Hollie Noveletsky was already wearing many hats before she threw hers in the ring and joined the First Congressional District GOP primary.
The 65-year-old grandmother is the principal owner of two intertwined family steel fabrication and building businesses – Novel Iron Works and Rose Steel – both based in nearby Greenland. She’s also a registered psychiatric nurse, who served elderly patients during the COVID-19 pandemic. Additionally, Noveletsky served for eight years as a captain with the U.S. Army Reserves.
Noveletsky has worked in volunteer relief roles following natural disasters such as Hurricane Katrina and Tropical Storm Sandy, and even spent time in Sierra Leone serving in a volunteer humanitarian role helping those affected by the “Blood Diamond Wars.”
So, how does she prefer to be described?
“I guess I’m everything,” Noveletsky said with a laugh during an interview with NHJournal.
Noveletsky now has her sights set on winning the Republican nomination to challenge incumbent Democratic U.S. Rep. Chris Pappas.
But first, Noveletsky must win a crowded GOP primary that is starved for attention. A recent Saint Anselm College Survey Center poll found fewer than 60 percent of Granite State GOP primary voters know enough about any of the top four candidates to have an opinion about them.
The Saint Anselm poll placed Noveletsky at third with 9 percent of the overall vote share, trailing Executive Councilor Russell Prescott (10 percent) and Manchester Alderman-at-large Joe Kelly Levasseur (15 percent).
Noveletsky has been campaigning since January.
Asked what prompted her to enter the race, she cited her frustrations with the current atmosphere in Washington.
“Like everybody, I was getting pissed off,” Noveletsky said. “I was sitting at home and watching the news and getting angry at all the dysfunction.
“I thought either I have to shut up and accept what’s being served to me, or step up and try to be part of the solution. And if you know me, you know that I’m not good at being quiet.”
Since entering the field, Noveletsky has been running TV ads and sending plenty of campaign mail — perhaps more paid media than any other candidate in the race. Much of her mail has both touted her support for former President Donald Trump and attacked Prescott for his votes on the Executive Council.
“I asked Prescott about his votes to fund Planned Parenthood,” Noveletsky wrote on her website after the first NH-01 debate. “His response was to say I was misrepresenting his record. With all due respect, this is no misrepresentation of his record.”
Prescott advisor Michael Biundo responded.
“A Republican hasn’t held the 1st Congressional District since 2016. Rather than spending time fighting with each other, Russell is focused on uniting the party behind Donald Trump and defeating Chris Pappas in November. We will leave the attacks not focused on winning in November to others.”
One of Noveletsky’s fans is Rochester Mayor Paul Callaghan. Callaghan told NHJournal he got to know Noveletsky because a large percentage of her family’s steel business workforce lives in his city.
“I’ve been very impressed by her,” Callaghan said. “She is always aiming high and it’s clear to me that she cares very deeply about New Hampshire.”
Last Saturday morning, he and Noveletsky spent more than two hours meeting with residents and customers at Potter’s House Bakery and Cafe on Chestnut Hill Road. Callaghan said Noveletsky’s outgoing personality won over more than a few people.
As someone who has succeeded in public service, Callaghan had one nugget of advice for Noveletsky.
“Keep grinding and keep meeting as many new people as you can,” he said.
Noveletsky said she’s also guided by the advice of her father, a World War II veteran and member of the U.S. Army’s famous “Merrill’s Marauders” unit, who passed away in 1999.
“We always had this book of ‘Ralphisms,’ or my father’s statements,” she recalled. “One piece of advice he gave me is that if everybody likes you, you’re probably doing something wrong.”
It’s that attitude of speaking out and taking a stand that prompted her to confront New Hampshire’s all-Democrat congressional delegation, including Pappas, during a trip to Washington, D.C., Noveletsky said. She was disappointed in Pappas’ indifference to supporting American-made steel.
As a board member of the American Institute of Steel Construction, Noveletsky recalled a 2019 federal trade case against what she viewed as an influx of government-subsidized and unfairly traded foreign steel.
“We reached out for help with the federal trade case, and I made appointments to see them in Washington,” she said. “We didn’t see any of them, they made us meet with their aides.
“I asked their aides if they had ever been to New Hampshire, and all of them said no. We’re not being heard, we’re not being represented, and we’re not being defended down in D.C.”
Other issues, such as illegal immigration and veterans services, she said, are not being addressed.
“They’re focused on taking care of illegal immigrants,” Noveletsky added. “I’m not anti-immigrant — my grandmother came from Russia, my mother came from Brazil, and my stepmother was Israeli.
“I’m just anti-illegal immigration.”
Noveletsky said another issue for her is dealing with labor unions, a mission she supports but acknowledges was the reason her father moved the family steel business in 1975 from Massachusetts to the Granite State.
“The unions would shut my dad down every year,” she said. “He had no choice.”
Noveletsky, a longtime supporter of GOP presidential nominee Trump, said his decision to include Teamsters President Sean O’Brien as a speaker at the Republican National Convention was “eye-opening.”
“I think the unions as a whole, when they started, there was a real need for that. But as we’ve evolved, most businesses really take care of their people. We in New Hampshire believe you should get to choose whether you want to unionize or not.”
As far as the primary goes, Noveletsky said she plans to campaign nonstop through next Tuesday.
“I think it’s really important for people to know where you stand, and for the voters to know who they’re electing,” she said. “You don’t want to make promises you know you’re not going to keep just to get elected.”
