New Hampshire’s first elected transgender lawmaker has been in jail since Nov. 12 on stalking-related charges.
Democratic State Rep. Stacie Laughton, a biological male, is due in court today for a hearing on the charges.
Laughton is already on bail on other charges. The hearing today is based on the allegation that Laughton made contact with a woman who has a protective order against him.
The 38-year-old former DJ, who also once served on the Nashua Board of Selectmen, has been elected three times to the New Hampshire house. But so far, he has only served one of those terms.
Seat Could Be Lost
If Laughton is convicted, Democrats will lose a seat in the legislative chamber where Republicans currently hold 201 out of 400 seats. Democrats won 198 seats in the midterm election and there is one pending House race in the state still to be decided.While Laughton’s conviction may seem like a moot point over who ultimately controls the House, past events suggest that Republicans could use the extra seat if they can secure it.
Last year, long-time New Hampshire Republican Bill Marsh switched to the Democrat party in protest of what he perceived as lax COVID precautions in the Legislature and state Rep. Ken Weyler, also a Republican, resigned over a controversial letter he wrote.
Besides political implications, some Republicans are concerned about safety if Laughton returns to the Chamber.
Nashua Republican Di Lothrop, who was elected in the midterms to serve her first term in the New Hampshire House, told the New Hampshire Journal that she blamed the city’s Democratic Party for promoting a person with “clear mental health problems.”
“She has huge problems,” Lothrop was quoted as saying.
Ray Buckley, chairman of the New Hampshire Democratic Party, did not respond to inquiries from The Epoch Times. Laughton’s attorney could not be reached for comment.
In 2012, the first time Laughton was elected, he was forced to resign before taking office after it was learned that he was still on probation for three felony convictions for credit card fraud.
Laughton declared his candidacy for the House once again in 2014, but both the New Hampshire Ballot Law Commission and state Attorney General determined Laughton to be an ineligible candidate because he was still serving his 10-year suspended sentence from a 2008 conviction. Like most states, New Hampshire has a law that prohibits a convicted felon still serving any kind of sentence from serving in office.
The following year in 2015, Laughton was charged with making a bomb threat to the Southern New Hampshire Medical Center. Laughton blamed the incident on mental health problems.
In 2020, Laughton ran again and ended up winning a second term, this time, hanging onto his seat.
Among the bills Laughton sponsored as a lawmaker are a proposal to decriminalize the possession of a certain amount of psychedelic mushrooms and reducing the required minimum age of 35 to 25 to run for state Senate.
