Matthew McLaughlin (New Hampshire)

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

Matthew McLaughlin

Democratic Party

Elections and appointments

Last election

November 5, 2024

Education

Bachelor's

United States Naval Academy, 1981

Military

Service / branch

U.S. Navy

Years of service

1981 - 1989

Personal

Birthplace

Manchester, N.H.

Religion

Catholic

Profession

Retired

Contact

Campaign website

Campaign Twitter

Campaign Instagram

Matthew McLaughlin (Democratic Party) ran for election to the New Hampshire State Senate to represent District 9. He lost in the general election on November 5, 2024.

Biography

Matthew McLaughlin was born in Manchester, New Hampshire. He served in the U.S. Navy from 1981 to 1989. McLaughlin earned a bachelor's degree from the United States Naval Academy in 1981. His career experience includes working as a Navy pilot and commercial pilot.

Elections

2024

See also: New Hampshire State Senate elections, 2024

General election

General election for New Hampshire State Senate District 9

Incumbent Denise Ricciardi defeated Matthew McLaughlin in the general election for New Hampshire State Senate District 9 on November 5, 2024.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Denise Ricciardi (R)	51.5	17,235
		Matthew McLaughlin (D)	48.4	16,211
		Other/Write-in votes	0.1	25

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	Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 33,471
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
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Democratic primary election

Democratic primary for New Hampshire State Senate District 9

Matthew McLaughlin advanced from the Democratic primary for New Hampshire State Senate District 9 on September 10, 2024.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Matthew McLaughlin	99.6	4,681
		Other/Write-in votes	0.4	20

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	There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 4,701
= 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 State Senate District 9

Incumbent Denise Ricciardi advanced from the Republican primary for New Hampshire State Senate District 9 on September 10, 2024.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Denise Ricciardi	99.0	5,597
		Other/Write-in votes	1.0	57

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	Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 5,654
= 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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Endorsements

Ballotpedia did not identify endorsements for McLaughlin in this election.

2022

See also: New Hampshire State Senate elections, 2022

General election

General election for New Hampshire State Senate District 9

Incumbent Denise Ricciardi defeated Matthew McLaughlin in the general election for New Hampshire State Senate District 9 on November 8, 2022.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Denise Ricciardi (R)	52.2	13,687
		Matthew McLaughlin (D)	47.7	12,510
		Other/Write-in votes	0.1	14

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	Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 26,211
= 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 State Senate District 9

Matthew McLaughlin advanced from the Democratic primary for New Hampshire State Senate District 9 on September 13, 2022.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Matthew McLaughlin	99.9	3,500
		Other/Write-in votes	0.1	4

---

	There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 3,504
= 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 State Senate District 9

Incumbent Denise Ricciardi advanced from the Republican primary for New Hampshire State Senate District 9 on September 13, 2022.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Denise Ricciardi	98.6	5,442
		Other/Write-in votes	1.4	76

---

	Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 5,518
= 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

Ballotpedia survey responses

See also: Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection

Matthew McLaughlin did not complete Ballotpedia's 2024 Candidate Connection survey.

2022

Matthew McLaughlin completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2022. The survey questions appear in bold and are followed by McLaughlin'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 was born and raised in Bedford and I am the youngest of 10 children. I attended college at the US Naval Academy in Annapolis, MD. After graduation I attended navy flight school in Pensacola, FL. I earned my wings of gold and became qualified as a tactical jet pilot flying the A-7 Corsair and did three deployments on board the USS Nimitz.

After leaving the navy I became a commercial airline pilot for 33 years. I have been married for 40 years, I have three children and five grandchildren.

I am running for state senate because I am worried about the direction of our country and our state. The main issues I feel that need to be addressed are a women's right to chose, renewable energy, climate change, protection of our drinking water and our environment, and proper funding of our public schools.

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 protect a women's right to choose.
• I will work to end the Education Freedom Accounts and return public money to public schools.
• I will work to increase renewable energy and reduce our dependence on fossil fuels.

What areas of public policy are you personally passionate about?

Women's right to choose, Education, Climate Change, Environment, Reducing local property taxes.

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

John McCain is a great example. Both as a navy pilot, and a true war hero who was so loyal to his fellow POW's, and as an independent minded politician.

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

Honesty and integrity.

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

The most influential event was anything to do with the space program, especially the first moon landing in 1969.

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

Attack Pilot, US Navy. 8 Years

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

Respect, and a positive working environment

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

Women's right to choose, Education, Climate Change

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

Yes

What process do you favor for redistricting?

Independent commission

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

Energy, Education, Transportation

Should the legislature oversee or grant the use of emergency powers?

No, but after a predetermined amount of time, the Governor should need approval to continue to exercise emergency power.

Do you believe that compromise is necessary or desirable for policymaking?

Yes

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

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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.

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Matthew McLaughlin campaign contribution history

Year	Office	Status	Contributions	Expenditures
2024*	New Hampshire State Senate District 9	Lost general	$127,454	$0
2022	New Hampshire State Senate District 9	Lost general	$32,438	$0
Grand total			$159,892	$0
Sources: OpenSecrets,  Federal 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

2024 Elections

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Government

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Newsletters

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External links

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Candidate

New Hampshire State Senate District 9

Website

Twitter

Instagram

Footnotes

[show]

Current members of the New Hampshire State Senate

Leadership

Senate President:Sharon Carson

Majority Leader:Regina Birdsell

Senators

District 1

David Rochefort (R)

District 2

Timothy Lang (R)

District 3

Mark McConkey (R)

District 4

David Watters (D)

District 5

Suzanne Prentiss (D)

District 6

James Gray (R)

District 7

Dan Innis (R)

District 8

Ruth Ward (R)

District 9

Denise Ricciardi (R)

District 10

Donovan Fenton (D)

District 11

Tim McGough (R)

District 12

Kevin Avard (R)

District 13

Lucinda Rosenwald (D)

District 14

Sharon Carson (R)

District 15

Tara Reardon (D)

District 16

Keith Murphy (R)

District 17

Howard Pearl (R)

District 18

Victoria Sullivan (R)

District 19

Regina Birdsell (R)

District 20

Patrick Long (D)

District 21

Rebecca Perkins Kwoka (D)

District 22

Daryl Abbas (R)

District 23

William Gannon (R)

District 24

Debra Altschiller (D)

Republican Party (16)

Democratic Party (8)