet despite knowing that, the state is making further cuts, to the Interest and Dividends and the communications taxes, incurring further lost revenue of approximately $172 million annually.
  • Increased state support for public schools. State school aid appropriations have increased just 12.3% over 15 years, from 2008 to 2023, while inflation has gone up 41.5%. The state’s response to this has been to authorize $50 million for a voucher program for children who attend private school or are homeschooled (the “Education Freedom” accounts). A family that homeschools two children and whose property taxes are $7,000 can receive more than $10,000 from the state voucher program, ending up $3,000 ahead. There is no accountability for how those funds are spent. That is $50 million that could be going to our public schools.
1. The appropriation of greater state tax revenues to municipalities to meet critical needs, thus relieving the burden on property taxpayers.

2. Increasing support of public schools.

3. Compromising to resolve issues.
John McCain, as I discussed in an earlier question.
Honesty, integrity, and listening to constituents. Those are givens, but the willingness to compromise is high on my list. The country and the state are much too polarized, with people getting further apart. Nobody gets their own way all the time. To the extent the pendulum swings one way now, it invariably swings the other way later. In my mind, compromise brings people together, with the result that long-lasting policies are adopted.

Engaging in communication of views between both sides of the aisle can only lead to a better understanding of what issues are really in dispute, with a greater likelihood that those in dispute can be resolved.

We all feel passionately about some positions, issues, and policies, but compromise is the best result. I have tried many cases in the practice of law, but 90% of cases settled through mediation or negotiation. So it should be in politics. When I was on the Board of Selectmen in Candia, it was my goal, and, I think, the goal of the entire board, to reach a unanimous decision in resolving all issues that confronted us.
• Put in the time the job demands. Keep lines of communication open with constituents.

• Educate yourself and your constituents about significant issues, where time and experience permit.

• Vote consistently with your declared positions, and as to other matters, vote your conscience in the best interest of your towns.
Don’t sing it, whistle it, or even remind me of its name!
It’s difficult to predict a decade ahead or even five years.

My thoughts: Let’s not make new laws because one or two individuals perceive the need over something personal to them. Don’t take a sledgehammer to a violation of a law when a tack hammer would do. There are too many laws whose violation carries felony or misdemeanor charges when characterizing the violation as an offense would suffice.
The major challenges I see in a very clouded crystal ball are:
• Adequately funding public schools.
• Obtaining relief of the tax burden on homeowners.
• Caring for our environment.
• Finding as much common ground as possible.

• Respecting the opinions of others. It’s never good versus evil. It’s usually good versus good. We can be good friends and good neighbors while differing completely on politics. In New Hampshire, when someone is stuck in a snowbank in February, we don’t first ask them what party they belong to before getting out of our car and trudging through the snow to give them a push.
Absolutely. Exchange views with other legislators, and after you are done, do not leave angry, leave educated. Think about what they had to say. The process may narrow the gap. You may reassess your position. And your opponent one day may be your supporter another day. And don’t hold a grudge; it’s too heavy a burden.
No. But there is one legislator in the last 10 years who I have the greatest respect for — John McCain, who served in the United States Navy, served in the US Senate as a senator from Arizona from 1987 until his death in 2018, and was a candidate for president in 2008. He was a graduate of the US Naval Academy, as was my son-in-law, Dean Brammer, a naval aviator. McCain nearly died in 1967 in the USS Forrestal fire, was shot down and seriously injured in Vietnam in 1967, and was captured by the North Vietnamese and held as a prisoner of war until 1973. During that time, he was tortured and was offered but refused early release ahead of other prisoners.

When, during McCain’s campaign for president, members of the public at a town hall-style event told McCain they were afraid of Obama because they believed he was connected to terrorists, McCain said no. He told the voters that Obama was a decent person, a family man, and a citizen. Obama went on to win the election decidedly, but the outcome was by no means certain at the time of that event.

Fortunately, I was able to meet John McCain at an event held at my law firm in 2015 and tell him that in my opinion, he was one of the greatest Americans in our country’s history.
While on the Candia Board of Selectmen, I heard many compliments for our staff at Town Hall, our Police Department, our Recycling Center, and our Fire Department and Ambulance Service, among others, as well as comments about the great job done by the Candia Youth Athletic Association in constructing a large athletic facility and playing fields. Many praised the volunteers who gave their time, effort, and finances to construct the fields and the athletic facility, as well as the citizens who donated toward these efforts.
A bill to increase state funding for our public schools and municipalities.
Family, friends, and many of those who have listened to my explanation of the plight of our municipalities and schools as the result of the state’s concerted effort to cut taxes at the state level, thereby forcing municipalities to raise taxes on property owners.
No candidate can oppose the need for both. Though the New Hampshire tax system is complicated, and at times difficult to fathom, it is transparent, and those who spend hours looking at it can get a good understanding of it.
The goal of too many of those holding state office is to reduce taxes at the state level, without recognizing that ultimately, inevitably, those state tax reductions result in oppressive property taxes for homeowners.
I'd have to give this question more study before taking a position.

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.

