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Edith DesMarais
Edith DesMarais (Democratic Party) was a member of the New Hampshire House of Representatives, representing Carroll 6. DesMarais assumed office on June 7, 2017. DesMarais left office on December 2, 2020.
DesMarais (Democratic Party) ran for re-election to the New Hampshire House of Representatives to represent Carroll 6. DesMarais won in the general election on November 6, 2018.
DesMarais completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2018. Click here to read the survey answers.
Committee assignments
2019-2020
DesMarais was assigned to the following committees:
Elections
2020
Edith DesMarais did not file to run for re-election.
2018
General election
General election for New Hampshire House of Representatives Carroll 6 (2 seats)
John MacDonald and incumbent Edith DesMarais defeated Matthew J. Plache and David Owen in the general election for New Hampshire House of Representatives Carroll 6 on November 6, 2018.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | John MacDonald (R) | 27.3 | 1,859 | |
| ✔ | Edith DesMarais (D)  | 25.6 | 1,738 | |
| Matthew J. Plache (R) | 24.2 | 1,647 | ||
| David Owen (D) | 22.9 | 1,554 | ||
| Other/Write-in votes | 0.0 | 1 | ||
| Total votes: 6,799 | |||
| = 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 Carroll 6 (2 seats)
Incumbent Edith DesMarais and David Owen advanced from the Democratic primary for New Hampshire House of Representatives Carroll 6 on September 11, 2018.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | Edith DesMarais | 58.9 | 744 | |
| ✔ | David Owen | 41.1 | 520 | |
| Total votes: 1,264 | |||
| = 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 Carroll 6 (2 seats)
John MacDonald and Matthew J. Plache defeated Seamus Oscalaidhe in the Republican primary for New Hampshire House of Representatives Carroll 6 on September 11, 2018.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | John MacDonald | 44.7 | 557 | |
| ✔ | Matthew J. Plache | 43.1 | 538 | |
| Seamus Oscalaidhe | 12.2 | 152 | ||
| Total votes: 1,247 | |||
| = 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. | ||||
2017
A special election for the position of New Hampshire House of Representatives District Carroll 6 was called for May 23, 2017. A primary election was held on April 4, 2017. The filing deadline for candidates wishing to run in this election was February 10, 2017.
The seat became vacant after Harold Parker (R) resigned to join Governor Chris Sununu's administration.[1]
Edith DesMarais ran unopposed in the special Democratic primary. Matthew Plache defeated Seamas Oscalaidhe in the special Republican primary.[2][3] DesMarais defeated Plache in the special election.[4] Donald Trump won this district by seven points in 2016.
| New Hampshire House of Representatives, Carroll 6, Special Election, 2017 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Vote % | Votes | |
| Democratic |  Edith DesMarais |
51.8% | 811 | |
| Republican | Matthew Plache | 48.2% | 755 | |
| Total Votes | 1,566 | |||
| Source: New Hampshire Secretary of State | ||||
Campaign themes
2018
Ballotpedia survey responses
See also: Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection
Edith DesMarais completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey. The survey questions appear in bold and are followed by DesMarais' responses.
What would be your top three priorities, if elected?
Family Friendly Economy - fair wages, universal health care, affordable housing & child care, public education. Environmental Protection/Renewable Energy Voter Rights
What areas of public policy are you personally passionate about?
I am concerned about the quality of life and the economy of NH. The high cost of education causes unreasonable college debt, the lack of affordable housing, and low wages in many jobs causes our young people to leave the state. The result is a rapid median age increase of our population. This age demographic brings an increased demand for age related services without a sufficient workforce to meet it. Also, businesses and industries can not expand without a vibrant workforce. Even with the wonderful natural resources we are blessed with, we cannot maintain our economy without sufficient workers.
What characteristics or principles are most important for an elected official?
Honesty, Independence, Courage, Persistence, and willingness to listen.
What qualities do you possess that you believe would make you a successful officeholder?
Caring for the people and community that I serve. Knowledge of the community - its values, strengths, and needs. A lifetime of commitment and service to make it possible for all to thrive in our community and state - regardless of income or privilege.
What do you believe are the core responsibilities for someone elected to this office?
To stay informed of the needs of our state, to study to understand all aspects of bills before the legislature from intent to impact on the state and my constituents; to listen to all sides of issues and listen to my constituents before making voting decisions. To work cooperatively to resolve issues facing our state and to keep my constituents aware of how and why I am, or am not, supporting specific issues.
What legacy would you like to leave?
The legacy I would like to leave is: When working to address a community need, if you bring a group of caring people together, "the impossible just take longer than the difficult". Even if years - just don't give up.
