Someone recently asked me about Rep. Susan Emerson who is facing a primary challenge on Sept. 13. They wanted to know what I thought of her and did I support her? They had heard some negative rumors and wanted the facts.
Susan Emerson knows the meaning of “represent.” Too many people go to Concord and just vote their own way, regardless of how it affects their constituents. This is not the case with Rep. Emerson, who is always available, always ready to listen, and most importantly always there to advocate on behalf of her constituents. It doesn’t matter if you are a Republican, Democrat or undeclared. She works for all of us. She doesn’t get bogged down in partisan gridlock – working both sides of the aisle where she has many friends. I saw that someone wrote she doesn’t deserve that “R” after her name – really? In the Reagan Republican house I was raised in, working both sides of the aisle and getting things done is exactly the measure of political success.
I did not know Susan well until the N.E.D. pipeline proposal came to New Hampshire. Both of the towns she represents were severely impacted. Both towns voted with wide margins to oppose the project. Susan went to work immediately educating her peers in the legislature, knocking on doors and garnering support to oppose the project at the state level. Conversely the other incumbent in the primary ignored those he represented and turned a blind eye. The challenger in the primary claims he opposes the pipeline – conveniently after the battle, in which he did not participate, is over. Nope, there was only one we could count on and that was Susan Emerson. She was the first, she held on until the last, she was our everything. She escorted the New Hampshire pipeline opposition group into the state house with the very first petition and she followed the process all the way through, sponsoring legislation, making calls, even while undergoing serious but successful surgery.
She has a genuine passion to serve dating back to her time in Washington, D.C. where her late husband, Dr. Gerald Parker, USAFMC, served as deputy surgeon general. Since coming to New Hampshire after retirement she has served with great distinction in the House for 14 years. She was first “called to service” when she became concerned that the elderly could no longer afford to stay in their homes due to their property taxes. She is the senior ranking Republican on the Health and Human Services Committee. You may remember her coming to the forefront early on in the battle against synthetic drugs, demanding regulation of these substances that many young people in our state were experimenting with often with disastrous life changing results. She has been awarded Legislator of the Year as well as the Barbara Bush Silver Fox Award.
The list of her accomplishments is long – over 13 pages listing bills she either sponsored or co-sponsored as well as service on various committees. You can find out more about her work at SusanEmerson4NH.com. Please join me in returning her to represent Cheshire County District 11. She is not a bunch of hot air and promises. She is a woman of action and results.
Maryann Harper lives in Rindge.