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John Sellers (New Hampshire politician)

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John Matthew Sellers is an American Republican party politician who represents the Grafton 18th district in the New Hampshire House of Representatives.

John Sellers
Member-elect of the New Hampshire House of Representatives
from the Grafton 10th district
Assuming office
December 4, 2024
SucceedingCarroll Brown Jr.
Member of the New Hampshire House of Representatives
from the Grafton 18th district
Incumbent
Assumed office
December 7, 2022
Succeeded byDonald McFarlane (elect)
Personal details
Born
John Matthew Sellers

March 1956 (age 68)
Political partyRepublican[1]
SpouseDonna[2]
Children9[2]
Residence(s)Bristol, New Hampshire, U.S.[3]

He is strongly against public education and is an advocate of homeschooling and school choice. A former member of the Newfound Area School District budgeting committee from 2020 to 2023,[4] he has suggested that "parents get their children out of the public government schools",[5] claimed public schools are "following the path of Hitler",[6] and stated that the "only things kids learn in [public] schools involve porn and demons".[7] He has been considered to be a conspiracy theorist[8] and has often quoted Hitler, Vladimir Lenin, and Joseph Stalin.[6][9][10]

Life and career

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Sellers grew up in Weymouth, Massachusetts, with five siblings and joined the United States Air Force after high school.[11] He served in the USAF[12] for six years, worked as a small business owner for many years, was a Senior Business Analyst at SAS Institute and retired in 2021. Sellers was on the Bristol Town Budget Committee and was a member of the Newfound Area School District budget committee. He is a board member of the School District Governance Association of New Hampshire.[11]

He was the plaintiff in the New Hampshire Superior Court case John M Sellers v. Town of Bristol. He sued the city, seeking to invalidate the results of the March 14, 2017, election held by the town, in which he was a candidate, and sought for the town to hold a new election.[13] Sellers ran for one of two open positions on the Board of Selectmen and came in third place in the election.[14] The New Hampshire Superior Court decided that without any fraud, voting irregularities do not invalidate an election unless they affect the result.[15]

In September 2022, Sellers defeated Andrew Ware in the Republican primary election for the Grafton 18th district of the New Hampshire House of Representatives.[16] In November 2022, he defeated Carolyn Fluehr-Lobban in the general election by four votes.[17] He assumed office in December 2022.

In December 2022, Sellers and his wife Donna were granted a special exception by the Town of Bristol to operate a short-term rental Airbnb at their property subject to meeting the fire chiefs requirements.[18]

On December 5, 2023, Sellers was one of four Republican co-sponsors of HB 1248, a bill that would have banned abortion after 15 days of pregnancy.[19] Sellers said he was not sure why the bills author had targeted 15 days, but said he was in favor of any restriction on abortion.[20]

On February 5, 2024, Sellers was the prime sponsor[21] of a bill that he introduced that would ban social–emotional learning in schools[22] and said "It is a tool. It is indoctrination".[21][23][24] In September 2024, Sellers joined 30 other New Hampshire House and Senate Republicans in signing an amicus brief calling for the overturn of the Claremont School District v. Governor of New Hampshire decisions decided in 1993 and 1997.[25]

He currently represents the towns of Alexandria, Bridgewater, Bristol, Canaan, Dorchester, Enfield, Grafton, Groton, Hebron, and Orange.[2]

He ran unopposed in the primary[26] and defeated Richard Lobban in the 2024 New Hampshire House of Representatives election for the Grafton 10th district.[27]

Open letters

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Sellers has written many letters to the editor that have been published by The Laconia Daily Sun.

Electoral history

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New Hampshire House of Representatives general election for the Grafton 10th district, 2024      Source:[28]
Party Candidate Votes %
Republican John Sellers 1,490 53.7
Democratic Richard Lobban 1,284 46.3
Total votes 2,774 100
New Hampshire House of Representatives general election for the Grafton 18th district, 2022     Source:[17]
Party Candidate Votes %
Republican John Sellers 4,229 50.0
Democratic Carolyn Fluehr-Lobban 4,225 50.0
Total votes 8,454 100
New Hampshire House of Representatives Republican party primary election for the Grafton 18th district, 2022     Source:[16]
Party Candidate Votes %
Republican John Sellers 1,103 71.1
Republican Andrew Ware 448 28.9
Total votes 1,551 100
Bristol Board of Selectmen election, 2017     Source:[13][14]
Party Candidate Votes %
Nonpartisan Rick Alpers 238 29.3
Nonpartisan Donald Milbrand 224 27.5
Nonpartisan John Sellers 208 25.6
Nonpartisan Frederick Eichman III 143 17.6
Total votes 813 100

