NEW HAMPSHIRE SENATE CANDIDATE

RUTH LARSON

Ruth Larson is a Democratic Senate Candidate running to represent District 6 in the New Hampshire State Senate, a region which includes Alton, Farmington, Gilmanton, New Durham, Rochester, and Strafford.

“I support legalization of cannabis, and if elected to the NH Senate, I will vote in favor of legalization. The vast majority of NH residents favor legalization, and in my view the issue should be how to legalize, not whether to legalize. Unfortunately, although the NH House voted in favor of legalization in the spring of 2022, the NH Senate, including my opponent Senator James Gray, rejected both bills.

New Hampshire is now the only New England state that does not have legal marijuana. New Hampshire is, therefore, the only state in New England that gets no revenues from cannabis sales. We watch as our neighboring states all derive large profits from this commerce.

In my view, New Hampshire is overdue for change. One form of legalization under consideration has been to incorporate cannabis sales into liquor sales in state stores. I would instead favor private retail outlets, similar to what has been done in other states where cannabis is legal. In addition to encouraging competition likely to result in favorable pricing, this model would keep the cannabis supply chain in the hands of those with the most expertise. It would also avoid the issue of having the state itself, and state employees, involved in sales that are still technically illegal under federal law.”

Ruth Larson is running for election in 2022. You can support her campaign by visiting her campaign page or Liking her Facebook page.

Disclaimer: Due to election laws we do not officially endorse political candidates or incumbent legislators. This content should not be misconstrued as an official endorsement.

• ABOUT RUTH LARSON
  Meet Ruth Larson

   

  Ruth Larson was born in Washington, DC, and grew up in nearby Maryland. She attended Antioch College, in Yellow Springs, Ohio, graduating in 1971. After working for a couple of years, she then went to law school, graduating from Rutgers Camden Law School in 1975 with High Honors.

   

  After clerking for a judge for a year, Ruth then went to work at the New Jersey Attorney General’s Office, where she handled civil litigation, defending state employees (including state police officers) and state agencies in state and federal court. During the rest of her legal career, she ran an insurance company law office in New Jersey, handling negligence and other types of claims in civil court. The cases that did not settle generally went to jury trials.

   

  Since the age of 4, Ruth has been coming to New Hampshire to be with family at an old farmhouse owned by her late grandfather on the Alton/Gilmanton border. Upon her retirement in 2009, Ruth and her husband (Hunter Taylor) moved to New Hampshire full time and built a house on land previously owned by Ruth’s mother.

   

  After spending a year or two enjoying retirement, traveling around New Hampshire, hiking, kayaking, and gardening, Ruth began to immerse herself in local and state issues. Her involvement started with writing letters to area newspapers, then expanded to include attendance at county and state meetings, testifying before the state legislature, and finally, running for office.

   

  In 2018 and again in 2020, Ruth ran for the NH House of Representatives for the then floterial district that included Alton, Barnstead, and Gilmanton. Her opponent, Ray Howard (also of Alton) was known for some crazy bills he proposed (requiring legislators to be paid in silver dollars, eliminating car registration and inspection, and others), and more recently, for being one of 13 state representatives who voted for the secession amendment that would have allowed NH to secede from the US.

   

  Although Ruth did not succeed in her bids for the NH House, her campaigns served an educational purpose, bringing out into the open some of the extremism in Belknap County. In addition to her campaigns, Ruth has been a prolific letter writer over the years, often shining a spotlight on some of the worst excesses of the FreeStater agenda, as well as pockets or racism and bigotry.