A newcomer and a former state senator, both of whom picked up an interest in politics during their formative years, will compete to represent District 7 in the State Senate.
Richard A. Lobban Jr., a Democrat from Bridgewater is challenging Republican candidate Daniel Innis of Bradford, who was elected to represent District 24 as a state senator in 2016.
Most of the redrawn district is in Merrimack County but it also includes towns in Grafton County and Sullivan County.
Innis moved from the Seacoast region to Bradford in 2021 and found that his Central New Hampshire neighbors were more engaged with their elected representatives and informed on state issues.
He is the co-owner of Trail’s End Farm in Bradford where he raises chickens for eggs. He said local farmers need to be able to sell their products without facing unnecessary regulatory barriers.
“Big food companies don’t want us competing with them,” said Innis. “To regulate small firms out of business is bad for society and I want to really get after that.”
When it comes to businesses, Innis said it’s also time to review agencies like the Environmental Protection Agency and Department of Education and determine if they have become too large and are issuing unnecessary rules.
“The job of legislatures is to make laws, which are rules, it is not the job of agencies to do that,” said Innis. “I think we need to re-evaluate agencies at both the state and federal level and say, what is their real role?”
The issues raised during his discussion with residents have evolved since mid-summer, he said. The focus has shifted from social issues to the economy and taxes.
There is a sharp difference of opinion between candidates on the state’s role to incentivize renewable energy.
Innis, who uses solar power and supports free market solutions, said it is not the responsibility of the government to help pay for the installation of specific equipment in households. Lobban disagrees.
“We should be going quickly with much more incentive with tax credits and even subsidies to get more electric car charging stations, solar arrays and wind power in areas where they wouldn’t be intrusive,” said Lobban.
As an archeologist and anthropologist, Lobban has long been concerned with civil rights, national liberation, and human rights.
He calls the “6Es” – equality, education, energy, environment, economy, and empathy – the main themes of his campaign. Lobban, who calls himself a centrist, said extremism on either side of the political spectrum has no place in this nation.
“Extremists either maybe on the left or the right and are not serving national interests and only our enemies, domestic and overseas, a benefit from internal divisions,” said Lobban. “I’m running as a centrist Democrat and I hope I can find centrist Republicans to work with.”
He firmly believes that church and state should be separate and does not support state taxes being used to fund religious schools through education vouchers.
“If we put that money into veteran support, mental health support, domestic abuse support, we could seriously address rather than inadequately address those key sectors,” said Lobban.
The legalization of marijuana is another subject on which the two candidates have opposing views. While Innis said he opposes the state’s involvement in marijuana sales, Lobban said he supports legalizing the recreational use of marijuana.
