One of my priorities as your state senator is to support legislation that would strengthen the New Hampshire economy and help our small business community thrive.  House Bill 474 known as “Right to Work” is one such piece of legislation. I believe this bill will help New Hampshire become more business friendly and encourage new businesses to locate here.

House Bill 474 would prohibit unions from collecting dues or fees from non members.  I believe that this is also an issue of freedom. No one should be forced to pay fees to a union in order to keep their job. Please click here and here to view and read recent media reports on the status of HB 474.

Senate campaign was a group effort

I am humbled and honored that the voters of District 4 selected me as their next state senator. I want to wish my opponent, Andrew Hosmer, and his family the best. I know how much of a strain a campaign is on the family, and I appreciate the sacrifices they made. I also would like to congratulate Sen. Kathleen Sgambati on her retirement. She put in a lot of time and effort to serve as the Lakes Region senator for four years.

I am grateful for the hard work of our volunteers. Together, we knocked on over 10,000 doors, made thousands of phone calls, and distributed literature to the entire district. To everyone who helped out by driving me around, showing your support at an event, or standing outside the polls, I extend my gratitude. I am also grateful for my two campaign managers, Zach Azem and Andrew Sharp. They went above and beyond the call of duty. Click here to read more.

Senators mean business

What do you call a group of businessmen and businesswomen meeting to discuss a budget?

In New Hampshire, you call it the state Senate

To talk to the new senators is to hear frustration with government regulation of business. Jim Forsythe is a former partner at Cobalt Solutions, which sells a specialized kind of software, and now owns Forsythe Consulting LLC. Forsythe talks about a businessman he met who owns a car wash and a Laundromat. The owner was upset that inspectors from the state Division of Weights and Measures measured the timing of all his car wash machines and planned to test his laundry machines – and charged him for it.

“It’s unnecessary,” Forsythe said. Click here to read more.

We did it!

The results are in, and thanks to all of your hard work we have achieved victory!  With results from 100% of the district, we have 62.25% compared to 37.75%.  We won every town and every ward!

I am humbled by the outpouring of support I have received for this campaign, and I am so deeply grateful for all the hard work of our volunteers who are responsible for this victory.  Together, we knocked on over 10,000 doors, made thousands of phone calls, and distributed literature to all of the district.  To everyone who helped out by driving me around, showing your support at an event, or braving the cold to stand outside of the polls, I extend my sincerest gratitude.I am also incredibly grateful for my two campaign managers – Zach Azem (for the primary) and Andrew Sharp (for the general).  They went above and beyond the call of duty and made it easier for me to travel the district and talk to as many voters as possible.  If you want to thank them, contribute within the next day to give them a bonus.

I want to wish my opponent Andrew Hosmer and his family all the best.  I know very well how much of a strain a campaign is on the family, and I appreciate the sacrifices Andrew and his family made during this campaign.  I also would like to congratulate Senator Sgambati on her retirement.  She put in a lot of time and effort to serve as the lakes region Senator for four years.

The over-riding message of our campaign was that we need to reduce spending allowing us to reduce taxes on businesses and property owners in order to create jobs.  In the end, the voters responded enthusiastically to our message.  Now that we are past the election, the difficult work to achieve these results begins.  I am looking forward to working with my colleagues to restore the NH Advantage of limited government, low taxes, personal freedom, and personal responsibility.   I will continue to use our e-mail list to keep our supporters informed of our progress.

Again, thank you all for all you have done.  I’m excited to spend some much-needed time with my family over the next few months before the session begins, but as always, please feel free to contact me to share your thoughts.  I am honored to have the opportunity to serve you as your next State Senator.

On Friday Former US Senator John E. Sununu joined Jim for a fundraiser at the Soda Shoppe in Laconia to talk about the importance of electing principled conservatives like Jim to the state house. Sen. Sununu encouraged the attendees to get out and vote on November 2nd, and to get their friends and family to go vote as well, because a few hundred votes sometimes can make the difference in a local race. He then introduced Jim, who spoke about how our state has a spending problem, not a revenue problem, and why he signed the pledge to vote against any new broad-based tax. Later, Jim answered questions from those in attendance.

We would like to thank the Soda Shoppe for hosting us and Sen. Sununu for taking the time out of his busy schedule to show his support for Jim.

Watch a video of the event: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bwNqhpoiUH0

From the Union Leader

Friday, Oct. 8th 2010

From the Citizen of Laconia

Wednesday, October 6, 2010

Jim Forsythe is a first-time candidate for elected office but with a variety of life experiences, including as someone who has stood up for taxpayers and business owners, he feels he’s well qualified to be the next state senator from District 4.

A Republican, Forsythe faces Democrat Andrew Hosmer, who like him, is also a political newcomer, in the Nov. 2 general elections. But that, said Forsythe on Tuesday during an interview with the editorial board of The Citizen, is where the similarities end.

The former part-owner of an aerospace company, Forsythe served in the Air Force and also taught at the Air Force Academy. He is chairman of the Strafford town GOP and the Strafford Taxpayers Coalition and the former head of the Republican Liberty Caucus in NH, and the NH Republican Liberty PAC.

Forsythe said he decided to run for the District 4 seat after becoming concerned with the direction the Granite State was taking since 2006 under the control of the Democratic leadership in Concord.

