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Matt Coker
2024 - Present
2026
0
Matt Coker (Republican Party) is a member of the New Hampshire House of Representatives, representing Belknap 2. He assumed office on December 18, 2024. His current term ends on December 2, 2026.
Coker (Republican Party) ran for re-election to the New Hampshire House of Representatives to represent Belknap 2. He won in the general election on November 5, 2024.
Coker completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2024. Click here to read the survey answers.
On February 8, 2024, Coker left the Democratic Party and joined the Republican Party.[1] To read more about legislators who have switched parties, click here.
Biography
Matthew Coker was born in Cheyenne, Wyoming. He earned a bachelor's degree from Liberty University in 2012. His career experience includes working as an airline pilot. He has been affiliated with ALPA.[2][3][4]
Sponsored legislation
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.
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
Coker was assigned to the following committees:
Elections
2024
See also: New Hampshire House of Representatives elections, 2024
General election
General election for New Hampshire House of Representatives Belknap 2 (2 seats)
Incumbent Matt Coker and Matthew Lunney defeated Lynn Thomas and Ben Brookmyer in the general election for New Hampshire House of Representatives Belknap 2 on November 5, 2024.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
✔ | ![]() | Matt Coker (R) ![]() | 32.1 | 2,648 |
✔ | ![]() | Matthew Lunney (R) ![]() | 25.6 | 2,112 |
Lynn Thomas (D) | 23.2 | 1,913 | ||
Ben Brookmyer (D) | 19.1 | 1,579 | ||
Other/Write-in votes | 0.1 | 8 |
Total votes: 8,260 | ||||
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Democratic primary election
Democratic primary for New Hampshire House of Representatives Belknap 2 (2 seats)
Lynn Thomas and Ben Brookmyer advanced from the Democratic primary for New Hampshire House of Representatives Belknap 2 on September 10, 2024.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
✔ | Lynn Thomas | 57.1 | 534 | |
✔ | Ben Brookmyer | 42.2 | 395 | |
Other/Write-in votes | 0.6 | 6 |
Total votes: 935 | ||||
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Republican primary election
Republican primary for New Hampshire House of Representatives Belknap 2 (2 seats)
Incumbent Matt Coker and Matthew Lunney defeated Edward Samuel Twaddell III in the Republican primary for New Hampshire House of Representatives Belknap 2 on September 10, 2024.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
✔ | ![]() | Matt Coker ![]() | 53.3 | 749 |
✔ | ![]() | Matthew Lunney ![]() | 24.5 | 345 |
Edward Samuel Twaddell III | 22.0 | 309 | ||
Other/Write-in votes | 0.2 | 3 |
Total votes: 1,406 | ||||
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Endorsements
Ballotpedia did not identify endorsements for Coker in this election.
2022
See also: New Hampshire House of Representatives elections, 2022
General election
General election for New Hampshire House of Representatives Belknap 2 (2 seats)
Lisa Smart and Matt Coker defeated Sandra Mucci and Cindy Creteau-Miller in the general election for New Hampshire House of Representatives Belknap 2 on November 8, 2022.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
✔ | Lisa Smart (R) | 26.5 | 1,649 | |
✔ | ![]() | Matt Coker (D) ![]() | 25.4 | 1,581 |
Sandra Mucci (D) | 24.8 | 1,546 | ||
Cindy Creteau-Miller (R) | 23.2 | 1,445 | ||
Other/Write-in votes | 0.1 | 4 |
Total votes: 6,225 | ||||
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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 Belknap 2 (2 seats)
Sandra Mucci and Matt Coker advanced from the Democratic primary for New Hampshire House of Representatives Belknap 2 on September 13, 2022.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
✔ | Sandra Mucci | 54.5 | 362 | |
✔ | ![]() | Matt Coker ![]() | 45.2 | 300 |
Other/Write-in votes | 0.3 | 2 |
Total votes: 664 | ||||
![]() | ||||
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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Republican primary election
Republican primary for New Hampshire House of Representatives Belknap 2 (2 seats)
Cindy Creteau-Miller and Lisa Smart defeated Jeanne Tofts in the Republican primary for New Hampshire House of Representatives Belknap 2 on September 13, 2022.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
✔ | Cindy Creteau-Miller | 34.5 | 555 | |
✔ | Lisa Smart | 33.0 | 531 | |
Jeanne Tofts | 32.5 | 524 |
Total votes: 1,610 | ||||
![]() | ||||
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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Campaign themes
2024
Ballotpedia survey responses
See also: Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection
Matt Coker completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2024. The survey questions appear in bold and are followed by Coker's responses. Candidates are asked three required questions for this survey, but they may answer additional optional questions as well.
