NH Sen. Gannon challenged by Rep. Phillips in Republican primary: Here's how they differ

SANDOWN — After the New Hampshire Senate killed a bill in April to block the activation of the National Guard without an official declaration of war, state Rep. Emily Phillips, R-Fremont, made her displeasure known.

“Someone ought to run for NH Senate with a pledge to ROLL CALL at least one bill a session,” she wrote in a post on X. The Senate had sent the bill, HB 229, to interim study via a voice vote, meaning that each senator's individual vote was not recorded. All votes in that session on April 18 had been by voice.

Phillips announced her intent to challenge incumbent Sen. Bill Gannon, R-Sandown, just a month later.

The race for Senate District 23 will see the only contested Republican primary race for Senate as Phillips is challenging three-term senator Gannon in a quest to bring more “transparency” to the Senate. She is calling for an increase in roll call votes, or votes where each senator must say yea or nay to a bill.

“For me it’s about transparency, right? Because it's hard to see how your elected officials vote if it's not recorded,” Phillips said. “If it's all done by voice vote, then there's really no connection to accountability or transparency for voters to see how their senators took a position on any issue.”

Over 1,300 bills were filed in the New Hampshire legislature this year, hundreds more than in recent years. The Senate had roll call votes on 111 bills, a slightly smaller percentage than in past years.

Gannon said the New Hampshire Senate is “the most collegial and transparent legislative body in the country,” explaining each bill gets a public hearing, a publicly recorded committee vote, and each Senate session is streamed live on YouTube. He argued the New Hampshire House has a lack of transparency in their division votes, in which they can cast votes anonymously from their seats.

“I encourage the voters of District 23 to review my voting record and watch our sessions,” Gannon said.

Speaking on behalf of Gannon, political adviser Tyler Clark added HB 229 would have defunded New Hampshire’s National Guard and that Gannon heard other testimony against the bill.

Gannon, who has served in the Senate since 2020 following a one-term stint in 2016-2018, is the only incumbent state senator being challenged in the Sept. 10 primary, ahead of the general election in November.

Gannon and Phillips are competing to represent Senate District 23, a Republican leaning district comprising the towns of Brentwood, Chester, Danville, East Kingston, Epping, Fremont, Kensington, Kingston, Newton, Sandown, Seabrook and South Hampton.

What to know about Phillips and Gannon's experience

Phillips has been a state representative for Fremont since 2022, serving on the Special Committee on Childcare. She became the assistant majority leader in the New Hampshire House in April.

In May, she announced her intent to challenge Gannon, saying on X the Senate has “ignored the will of the voters” for “too long.” Along with expanding transparency in the Senate, her priorities include growing the New Hampshire advantage, universal education freedom (public funding for families to send children to private schools), Second Amendment rights and a parental bill of rights.

Gannon said the primary challenge is an “opportunity” for him to demonstrate his effectiveness as a state senator.

Gannon serves as the chairman of the Senate Commerce Committee and the vice chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee. He was previously the vice chairman of the Senate Transportation Committee, and vice chairman of the Senate Executive and Administration Committee. He also served in the New Hampshire House for one term.

“I am the only senator with the backbone to take on the Democrats and special interests,” Gannon said. “Being a senator is more than showing up once a week to cast your votes, it's about showing up, listening, and assisting the hardworking families and businesses in the district. “

Gannon said his record shows he is the "leading conservative voice in the Republican Senate caucus," with priorities including immigration, Second Amendment rights, law enforcement, and “women’s privacy rights,” which he described as girls being entitled to play against girls and have separate lockers and bathrooms.

Gannon vs Phillips on the issues

Phillips believes it’s time for a “bold change.”

“I am running for the state Senate to continue my work advocating for the principles of limited government, expanded freedom, and protecting the rights of Granite Staters,” Phillips said. “In order for New Hampshire to retain its status as the freest state in the nation, our state Senate must reflect those ideals.”

Those ideals, she added, include supporting the education freedom accounts program in New Hampshire and legalizing recreational cannabis “instead of instituting a government-run monopoly on the industry.” Gannon voted against legalizing marijuana in the 2024 session.

Phillips listed several issues where she wasn’t happy with Gannon’s positions, such as his support for SB 263, a bill to extend the New Hampshire Granite Advantage health care program that failed in the House. The program provides medical assistance to low-income New Hampshire residents ages 19-64 who qualify. Phillips said “able-bodied Granite Staters” should be “lifted back into the workforce and economy” rather than being kept on welfare “permanently.”