Campaign finance summary


Note: The finance data shown here comes from the disclosures required of candidates and parties. Depending on the election or state, this may represent only a portion of all the funds spent on their behalf. Satellite spending groups may or may not have expended funds related to the candidate or politician on whose page you are reading this disclaimer. Campaign finance data from elections may be incomplete. For elections to federal offices, complete data can be found at the FEC website. Click here for more on federal campaign finance law and here for more on state campaign finance law.


David DePuy campaign contribution history
YearOfficeStatusContributionsExpenditures
2024* New Hampshire House of Representatives Rockingham 31Lost general$2,970 $0
Grand total$2,970 $0
Sources: OpenSecretsFederal Elections Commission ***This product uses the openFEC API but is not endorsed or certified by the Federal Election Commission (FEC).
* Data from this year may not be complete

See also


External links

Footnotes

  1. Information submitted to Ballotpedia through the Candidate Connection survey on October 8, 2024


Representatives
Belknap 1
Belknap 2
Belknap 3
Belknap 4
Belknap 7
Belknap 8
Carroll 1
Tom Buco (D)
Carroll 2
Carroll 3
Carroll 4
Carroll 5
Carroll 6
Carroll 7
Carroll 8
Cheshire 1
Cheshire 10
Cheshire 11
Cheshire 12
Cheshire 13
Cheshire 14
John Hunt (R)
Cheshire 15
Cheshire 16
Cheshire 17
Cheshire 18
Cheshire 2
Dru Fox (D)
Cheshire 3
Cheshire 4
Cheshire 5
Cheshire 6
Cheshire 7
Cheshire 8
Cheshire 9
Coos 1
Coos 2
Coos 3
Coos 4
Seth King (R)
Coos 5
Coos 6
Coos 7
Grafton 10
Grafton 11
Grafton 13
Grafton 14
Grafton 15
Grafton 16
Grafton 17
Grafton 18
Grafton 2
Grafton 3
Grafton 4
Grafton 6
Grafton 7
Grafton 8
Grafton 9
Hillsborough 1
Hillsborough 10
Bill Ohm (R)
Hillsborough 11
Hillsborough 14
Hillsborough 15
Hillsborough 16
Hillsborough 17
Hillsborough 18
Hillsborough 19
Matt Drew (R)
Hillsborough 20
Hillsborough 21
Hillsborough 22
Hillsborough 23
Hillsborough 24
Hillsborough 25
Hillsborough 26
Hillsborough 27
Hillsborough 28
Keith Erf (R)
Hillsborough 29
Hillsborough 3
Hillsborough 30
Hillsborough 31
Hillsborough 32
Hillsborough 33
Hillsborough 34
Hillsborough 35
Hillsborough 36
Hillsborough 37
Hillsborough 38
Hillsborough 39
Hillsborough 4
Hillsborough 40
Hillsborough 41
Lily Foss (D)
Hillsborough 42
Lisa Post (R)
Hillsborough 43
Hillsborough 44
Hillsborough 45
Hillsborough 5
Hillsborough 6
Hillsborough 7
Hillsborough 8
Hillsborough 9
Merrimack 1
Merrimack 10
Merrimack 11
Merrimack 12
Merrimack 13
Merrimack 14
Merrimack 15
Merrimack 16
Merrimack 17
Merrimack 18
Merrimack 19
Merrimack 2
Merrimack 20
Merrimack 21
Merrimack 22
Merrimack 23
Merrimack 24
Merrimack 25
Merrimack 26
Alvin See (R)
Merrimack 27
Merrimack 28
Merrimack 29
Merrimack 3
Merrimack 30
Merrimack 4
Merrimack 5
Merrimack 6
Merrimack 7
Merrimack 8
Merrimack 9
Rockingham 1
Rockingham 10
Rockingham 11
Rockingham 12
Zoe Manos (D)
Rockingham 14
Pam Brown (R)
Rockingham 15
Rockingham 18
Rockingham 19
Rockingham 2
Rockingham 20
Rockingham 21
Rockingham 22
Rockingham 23
Rockingham 24
Rockingham 26
Rockingham 27
Rockingham 28
Rockingham 29
Rockingham 3
Mary Ford (R)
Rockingham 30
Rockingham 31
Terry Roy (R)
Rockingham 32
Rockingham 33
Rockingham 34
Rockingham 35
Rockingham 36
Rockingham 37
Rockingham 38
Rockingham 39
Rockingham 4
Rockingham 40
Rockingham 5
Rockingham 6
Rockingham 7
Rockingham 8
Rockingham 9
Strafford 1
Strafford 11
Strafford 13
Strafford 14
Strafford 15
Strafford 16
Strafford 17
Strafford 18
Strafford 19
Strafford 20
Strafford 21
Luz Bay (D)
Strafford 3
Strafford 4
Strafford 5
Strafford 6
Strafford 7
Strafford 8
Strafford 9
Sullivan 1
Sullivan 2
Sullivan 3
Sullivan 4
Judy Aron (R)
Sullivan 5
Sullivan 6
Sullivan 7
Sullivan 8
Republican Party (219)
Democratic Party (177)
Independent (1)