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|I have three main priorities: keeping our taxes low, cutting red tape, and making government work for the residents of this state while maintaining New Hampshire's unique character.
During my time in the legislature, I voted to reduce your taxes by helping to end the dividends tax, which unfairly taxed the income of middle-class retirees. I sponsored multiple bills to cut government red tape and eliminate unnecessary burdens on our residents, making government work better for our citizens. Additionally, I sponsored several bills to protect our beautiful lakes, particularly focusing on cyanobacteria mitigation and prevention, and to help towns address this issue, thereby protecting local taxpayers from having to solely bear the cost of such blooms.
With my experience and connections in the legislature, I will be able to accomplish even more in my next term.- Keeping your taxes low is the number one priority. The first way to achieve this is by keeping government small. Programs tend to slowly get larger, and we must resist that tendency. We must provide all the services we are tasked to provide in an efficient and streamlined way. Lastly, we have to make tough budgeting decisions, and I have proven I'm not afraid to do this. We need to understand what's a want and what's a need, and make our decisions based on that thinking. We must also be careful not to let problems balloon. Sometimes it's cheaper to fix something early with a small investment rather than pushing it off and incurring a larger cost later.
- Cutting red tape is my second priority. I sponsored two bills with this intention and plan to introduce more next term. My flagship bill was to end vehicle inspections on brand new vehicles. It makes no sense that a brand new car needs an inspection within the first two years after purchase. In this process, I have found other issues with our vehicle inspections that place an undue burden on our citizens. Being on the Transportation Committee, this is my area of focus, but next session I plan to tackle other areas. Another area I see room for improvement is in permitting and certification for skilled workers. We need to efficiently process these two things to get projects built and people to work.
- Keeping New Hampshire's unique character is my next main priority. I love this state. I moved here from Florida over ten years ago and haven't looked back. In my opinion, we maintain our state's character by keeping local control a central tenet. Each town has its unique character and personality, and the state should support the towns when needed but shouldn't dictate how they should be run. We need to preserve our independent streak. Just because our neighbors do it doesn't mean we need to.
Regarding the basic responsibilities of a legislator, we make laws. I should address issues by proposing new laws and, just as importantly, work to eliminate bad laws. I should keep a constant watch on the budget, just as I would my own personal budget, and ensure that the people's money is spent wisely and frugally. We also serve as the people's check on the other branches of government, so we should investigate and intervene in issues when they arise and our involvement is warranted.
If people can afford to live here, have access to a good education, and secure good jobs, they will have hope. The most serious issues in our state—drug use, mental health challenges, and the lack of affordable housing—will become easier to address and will ultimately start to resolve themselves. We need to build a state where people can get a hand up and succeed.
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
Matt Coker completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2022. The survey questions appear in bold and are followed by Coker's responses. Candidates are asked three required questions for this survey, but they may answer additional optional questions as well.
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|- Maintaining New Hampshire’s Advantage of Lower Taxes. I will ensure that the benefit of every dollar raised gives maximum value back to the community. I’m against broad based taxes such as a state income or sales tax. I oppose tax policy and programs that will downshift cost to the local taxpayer.
- Reducing the cost of Living. As a father of three, I know how expensive life in New Hampshire has become for young families. Politicians in Concord have put special interest groups and political allegiances ahead of their duty to the families they represent. The legislators in Concord need to put aside their political differences and work together on sensible proposals that will make life easier for regular folks just trying to get by regardless of the various political whims of the moment.
- Reproductive Healthcare. I am pro-choice and the reversal of Roe has made reproductive healthcare a very important state level issue. I believe abortion should remain safe, legal and accessible in New Hampshire. I believe we should ensure a women’s right to make her own medical decisions without government interference by codifying the right in New Hampshire state law.
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.
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.
2024
To view all the scorecards we found for this legislator in 2024, click [show]. |
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In 2024, the New Hampshire State Legislature was in session from January 3 to June 13.
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2023
To view all the scorecards we found for this legislator in 2023, click [show]. |
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In 2023, the New Hampshire State Legislature was in session from January 4 to June 29.
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See also
2024 Elections
External links
Candidate New Hampshire House of Representatives Belknap 2 |
Personal |
Footnotes
- ↑ https://manchesterinklink.com/meredith-state-representative-changes-parties/ Manchester Ink Link, "Meredith state representative changes parties," accessed February 9, 2024]
- ↑ Information submitted to Ballotpedia through the Candidate Connection survey on August 14, 2022
- ↑ Matt Croker 2022 campaign website, "My Story," accessed January 22, 2023
- ↑ Information submitted to Ballotpedia through the Candidate Connection survey on August 12, 2024