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Josh Yokela

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Josh Yokela
Image of Josh Yokela
Prior offices
New Hampshire House of Representatives Rockingham 33
Predecessor: Steven Woitkun

New Hampshire House of Representatives Rockingham 32

Elections and appointments
Last election

September 10, 2024

Personal
Profession
Business intelligence analyst
Contact

Josh Yokela (Republican Party) was a member of the New Hampshire House of Representatives, representing Rockingham 32. He assumed office on December 7, 2022. He left office on December 4, 2024.

Yokela (Republican Party) ran for re-election to the New Hampshire House of Representatives to represent Rockingham 7. He lost in the Republican primary on September 10, 2024.

Yokela also ran for re-election to the New Hampshire House of Representatives to represent Rockingham 32. He did not appear on the ballot for the Republican primary on September 10, 2024.

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

Biography

Josh Yokela graduated from Yerington High School in 2004. Yokela's career experience includes working as a business intelligence analyst with Campers Inn RV, an assistant bookkeeper with KBW Financial Staffing & Recruiting, and a vendor invoice processor with Dunn Lumber.[1][2] He has served on the Fremont Budget Committee and the Fremont Zoning Board of Adjustment.[3]

Committee assignments

Note: This membership information was last updated in September 2023. Ballotpedia completes biannual updates of committee membership. If you would like to send us an update, email us at: editor@ballotpedia.org.

2023-2024

Yokela was assigned to the following committees:

2021-2022

Yokela was assigned to the following committees:

2019-2020

Yokela was assigned to the following committees:


The following table lists bills this person sponsored as a legislator, according to BillTrack50 and sorted by action history. Bills are sorted by the date of their last action. The following list may not be comprehensive. To see all bills this legislator sponsored, click on the legislator's name in the title of the table.


Elections

2024

See also: New Hampshire House of Representatives elections, 2024

General election

General election for New Hampshire House of Representatives Rockingham 7

Laurence Miner won election in the general election for New Hampshire House of Representatives Rockingham 7 on November 5, 2024.

Candidate
%
Votes
Laurence Miner (R)
 
98.7
 
2,183
 Other/Write-in votes
 
1.3
 
29

Total votes: 2,212
Candidate Connection = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
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Republican primary election

Republican primary for New Hampshire House of Representatives Rockingham 7

Laurence Miner defeated incumbent Josh Yokela and Kalup Veneman in the Republican primary for New Hampshire House of Representatives Rockingham 7 on September 10, 2024.

Candidate
%
Votes
Laurence Miner
 
50.9
 
465
Image of Josh Yokela
Josh Yokela Candidate Connection
 
45.8
 
418
Kalup Veneman
 
3.3
 
30

Total votes: 913
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 Yokela in this election.

2022

See also: New Hampshire House of Representatives elections, 2022

General election

General election for New Hampshire House of Representatives Rockingham 32

Incumbent Josh Yokela defeated Russ Kelly in the general election for New Hampshire House of Representatives Rockingham 32 on November 8, 2022.

Candidate
%
Votes
Image of Josh Yokela
Josh Yokela (R) Candidate Connection
 
53.4
 
3,473
Russ Kelly (Independent)
 
46.5
 
3,023
 Other/Write-in votes
 
0.0
 
3

Total votes: 6,499
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 32

Incumbent Josh Yokela defeated Laurence Miner in the Republican primary for New Hampshire House of Representatives Rockingham 32 on September 13, 2022.

Candidate
%
Votes
Image of Josh Yokela
Josh Yokela Candidate Connection
 
57.1
 
1,190
Laurence Miner
 
42.7
 
889
 Other/Write-in votes
 
0.2
 
5

Total votes: 2,084
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.

2020

See also: New Hampshire House of Representatives elections, 2020

General election

General election for New Hampshire House of Representatives Rockingham 33

Incumbent Josh Yokela defeated Eric Turer in the general election for New Hampshire House of Representatives Rockingham 33 on November 3, 2020.

Candidate
%
Votes
Image of Josh Yokela
Josh Yokela (R) Candidate Connection
 
56.7
 
4,606
Image of Eric Turer
Eric Turer (D) Candidate Connection
 
43.2
 
3,507
 Other/Write-in votes
 
0.1
 
6

Total votes: 8,119
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.

