Steven Porter at The Boston Globe reported late Monday that House Democratic Leader Matt Wilhelm (D-Manchester) will not seek another term as caucus leader. Instead, the current Democratic deputy leader Rep. Alexis Simpson (D-Exeter) will seek the top job.
According to Porter, Wilhelm and Simpson expressed “pride” in the performance of the House Democrats Victory Committee and its leader, Rep. Laura Telerski (D-Nashua), despite losing 25 seats to the GOP and outspending Republicans by a significant amount.
They also credited “Trump’s coattails” for Republican success, not their own candidates or messaging.
And while Wilhelm is out, most of the “core leadership team” will remain unchanged: Telersk, Karen Ebel (D-New London), Brian Sullivan (D-Grantham), Mary Jane Wallner (D-Concord), and Lucy Weber (D-Walpole).
Not every House Democrat is embracing the “stay the course” messaging, however. Earlier Monday, progressive Rep. Jonah Wheeler (D-Peterborough) released a video on social media telling his fellow Democrats it’s time to look in the mirror.
“Democrats were wholly repudiated in the election. People are telling me that it’s the voters’ fault in this election. Give me a break! When you lose an election, it is nobody’s fault but your own,” Wheeler said. “And until Democrats reconcile with that fact, they will continue to lose elections.”
Republicans in the House called the Wilhelm news “confusing.”
“So they just lost male voters by a record number and their solution is to get rid of the only male on their leadership team?” one GOP House member quipped.
One State House insider said moves like this are entirely cosmetic. “(Democratic state chairman) Ray Buckley and the party do all the serious campaign work.”
So, will Buckley lead House Democrats away from some of their more far-left political stances? Democrats have already filed legislation attempting to get rid of voter ID requirements, and they want to end the ban on race-based education and training in schools and state agencies. Both are unpopular positions according to the polls.
And House Democrats are expected to maintain their “no limits” stance on abortion throughout pregnancy and biological males in girls sports and in private spaces.
Rep. Joe Sweeney (R-Salem) is unimpressed by Monday’s news.
“This is just a desperate attempt by House Democrats to shuffle deck chairs on their Titanic of a caucus. The House Dems Progressive Caucus are calling for a complete leadership shakeup, and the existing team offers more of the same,” Sweeney said.
“It will be interesting to see how they caucus Thursday – and how they operate with those sharp divisions – the next two years.”
UPDATE: After this article appeared, NHJournal received a Twitter DM from the New Hampshire House Progressive Caucus:
“This is a false statement – the House Progressive Caucus has made no calls for a change in leadership and have certainly not discussed our internal caucus affairs with Representative Sweeney. We have no further statement to provide at this time.”
