I tend to follow the campaigns of various libertarian Democrats across the country, but I have a hard time following races for the state legislature. I didn't find out until today that a libertarian activist running for the State House of New Hampshire as a Democrat had been victorious in his endeavor. Congratulations to
Joel Winters!
Joel Winters is a Democrat and also a member of the libertarian
Free State Project. He is in fact the
first member of the Free State Project to win an election to the New Hampshire House, and as a Democrat! And I certainly believe we can be proud of him as a loyal supporter of the party.
Winters, who moved to New Hampshire two years ago, was a leader of the Granite State ID Coalition which opposed the state's participation in the federal Real ID license program.
In trying to keep Real ID out of the state, Winters said, he worked very closely with a lot of Democrats to have the state "opt out of the de facto national ID system. We were unsuccessful in the spring because of Senate Republicans."
He said with Democrats in the majority and with the continued backing of Lynch, he believes New Hampshire will opt of the Real ID program next session.
Winters, a 29-year-old carpenter, who moved to New Hampshire in March 2004, said he is more of an independent, but like a lot of others he believes a change is needed in Washington D.C. because of what the Republicans have done.
He said he [supported] Democrat Carol Shea-Porter's campaign against incumbent Jeb Bradley and Lynch for governor. "I thought the Democrats fielded some good candidates. I was happy to help work to get them elected," he said.
Way to go to Winters and other Democrats like Shea-Porter and Lynch. Republican support for the REAL ID Act really blew up in their face in the libertarian-leaning Granite State this year!