The second and final Monadnock Debate of the 2016 state primary season is scheduled for Tuesday, Sept. 6, at Franklin Pierce University in Rindge.
Co-sponsored by the Monadnock Ledger-Transcript with the Fitzwater Center for Communication at Franklin Pierce University, this debate will feature candidates in the Democratic primary to represent District 9 in the New Hampshire state senate.
Jeanne Dietsch of Peterborough, and Lee Nyquist of New Boston are running for the nomination, and both of them are participating in the debate, which occurs just one week before the primary.
The winner of that primary will face incumbent Republican State Sen. Andy Sanborn of Bedford for the seat in November’s general election.
Sanborn has occupied the District 9 seat since 2010. Positions in the state senate are not subject to term limits, but are elected every two years.
Dietsch is an entrepreneur and businesswoman, most recently founding Mobile Robots, a software company out of Amherst, who is now involved in government in the Town of Peterborough.
She is chair of the Strategic Communication and Broadband committees of the Economic Development Authority. Over the years, she also served on the ConVal School Board, Monadnock Center for History & Culture’s Community Conversations board, and was elected chair of the Peterborough Zoning Board of Adjustment.
Nyquist has been the town moderator of New Boston for 24 years. When not working in that capacity, he is a practicing attorney in Manchester.
He continues after 11 years as chair of the New Hampshire Unemployment Compensation Advisory Council, and has acted as president of the Manchester Bar Association and New Hampshire Association for Justice. He is a member of the Manchester Rotary Club and served as director of the Daniel Webster Council of the Boy Scouts of America.
The 2017-18 state legislative turn will be a crucial one in New Hampshire, with a handful of issues rising to the fore of public discourse.
Among them is the state’s ongoing opioid crisis, debates over the future of Medicaid, changes in gaming law, and ever-present issues like education and job growth.
Nyquist and Dietsch will make their pitches in the Monadnock Debate at 6 p.m. on Tuesday, Sept. 6 at Spagnuolo Hall on Frankline Pierce’s Rindge campus. It is open to the public.
So is the first Monadnock Debate, which takes place at the same location tonight, Sept. 1, at 6 p.m.
That debate is for candidates for the Republican nomination to challenge Rep. Annie Kuster to represent New Hampshire’s second district in the U.S. House of Representatives. Participating in that debate is State Rep. Eric Estevez of Pelham, State Rep. Jack Flanagan of Brookline, Andy Martin of Manchester, and Casey Newell of Danville.
The primary elections for both of these races will take place on Tuesday, Sept. 13, and the general election is set for Tuesday, Nov. 8.
Brandon Latham can be reached at 924-7172 ext. 228 or blatham@ledgertranscript.com. He is also on Twitter @blathamMLT.