Helping Forsythe’s chances to represent the Fourth District — made up of Alton, Barnstead, Belmont, Gilford, Gilmanton, Laconia, New Durham, Strafford and Tilton — are the decision by Kathy Sgambati, the two-term incumbent Democrat, not to seek re-election as well as Hosmer’s limited name-recognition. A Laconia resident, Hosmer is the general manager of AutoServ of Tilton, but until his decision to seek Sgambati’s old seat, he was not widely known outside business circles.

As a state senator, Forsythe said he’d cut spending and work to make New Hampshire more business-friendly. He said the state can save a significant amount of money by having its employees switch from traditional health insurance policies to health savings accounts, something that he acknowledged would need the approval of state unions and also legislative action.

Forsythe said the state could also save money by buying its electricity wholesale from the power grid and by offering school choice to parents. He explained that providing vouchers or tax credits to send a student to a private school, including charter schools and those affiliated with religious groups, would cost less than the state’s current per-pupil funding while possibly also encouraging public schools to improve to compete for students and the funding they bring.

The education money, said Forsythe, should follow the student. He said he opposes the so-called Claremont decisions in which the New Hampshire Supreme Court ordered the state to fund school aid at a certain level and supports targeted aid to the neediest communities. He conceded that there were “no easy answers” to transition to the targeted-aid model because the state relies solely on property taxes to generate the money.

“We really need to look at school choice,” said Forsythe, noting it already exists in 22 other states.

Pro-life and a supporter of the right to bear arms, Forsythe said individual churches should decide whether they want to perform gay marriages and while he said he would not propose a bill to repeal the existing law which allows same-sex couples to marry, he would support it.

A traditional fiscal and social conservative, Forsythe said he also holds some Libertarian values, adding that he would support a state law approving use of marijuana for medicinal purposes.

“I’m someone who believes in freedom,” said Forsythe, “including the freedom (to do things) that might be damaging.” While he did not rule out supporting expanded gambling, Forsythe said he had a lot of questions about how it could be done properly.

Forsythe believes the 2011-2012 session of the state Senate will be marked by efforts to control spending and other fiscal issues.

Spending is related to jobs, he said, with the more spending the state does, the less favorable the conditions for job growth. The high level of government regulation is choking some businesses, said Forsythe, while the recently approved and then repealed tax on some limited liability companies was just the latest misstep by an out-of-touch Legislature.

If elected, Forsythe said he’d like a review of state business taxes, including the rooms and meals tax. He said he supports selling unused or underused state assets, but not, he stressed, to cover basic operating expenses. A legislative committee is currently looking to put a dollar value on a number of state resources, including the vacant Lakes Region Facility prison in Laconia.

Asked what separates him from Hosmer, who is also a fiscal conservative but who is progressive on social issues, Forsythe pointed out that Hosmer, while saying he opposes both an income and sales tax, nonetheless refuses to sign a pledge saying he wouldn’t support either or both.

“Where was he (Hosmer) when they were passing the LLC tax,” asked Forsythe, adding that he testified against the tax and years earlier, had advocated on behalf of taxpayers in his hometown. Those efforts, he said, immediately distinguish him from Hosmer in that they provided experience that will be valuable in the Senate.

“I do have a proven track record,” said Forsythe, adding that while he can work with lawmakers who have different opinions — “I’m very good at politely disagreeing,” said Forsythe — he wasn’t going to abandon his principles in Concord.

“The stakes are certainly high and I’m not someone who wants to go along to get along,” said Forsythe.

By JOHN KOZIOL
jkoziol@citizen.com

Yesterday was Jim’s 42nd Birthday, and to all of you who helped us celebrate by donating $42 (or more!) we’d like to extend our sincere gratitude! Thanks to you, we raised more than $1450 in one day, which will help us kick off the month of October with a bang!

As the donations were coming in, Jim was out in the pouring down rain with Luke, a field staffer for Tim Pawlenty’s Freedom First PAC who is here in New Hampshire helping conservative candidates get elected.

After door knocking houses, Jim and Luke headed into Laconia to do some business canvassing. Many local business owners are hurting, and they’re eager to get tax-fighters like Jim into office. Jim has made it a priority to support small businesses in New Hampshire, who are the “true engine of our economy.”

Later in the day, they were off to the Winnisquam bridge to do a sign wave. There were lots of honks, waves, and thumbs up. The rain never let up, but neither did we!

Thanks again to everyone who has donated, your help is greatly appreciated. If you are available to help in other ways, like making phone calls or doing lit drops, please don’t hesitate to contact us at 603-822-0285 or info@jimforsythe.com.

CONCORD – Today, the Joint Legislative Committee on Administrative Rules is meeting in Concord to attempt to rewrite the rules governing the use of money in the Joint Underwriters Association Fund. Earlier this year the State Supreme Court ruled that Governor Lynch could not use the $110 million from the JUA to balance his budget. Now the governor is attempting to rewrite these rules. Republican State Senate Candidate Jim Forsythe called on Senator Kathy Sgambati (D-Tilton), a member of the committee, to immediately reject the plan, which would allow the state to confiscate private property from New Hampshire doctors, nurses, and healthcare providers.

Jim Forsythe stated, “The governor’s attempt to steal private property is wrong, and Senator Sgambati needs to oppose this legislation. So does Andrew Hosmer, Senator Sgambati’s hand-picked successor. Until Andrew Hosmer publicly condemns this bill, the voters of District 4 should consider him in favor of stealing from doctors, nurses and healthcare providers.”

He added, “It is the 24% increase in state spending by the Democrats in Concord that has lead the State into the current deficit. The best solution is to reduce spending, not raid the JUA Fund.”