References

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  1. ^ Costa, Jamie (February 15, 2023). "NH House kills bill to collect race and ethnicity data during police stops". Concord Monitor. Retrieved March 3, 2023.
  2. ^ a b c "Representative John Sellers (R)". New Hampshire General Court. Archived from the original on July 12, 2024. Retrieved March 3, 2023.
  3. ^ "Grafton County Delegation". Grafton County. Archived from the original on May 29, 2024.
  4. ^ "Budget Committee Committee". Newfoundland Area School District.
  5. ^ Sellers, John (May 22, 2023). "Rep. John Sellers: Home schooling an easy educational alternative to public schools". The Laconia Daily Sun. Archived from the original on May 23, 2023.
  6. ^ a b Sellers, John (June 22, 2023). "Rep. John Sellers: Take kids out of schools, which are following path of Hitler". The Laconia Daily Sun. Archived from the original on September 24, 2024.
  7. ^ Sellers, John (January 2, 2023). "Rep. John Sellers: The only things kids learn in schools involve porn and demons". The Laconia Daily Sun. Archived from the original on September 24, 2024.
  8. ^ Metcalf, Richard (January 11, 2023). "Richard Metcalf: Rep. John Sellers misrepresents his own record". Archived from the original on September 24, 2024.
  9. ^ Sellers, John (August 17, 2023). "Rep. John Sellers: Democrats say one thing, then vote to do the opposite". The Laconia Daily Sun. Archived from the original on October 2, 2023.
  10. ^ Sellers, John (August 21, 2023). "Democrats represent the evil around us". Valley News.
  11. ^ a b "About". School District Governance Association of New Hampshire. Archived from the original on June 16, 2024.
  12. ^ Koes, Laura (September 6, 2022). "In District 18, candidate claims call to service". Valley News. Archived from the original on September 7, 2022. Retrieved March 3, 2023.
  13. ^ a b "John M Sellers v. Town of Bristol" (PDF). New Hampshire Municipal Association. Archived (PDF) from the original on August 22, 2024.
  14. ^ a b "Bristol is victorious in March town election challenge". The Laconia Daily Sun. August 23, 2017. Archived from the original on September 25, 2024.
  15. ^ "Absent Fraud, Voting Irregularities Do Not Invalidate an Election Unless They Affect the Result". New Hampshire Municipal Association. August 21, 2017.
  16. ^ a b "2022 New Hampshire State House - Grafton District 18 Election Results". USA Today. September 13, 2022. Archived from the original on March 4, 2023. Retrieved March 3, 2023.
  17. ^ a b "2022 New Hampshire State House - Grafton District 18 Election Results". USA Today. November 8, 2022. Archived from the original on March 4, 2023. Retrieved March 3, 2023.
  18. ^ "Zoning Board of Adjustments - December 6, 2022" (PDF). Bristol, NH. December 6, 2022. Archived (PDF) from the original on September 24, 2024.
  19. ^ Graham, Michael (December 7, 2023). "GOP's Perez Calls Support for 15-Day Abortion Bill a 'Mistake,' But Political Damage Is Done". NH Journal - An InsideSources publication.
  20. ^ Timm, Jane C. (December 5, 2023). "New Hampshire Republicans propose '15-day' abortion ban". NBC News.
  21. ^ a b Gokee, Amanda (February 5, 2024). "Why is N.H. considering a ban on social emotional learning?". The Boston Globe.
  22. ^ Gopalakrishnan, Sruti (February 5, 2024). "Six-year-old from Concord testifies against bill that would prohibit SEL classes". Concord Monitor. Archived from the original on July 7, 2024.
  23. ^ "Social Emotional Learning ban brings out strong opposition". Reaching Higher NH. February 7, 2024. Archived from the original on February 7, 2024.
  24. ^ Sexton, Adam (February 5, 2024). "Students, educators testify against bill to ban social and emotional learning programs in New Hampshire". WMUR9. Archived from the original on February 17, 2024.
  25. ^ DeWitt, Ethan (September 18, 2024). "Citing fall of Roe, Republicans ask for Claremont school funding decisions to be overturned". New Hampshire Bulletin. Archived from the original on September 18, 2024.
  26. ^ "2024 New Hampshire State House Primary Election Results". USA Today. September 25, 2024.
  27. ^ "New Hampshire Election Results". The New York Times. Retrieved November 11, 2024.
  28. ^ "Full New Hampshire State House election results for Nov. 5, 2024". WMUR-TV. November 5, 2024.
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John Sellers' campaign website
John Sellers on WMUR9

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