“When it comes to our senior citizens, I support them and have been fighting for increased access to medical care, while my opponent was one of 12 state representatives to vote against House Resolution 7, which affirms New Hampshire’s support for their Social Security and Medicare benefits,” said Gannon.

Phillips also criticized Gannon’s co-sponsorship of bill to create a fee to access right-to-know records, calling it a “tax.” Gannon and Clark rebutted, saying HB 1002 was a reasonable policy for small towns like Sandown that are faced with excessive or large right to know requests. The bill was signed into law by Sununu on June 14.

Gannon pushed back on Phillips’s priorities.

“I am and will continue to be the senator who is fighting for conservative values and a stronger New Hampshire, while my opponent is focused on sponsoring legislation to ban circumcision and allow people to own kangaroos, monkeys, and skunks as pets,” he said. “While she caters to pet projects and special interests, I stand strong for the values of my constituents.”

Phillips defended the bills, which both died in the House. On circumcision, she said taxpayers shouldn't be forced to pay for "elective surgical procedures." Repealing the ban on ownership of monkeys, she added, would be in line with the state's philosophy of limited government.

Immigration is a top priority for Gannon, and he pointed out his support of the sanctuary cities ban, SB 563, while Phillips voted to table the legislation. He also said she supports legalizing “hard drugs,” something Phillips said was “preposterous.” She said her vote on SB 563 was a strategic choice in hopes of bringing back the bill later when there were more Republicans in the chamber, and emphasized she too is strongly in support of securing the border.

Gov. Sununu endorses Gannon

Gov. Chris Sununu and all 13 other Senate Republicans have endorsed Gannon in the primary over Phillips, as has Rockingham County Sheriff Chuck Massahos, Rockingham County Attorney Pat Conway and some of the state representatives within District 23.

“Senator Bill Gannon is a principled conservative and a proven leader in the State Senate. A man of his word, Bill gets the job done for the families and communities he serves,” Sununu said in his endorsement. “He works hard to protect our New Hampshire Advantage and can always be counted on to oppose a sales and income tax. Bill has my enthusiastic endorsement and he has earned everyone’s vote.”

More: Here are NH elections to watch in 2024 as governor, Senate, House, council fields are set

Phillips, who lists over 100 endorsements from state representatives, is not deterred. In response to Sununu’s endorsement, she referred to a quote from the governor where he questioned the power of his endorsement during the 2024 presidential campaign.

Phillips holds a lead in fundraising, with $75,425.72 compared to Gannon’s $63,414.68 according to campaign finance numbers reported on June 19.

“I am out every day meeting as many voters in Senate District 23 as possible to spread the positive message of what I will do for my constituents when elected, and that’s our focus,” Phillips said.

Gannon said his message is “resonating.”

"Our district expects to have a senator who is fiscally responsible, supports the Second Amendment, is supportive of all of its students, defends life, and has the time and dedication to answer the calls of their constituents.," he said. “My values, hard work, experience, and voting record reflect the values of the people of our district. I will fight to once again earn the votes of my constituents.”

The Gannon-Phillips winner will face Democratic challenger Brenda Oldak from South Hampton. She ran and lost against Gannon in 2022.

More primary races for NH Senate seats

While District 23 is the only Senate district where an incumbent is being challenged, two other districts will see primary races.

In District 15, three Democrats have filed to succeed Sen. Becky Whitley, D-Hopkinton, who said she would not be running for her seat again after a failed run for Congress.

The winner of the primary between Rep. Angela Brennan, D-Bow, Rep. Rebecca McWilliams, D-Concord, and Merrimack County District 1 Commissioner Tara Reardon will face Republican Pamela Ean.

Manchester School Board Ward 2 member Sean Parr and Rep. Pat Long, D-Manchester, are running against each other in the primary to replace retiring Sen. Lou D’Allesandro, D-Manchester, in blue leaning District 20. One of them will meet Republican Brittany Ping in the general election.

District 16, currently represented by Sen. Keith Murphy, R-Manchester, saw no Democrats running against him after both the filing period closed and past the date for the state parties to fill the seat. But in late June, retiring state librarian Michael York, encouraged by Sen. Donna Soucy, D-Manchester, and D’Allesandro, decided to mount a write-in bid. Distict 16 leans slightly Republican.

In District 1, incumbent Sen. Carrie Gendreau, R-Littleton, is not running for reelection. Rep. David Rochefort, R-Littleton, will run against Democrat Rusty Talbot to take her place in the Republican-leaning district.

This article originally appeared on Portsmouth Herald: NH Sen. Bill Gannon challenged by Rep. Emily Phillips in GOP primary