Democratic primary election

Democratic primary for New Hampshire House of Representatives Rockingham 33

Eric Turer advanced from the Democratic primary for New Hampshire House of Representatives Rockingham 33 on September 8, 2020.

Candidate
%
Votes
Image of Eric Turer
Eric Turer Candidate Connection
 
99.7
 
1,178
 Other/Write-in votes
 
0.3
 
4

Total votes: 1,182
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 33

Incumbent Josh Yokela advanced from the Republican primary for New Hampshire House of Representatives Rockingham 33 on September 8, 2020.

Candidate
%
Votes
Image of Josh Yokela
Josh Yokela Candidate Connection
 
99.5
 
1,650
 Other/Write-in votes
 
0.5
 
9

Total votes: 1,659
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

To view Yokela's endorsements in the 2020 election, please click here.

2018

See also: New Hampshire House of Representatives elections, 2018

General election

General election for New Hampshire House of Representatives Rockingham 33

Josh Yokela defeated Eric Turer in the general election for New Hampshire House of Representatives Rockingham 33 on November 6, 2018.

Candidate
%
Votes
Image of Josh Yokela
Josh Yokela (R) Candidate Connection
 
54.1
 
3,168
Image of Eric Turer
Eric Turer (D)
 
45.8
 
2,684
 Other/Write-in votes
 
0.1
 
3

Total votes: 5,855
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.

Democratic primary election

Democratic primary for New Hampshire House of Representatives Rockingham 33

Eric Turer advanced from the Democratic primary for New Hampshire House of Representatives Rockingham 33 on September 11, 2018.

Candidate
%
Votes
Image of Eric Turer
Eric Turer
 
100.0
 
883

Total votes: 883
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 33

Josh Yokela advanced from the Republican primary for New Hampshire House of Representatives Rockingham 33 on September 11, 2018.

Candidate
%
Votes
Image of Josh Yokela
Josh Yokela Candidate Connection
 
100.0
 
983

Total votes: 983
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.

Campaign themes

2024

Video for Ballotpedia

Video submitted to Ballotpedia
Released August 4, 2024

Ballotpedia survey responses

See also: Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection

Candidate Connection

Josh Yokela completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2024. The survey questions appear in bold and are followed by Yokela'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 three-term State Representative, asking for Fremont to send me to Concord again to continue to protect individual rights and freedoms.
  • We need to support and expand the Education Freedom accounts that are giving families the opportunity to choose the education setting that offers the best chance for success.
  • We need to keep taxes low by keeping the government small and out of citizens' personal affairs.
  • We need to get the government out of the way so you can develop your own property so that the cost of housing can come down.
I am a strong advocate for transparent government and trying to strengthen the Right to Know law.
Reliable and consistent was the hallmark of this last session where bills were won and lost by people showing up and voting Republican principles. I have 100% attendance.
I think tenacity is important because a lot of bills fail and you open yourself up to a lot of personal attacks, it is not for the faint of heart.
To be responsive to the voters, I respond to the questions from constituents year around, not just during election season, so even if we don't always agree I am happy to talk about the bills and votes.
That he carries out the intent of the legislation passed and lets us know when there is an issue with strict enforcement of the law as written.
The liability of all the lawsuits from the Sununu Center gives the Democrats an opportunity to float an income tax in the next decade and if we don't retain good Republicans in the State House that is exactly what we will get.
It can help me know how to navigate the passage of bills and therefore a little more effective.
It is hard to do or know everything so working with other legislators helps you stay well informed.
I want to re-introduce HB 1696 as I believe a website at the State Arcarvist office for Right to Know documents from towns would reduce their storage costs and increase the public's access. The only reason it didn't pass already is that we just didn't have the modist sum in an "off" budget year.
Americans For Prosperity, New Hampshire Liberty Alliance, and Citizens Alliance of New Hampshire
Special Committee on Housing was a great Committee.
As a Fremont Budget Committee Member for longer than I have been a State Rep. being frugal and transparent with taxpayers' money is very important to me.
I think it is a good thing but the issue is poorly written initiatives, we have a legislative process that catches a lot of errors but not all of them. I fear ballot initiatives would be more prone to errors than traditionally passed laws. However, I do like that we get to vote for a constitutional convention every 10 years to kind of spur discussions about big changes we might need.

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.

