At 53-years-old, Durham resident Loren Selig is making her first entrance into the New Hampshire political arena to run for Durham’s representative in the State Legislature (Strafford County D-10). Selig is running for one of four seats in the district, and secured 21.5% of the vote in the Democratic primary on Sept. 13. She is a real estate agent, former kindergarten, middle school and highschool teacher and mother of two teenagers. Selig also worked for The University of New Hampshire for three years supervising graduate students interested in teaching and as a non-profit volunteer coordinator, though this race is her first time working on an elector campaign. Here’s where she stands on the pressing issues of the upcoming election.

Abortion

Selig was clear that she is dedicated to protecting abortion rights  in NH, though she did not comment on whether she would support expanding access beyond the current law of 24 weeks.

“I am 100% pro choice. I think the only people who should be deciding if someone has an abortion is the person who needs the abortion and their medical practitioner, and it should be a medical decision for a medical procedure. I don’t think there’s anyone else who should be involved in that decision. I don’t think the government belongs in anyone’s uterus,” she said. 

Affordable Housing

In the last session, measures were cut from House Bill 1661 which would have, in part, required municipalities to offer the same incentives to workforce housing that are offered for senior housing (such as increased density or faster approval processes). 

Selig agreed that more must be done to provide affordable housing in New Hampshire; however, she suggested it is often the place of local town and city zoning boards to make needed changes. She is an advocate for removing age restricted housing, which she believes would allow for smaller, more affordable units. 

“I don’t think it’s fair to discriminate against anyone based on age. We’re not allowed to discriminate against the old, I don’t think we should be allowed to discriminate against the young either,” she said. “With 55 plus housing, you can have denser zoning than you can with other housing. So we just took off the restriction and allowed that same density we could create more affordable housing.”

Legalization of Cannabis 

As of 2017, cannabis possession is currently decriminalized in the state of New Hampshire for up to three-quarters of an ounce. In the last legislative session, two bills which would have legalized the sale and recreational use of cannabis were killed. Selig is a supporter of legalization, but her greater concern is those who have been arrested for charges involving marijuana. 

“I think that anyone who is currently serving time or has served time, for nonviolent either possession or distribution of marijuana should have their records expunged. We know that the impact of having that kind of record – a criminal record – has an incredible long term impact on someone’s ability to get a high credit score, to get housing and to get employment,” she said.

Education 

According to Citizens Count, education is among one of the top issues for New Hampshire voters. New Hampshire’s state funding for public education consistently ranks as one of the lowest nationally. In addition, roughly 61% of public school funding in New Hampshire is derived from local property taxes. Selig argued our current system of funding is inadequate for those from poorer backgrounds. 

“So I think that we need to equalize the formula,” she said. “I don’t think it’s fair that kids from wealthy school districts have so many more advantages than kids from school districts where their parents are struggling, because the reality is the kids in those districts or the parents that are struggling need the support much more.”

Another concern for voters is the state’s Education Freedom Accounts. These accounts allow for New Hampshire students living at or below 300% of the federal poverty level guidelines to direct state funded per-pupil adequacy grants toward alternative educational programming such as private schools. Supporters argue they give students more choice and opportunities, while critics might point to their impact on public education funding. 

Selig opposes the accounts other than in the case of “true financial need,” arguing they are often abused or utilized for inadequate education. 

“The fact that we are right now bleeding taxpayer money out of public schools to fund private parochial education that has no monitoring, no evaluation and that several of the programs that got millions of dollars last year have gone out of business, because it turned out that they weren’t actually doing any education, they were just pocketing the money, just reveals how incredibly corrupt that program is. So I would do away with those accounts,” she said. 

As a former UNH employee and Durham resident, Selig also expressed concern regarding what she described as a lack of adequate funding for the University. 

“The reality is that UNH is the least funded state university in the country. And if the budget were doubled, it would still be the least funded state university in the country,” she said. “And that’s with Republicans talking about cutting the budget further at this point, so UNH has been doing a lot to try to restructure it in order to try to figure out ways to save money. It’s a mess. I would certainly fight for more funding for education.”

Gun Control

Selig described herself as passionate about “smart gun control.”

“And that doesn’t mean going and taking away people’s hunting rifles. But it means having sensible logical laws about how to own a gun, how to get licensed to carry a gun and how to use a gun,” she said. 

She added that her experiences teaching through lock downs and school shooting drills were “terrifying” and formative to her perspective on gun policy. 

“So I think that first of all, there should be a mandatory 48 hour waiting period, at least maybe even 72 hours,” she said. “Which I think should be not just to purchase a gun, but say if anyone wants to purchase more than ten bullets at a time.”

Selig also opposes the private purchase of military grade weapons, such as semi-automatic weapons. 

“I don’t think military grade weapons should be sold to civilians, period. I wouldn’t be in favor of buyback programs,” she said. “For those I think that we need the waiting period, the waiting periods also been shown to reduce gun assisted suicides by something like 90% or 93% in New Hampshire.”

She clarified that waiting periods would not apply to bullets purchased and contained within shooting ranges. 

As of 2022, New Hampshire residents are not required to obtain a license to own a firearm and there is no waiting period required before finalizing a firearm purchase. 

While this is Selig’s first foray into New Hampshire politics, she believes her experiences as a mother and a teacher will motivate her to be an effective representative. 

“The last 37 years, the politics of our country has been increasingly disturbing to me,” she said. “As a parent of two teenagers, I think it’s really important that I do things to protect their future. I think also, because of my background, as a teacher, and working with kids from really diverse backgrounds and lifestyles, I’m just very committed to equity work.” 

Voters can learn more about Selig’s candidacy at her campaign site. 

For students looking for more information on how to vote in the upcoming election on Nov. 8, 603 Forward offers information on their website. Students can also access more information on how to vote by checking out the University of New Hampshire Voting page.