State Senate District 2 includes Ashland, Belmont, Campton, Center Harbor, Gilford, Holderness, Laconia, Meredith, New Hampton, Sanbornton, Sandwich and Thornton.
Republican incumbent Tim Lang will face Democratic challenger Kurt Webber in the general election.
Tim Lang
Party affiliation: Republican
What town/city do you live in? Sanbornton
Political experience: 2 terms in the Senate (incumbent), 3 terms in the House, 12+ yrs as town moderator, ZBA Chair, 6 yrs School Board, 3 yrs School Budget Committee, Farmers Market Director, other town committees and boards
Professional experience: Northeast Regional IT Director for LiveNation
Community service experience: 2 terms in the Senate (incumbent), 3 terms in the House, 12+ yrs as town moderator, ZBA Chair, 6 yrs School Board, 3 yrs School Budget Committee, Farmers Market Director, other town committees and boards
Policy Positions
Should NH legalize recreational marijuana use and possession? With Regulation
What is the No. 1 action the Legislature should take to address the housing shortage? Lift state regulations on development.
How involved should NH government and law enforcement be in immigration enforcement? All laws should be enforced, and municipalities should not interfere with local law enforcement.
To what extent should NH restrict abortion, if at all? I support the current law.
What is one law currently on the books in NH that you would repeal, and why? Unknown
NH consistently struggles with funding its government and services. What is one way you would raise state revenue, and what is one area you would cut expenses? Be specific. It should not be easy to take the residents’ and businesses’ money via taxes.
As people across the state struggle with their local school tax bills, what role should the state play in funding education? The state has consistently increased per pupil and targeted aid. In the last 10 years enrollment has dropped by tens of thousands of students, last year alone enrollment dropped 3,150 students. School budgets need to to be resized.
Aside from those mentioned above, what do you believe is the biggest issue facing the state today? Divisiveness… While in reality neighbors of both parties get along, the media portrayal is problematic and makes it worse.
Find more information at the candidate’s website: www.votetimlang.com
Kurt Webber
Party affiliation: Democrat
What town/city do you live in? Gilford
Political experience: 9 years on Gilford School Board
Professional experience: 23 years as an Army officer. Served in Infantry & Special Forces units and taught at West Point. 16 years teaching in the NH Community College System – 14 years at Lakes Region Community College and 2 years at NHTI.
Community service experience: Founder of Camp Resilience and the Lakes Region Veterans Coalition, adult leader in Boy Scouts for almost 30 years, active member of Gilford Rotary for over 24 years, NH State Coordinator for West Point Admissions (help young people with West Point application process), volunteer coach of the Gilford High School football team from 2004-2011, on Gunstock Ski Patrol from 2001-2021.
Policy Positions
Should NH legalize recreational marijuana use and possession? Yes
What is the No. 1 action the Legislature should take to address the housing shortage? This is a complex issue that requires that all the stakeholders in each community work together to determine what works best for their community. The legislature should support these efforts with grants, assistance with policies, etc.
How involved should NH government and law enforcement be in immigration enforcement? NH should only assist when asked and if it’s confirmed that the individuals ICE is looking for are actually a threat to public safety.
To what extent should NH restrict abortion, if at all? It should keep the current law of restricting abortion after 24 weeks of pregnancy.
What is one law currently on the books in NH that you would repeal, and why? HB 1300 – It mandates that each town must place a standardized question on ballots every two years on whether to implement a local property tax cap on their school district’s budget growth. This is unnecessary since the town citizens vote on the school budget every year and it is an encroachment on local control of schools.
NH consistently struggles with funding its government and services. What is one way you would raise state revenue, and what is one area you would cut expenses? Be specific. Raise more revenue by reinstating the dividends and interest tax, but with provisions that exempt low-income people dependent on retirement savings. This total revenue from this tax in 2023 and 2024 was over $330M. If reinstated, revenue from this tax could be used to support public education and reduce property taxes. Cut expenses by bringing back an income cap on Education Freedom Accounts since over $50M is going to this in 2026.
As people across the state struggle with their local school tax bills, what role should the state play in funding education? The NH Supreme Court ruled that the state needs to provide base adequacy aid to the “conservative minimum threshold” of at least $7,356 per pupil to fulfill its constitutional obligation to fund an adequate education. At a minimum, the state must do this but should also look at other ways to increase revenue to support education, at both the K-12 and post-secondary level so that NH does not remain dead last in the nation for state support of education.
Aside from those mentioned above, what do you believe is the biggest issue facing the state today? The Free Staters’ agenda is hurting NH in so many ways — inadequate support for education and public services resulting in high property taxes, extremist ideas like seceding from the U.S., etc. We must vote all the Free Staters out of office and replace them with reasonable moderates who will representative all of their incumbents, not just an extremist minority.
Find more information at the candidate’s website: https://webbernh.com/