2022

Candidate Connection

Josh Yokela completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2022. The survey questions appear in bold and are followed by Yokela'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 current NH State Rep seeking reelection because I want to keep New Hampshire one of the best places to live in the world by keeping the government out of your way. I volunteer on the Fremont Budget Committee and Fremont Zoning Board of Adjustments.
I strive to keep the government accountable to the people by expanding the Right to Know laws and trying to get things kept from the public opened up to public scrutiny. I have also worked to expand privacy protections that have been eroded through warrantless searches.
Governor should implement the laws and leave the lawmaking to the legislature.
Housing availability is trending down which may mean that soon people will have nowhere to live.
The House and Senate have a completely different makeup temperament which leads to a different makeup of bills that can pass each chamber, if there was only one chamber there would be less of a check and balance.
It can help them be more effective if they know what might be a way to cut unneeded positions or relationships as it is hard to get people to listen to why a bill is good or bad.
Yes, it helps get bills passed/killed because you can talk to them about why the bill is good or not.
What could be more rewarding than trying to help families succeed when they come in contact with the state?
The legislature should oversee and revoke emergency powers if they are abused by trying to create new laws without the legislative process.
Yes, there are things more and less important. Sometimes in a bill like the budget, I might vote for it because it has something which is a high priority even though it has some negative things.

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.

2020

Candidate Connection

Josh Yokela completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2020. The survey questions appear in bold and are followed by Yokela'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 current NH State Rep seeking reelection because I want to keep New Hampshire on of the best places to live in the world by keeping the government out of your way.
Reducing regulations, fixing the child support formula, privacy protections, and school choice for every child

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.

2018

Ballotpedia survey responses

See also: Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection

Candidate Connection

Josh Yokela completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey. The survey questions appear in bold and are followed by Yokela's responses.

What would be your top three priorities, if elected?

Education freedom, occupational licensing reform, and protecting private information from warrant-less searches.

What areas of public policy are you personally passionate about?

Protection of property rights because property rights are the base of all other rights.

Is there a book, essay, film, or something else you would recommend to someone who wants to understand your political philosophy?

Capitalism the Unknown Ideal by Ayn Rand

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

Focus on the proper role of government which is to only use its power to force in retaliation and to keep the government from straying from that mission as much as possible.

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

The core responsibilities of a legislator are to protect individual rights.

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

President Clinton's impeachment at age 12

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

I worked at a burger joint for about a year.

What is your favorite book? Why?

Atlas Shrugged by Ayn Rand because it helped me find the reason why to take pride in my work and the type of person for which I would want to work.

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

There is a benefit to know how the political process works so the representative can be effective, but working outside government and seeing how it affects people on a daily basis as they try to navigate the laws is more important.

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.


Josh Yokela campaign contribution history
YearOfficeStatusContributionsExpenditures
2022New Hampshire House of Representatives Rockingham 32Won general$5,515 $0
2020New Hampshire House of Representatives Rockingham 33Won general$1,704 N/A**
2018New Hampshire House of Representatives Rockingham 33Won general$886 N/A**
Grand total$8,106 N/A**
Sources: OpenSecretsFederal Elections Commission ***This product uses the openFEC API but is not endorsed or certified by the Federal Election Commission (FEC).
** Data on expenditures is not available for this election cycle
Note: Totals above reflect only available data.

Scorecards

See also: State legislative scorecards and State legislative scorecards in New Hampshire

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.


2024

In 2024, the New Hampshire State Legislature was in session from January 3 to June 13.

Legislators are scored on their votes on economic issues.
Legislators are scored based on their votes and if they align with the organization's values.
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.
  • Planned Parenthood New Hampshire Action Fund: Senate and House
Legislators are scored on their stances on policies related to reproductive health issues


2023


2022


2021


2020


2019







See also


External links

Footnotes

  1. LinkedIn, "Joshua Yokela," accessed May 25, 2023
  2. Information submitted to Ballotpedia through the Candidate Connection survey on August 5, 2024
  3. The General Court of New Hampshire, "Representative Josh Yokela (R)," accessed May 25, 2023

Political offices
Preceded by
-
New Hampshire House of Representatives Rockingham 32
2022-2024
Succeeded by
Melissa Litchfield (R)
Preceded by
Steven Woitkun (R)
New Hampshire House of Representatives Rockingham 33
2018-2022
Succeeded by
-


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)