Every state besides Nebraska has two legislative chambers. What do you consider the most important differences between the legislative chambers in your state?
The size of our chambers - 24 in the Senate and 400 in the Legislature. While that makes for a different dynamic, both chambers do maintain a positive level of civility.
Do you believe that it’s beneficial for state legislators to have previous experience in government or politics?
While it could help, I think there are also many benefits for a non-professional "volunteer" legislatures like in NH. The smaller number of constituents per legislator makes the legislator more responsive and familiar.
What do you perceive to be your state’s greatest challenges over the next decade?
Dealing with fairness in raising resources to meet the state financial responsibilities, dealing with the Opioid crisis, adequately funding public education and our state university system, catching up with infrastructure needs, developing and supporting local renewable energy resources, protecting our environment, finding ways to bring more young people to our state to create a quality workforce and build a strong economy.
What do you believe is the ideal relationship between the governor and the state legislature?
I believe there needs to be mutual respect and ideally to work together to move good legislation forward. It should include listening to each other to promote bi-partisan legislation.
Do you believe it’s beneficial to build relationships with other legislators? Please explain your answer.
It is absolutely important for legislators to work together to resolve issues facing our state. I do not like to see "cookie cutter" partisan legislation coming from federal "think tanks" that don't relate to the problems, needs and issues of our state and end up dividing us rather than bringing us together to work on NH issues.
What process do you favor for redistricting?
I think that some of the computer model methods are much more fair than the extreme party gerrymandering that gives a party advantages over the other. I believe each individuals vote should have the same value as another's. That is not how it works now.
If you are not a current legislator, are there certain committees that you would want to be a part of?
I am serving on the Election Law Committee. I had hoped to be on the Education or Health and Human Service committees given my former working experience. After seeing the bills limiting voter rights and reasonable local control of local elections, I believe that Election Law is a critical committee for the future of our democracy! If re-elected, I would be happy to stay on this committee.
If you are a current legislator, what appealed to you about your current committees?
See above.
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?
There are people in my caucus who have many years of experience and I am new. However, I would be honored to serve in a leadership role on my committee or on special study committees when bills are referred.
Are you interested in running for a different political office (for example, the U.S. Congress or governor) in the future?
No. I love serving my community.
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.
Scorecards
A scorecard evaluates a legislator’s voting record. Its purpose is to inform voters about the legislator’s political positions. Because scorecards have varying purposes and methodologies, each report should be considered on its own merits. For example, an advocacy group’s scorecard may assess a legislator’s voting record on one issue while a state newspaper’s scorecard may evaluate the voting record in its entirety.
Ballotpedia is in the process of developing an encyclopedic list of published scorecards. Some states have a limited number of available scorecards or scorecards produced only by select groups. It is Ballotpedia’s goal to incorporate all available scorecards regardless of ideology or number.
Click here for an overview of legislative scorecards in all 50 states. To contribute to the list of New Hampshire scorecards, email suggestions to editor@ballotpedia.org.
2020
In 2020, the New Hampshire State Legislature was in session from January 8 to June 30. The session was suspended from March 14 to June 11.
- Legislators are scored on their votes on economic issues.
- Legislators are scored on their votes on bills related to economic issues.
- Legislators are scored on their votes on bills related to business issues.
- Legislators are scored based on if they voted with the Republican Party.
- Legislators are scored by the organization "on pro-liberty and anti-liberty roll call votes."
- Legislators are scored on their votes on bills supported or opposed by the organization.
- Legislators are scored on their votes on conservative issues.
2019
| To view all the scorecards we found for this legislator in 2019, click [show]. |
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In 2019, the New Hampshire General Court was in session from January 2 through June 30.
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2018
| To view all the scorecards we found for this legislator in 2018, click [show]. |
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In 2018, the New Hampshire General Court was in session from January 3 through June 30.
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2017
| To view all the scorecards we found for this legislator in 2017, click [show]. |
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In 2017, the New Hampshire General Court was in session from January 4 through June 22. The state House met for a veto session on November 2.
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See also
- New Hampshire House of Representatives
- New Hampshire House of Representatives Carroll 6
- New Hampshire state legislative special elections, 2017
- New Hampshire State Legislature
External links
Footnotes
- ↑ unionleader.com, "Dan Tuohy's Granite Status: Right-to-Work showdown creates unique dynamics," February 15, 2017
- ↑ Union Leader, "McLean, Morin to square off for vacant House District 44 seat," accessed April 4, 2017
- ↑ New Hampshire Secretary of State, "CARROLL COUNTY DISTRICT NO. 6," accessed March 9, 2017
- ↑ WMUR, "NH House special elections: Democrat pulls off upset in Wolfeboro, Republican wins Hillsborough County seat," May 23, 2017
