Cohn

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The Concord School Board race is one of a handful of elections across the state this fall that have attracted candidates from the Free State Project, a libertarian group whose members have moved to New Hampshire with the intention of shrinking government and fostering individual liberties.

Seth Cohn, a 35-year-old Web designer who moved to Concord from Oregon with the Free State Project last year, said he's running for the school board because he wants more flexibility in the city's education system.

"I would like to see more competition, more things like charter schools," he said.

He identified another school board candidate, Norman Bernier, as a fellow member of the Free State Project who moved here from California. In a brief phone interview yesterday, Bernier said he wouldn't speak about the election until next week. He wouldn't say whether he was affiliated with the Free State Project or how long he had lived in New Hampshire.

"This is a nonpartisan race, so my political connection is immaterial," Bernier said. "I'm a New Hampshire resident. I consider myself a 'hampster.'" He said "hampster" was a term for New Hampshire residents.

On several Free State Project Web sites, Bernier is identified as a Free State Project member.

Bernier and Cohn are among nine candidates competing for three seats on the Concord School Board in the Nov. 8 election.

The Free State Project was established in 2001 to help like-minded libertarians focus their political energies on a single state. The project has no single ideology or mission, but its members share a desire for smaller government, increased civil liberties, fewer or no taxes and less government involvement in education. The group selected New Hampshire in 2003, with the goal of moving 20,000 members here within five years. Project leaders estimate that more than 100 people have made the move so far.

Concord is not the only city where Free-Staters have focused their political ambitions. At least three Free-Staters are running for office in Manchester this year, including the school committee and ward selectboards. Project members said they expect to field candidates in Keene and Dover as well.

And the Free State Project scored several electoral victories earlier this year, as members were elected to the Goffstown School Board and the budget committee and school board in Winchester. In Manchester, a Free-Stater led a successful effort to put a spending cap amendment on the city's November ballot.

Jim Perry, who recruits candidates for the New Hampshire Libertarian Party, said the increase in Free State candidates was part of a larger growth of libertarian ideas in the state.

"People are getting sick of the two-party system, and we're the only viable alternative," Perry said.

Perry said he expected the Libertarian Party to field candidates in each of the state's House districts next year and predicted at least three Libertarian candidates for governor and seven for Congress. The Free State Project is not officially affiliated with the state Libertarian Party, although the groups'membership overlap.

In the two years since the Free State Project targeted New Hampshire, project members have proven savvy at attracting attention, often through media-driven publicity stunts. Don Gorman, the political director of the New Hampshire Liberty Alliance, a lobbying group that includes many Free-Staters, said victory at the polls is the ultimate sign of success. Gorman, who was elected to the House as a Libertarian candidate in 1992, has been training Free-Staters in the ways of New Hampshire politics.

"Mark my words: This is the last year that the New Hampshire Legislature will be without Free State or Liberty Alliance people," he said.

Cohn is making his first try for public office. Since arriving in New Hampshire last year, he's dabbled in state politics, testifying on several bills in the Legislature. Cohn said he expects some resistance from people who don't know much about the Free State Project. Hedoesn't plan to highlight his membership in the group, but considers himself a "traditional New Hampshire candidate." (next page »)