source: www.shawnfornh.com/bio
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"Democrat O'Connor looks to unseat Guinta as U.S. Rep. in 2016"
By Liz Markhlevskaya (lmark@fosters.com) - July 8, 2015
BARRINGTON — Democratic U.S. Congress candidate Shawn O'Connor told members of the town's Democratic committee Wednesday that he would like to raise the minimum wage, alleviate student debt, and ensure that all citizens have access to healthcare, including for mental health treatment.
O'Connor hopes to take Frank Guinta's seat in the 2016 election for congressman in New Hampshire District 1.
He described himself as a pragmatic progressive who is pro-choice, and who thinks the death penalty is "ethically incomprehensible." O'Connor said he would like changes in the United States' environmental policies, including more focus on renewable energy.
Education, said O'Connor, should be accessible to all citizens. Although he is not proposing a debt-free college plan for all students in America, he said he supports refinancing of student loans for lower interest rates, and alleviating debt for those who contributed public service after completing higher education.
O'Connor also said he would like the federal government to mandate full-day kindergarten programs, and to spend money on those programs.
"It all starts at the younger years and we need to make investments," he said.
O'Connor is also a supporter of LGBT equality and is gay. He said his priorities include working to pass a comprehensive LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgendered) nondiscrimination act.
Addressing access to healthcare, O'Connor said, "Healthcare is a right, not a privilege."
He spoke about what he saw as a "doughnut hole in the ACA (Affordable Care Act)" — companies do not have to provide healthcare benefits for employees working 29 hours a week or less. He said the limit should be lowered, to ensure more workers are eligible.
O'Connor said he would like to set up regional health insurance exchanges, spanning several states, to attract more insurers into the system.
O'Connor said he would also like the minimum wage to be increased to $15 an hour, while supporting small businesses through the transition.
O'Connor, who grew up in Philadelphia, Penn., has been a Bedford resident for the past four years. He said that whether or not he wins the election, he plans to remain a New Hampshire resident for the rest of his life.
"I will fight harder for New Hampshire than you could imagine," he said. "It's all about service."
Former Congresswoman Carol Shea-Porter, a Democrat who lost her seat to Guinta last fall, is scheduled to be the featured speaker at the Barrington Democratic Committee meeting next month. The event will start at 6 p.m. on Aug. 12, at the Barrington library.
Whether Shea-Porter will run for Congress again in 2016 remains to be seen. On Wednesday, O'Connor said that if he and Shea-Porter end up competing in the primary, "We will have a vibrant debate and the people will decide."
"This is a district that the Democrats can hold in the longrun," said O'Connor.
New Hampshire Congressional District 1 includes the entire Strafford and Carroll counties, as well as local communities of Portsmouth, Nottingham, Newmarket, Newfields, Exeter, Alton, Rye, Hampton and Hampton Falls.
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Protesters (from left) state Rep. Timothy Horrigan of Durham, Lew Henry of Gilmanton Iron Works and Steve and Tess Smith of Center Barnstead stood outside the Gilman Library in Alton on Saturday, July 11, 2015, where U.S. Rep Frank Guinta held a town hall. This was his first town hall since the Federal Election Commission found the congressman in violation of campaign finance regulations.
U.S. Rep Frank Guinta held a town hall in Alton on Saturday, July 11, 2015. This was his first town hall since the Federal Election Commission found the congressman in violation of campaign finance regulations.
"Frank Guinta did not address FEC violations in his first town hall since findings were released"
By Susan Doucet, Concord Monitor staff, July 11, 2015 (Published in print: Sunday, July 12, 2015)
U.S. Rep. Frank Guinta saved about a half hour of his town hall meeting Saturday morning for questions from the public. State Sen. Sam Cataldo of Farmington wanted details on Common Core legislation, state Rep. Timothy Horrigan of Durham inquired about gun violence, and other speakers asked the congressman about immigration and military and veteran affairs, each of which Guinta addressed.
But as the town hall drew to a close, Guinta did not take the time to respond to the final comment from an audience member: a call for his resignation.
“Congressman Guinta, I have here a petition signed by 4,000 people who have asked you to resign. I’d like to give it to you,” said Shawn O’Connor, a Bedford Democrat who is challenging Guinta for his first congressional district seat in the 2016 election, while holding a manila envelope. Guinta, who had additional events scheduled to attend after the town hall, exited the room without responding to O’Connor.
Saturday’s town hall at the Gilman Library in Alton was the first one the Republican congressman has held since it was made public that the Federal Elections Commission found him in violation of campaign finance regulations. In May, it was revealed that the FEC determined Guinta used $355,000 from bank accounts in his parents’ names in 2009 and 2010, his first congressional campaign.
Additional information on the commission’s findings was released last month, supporting the contention that the contributions were not his funds, but those of family members.
Guinta, who defeated Carol Shea-Porter for the seat last year, has maintained that he will serve the rest of his term and plans to run for re-election in 2016.
The hour-long town hall Saturday that about two dozen New Hampshire residents attended did not have any mention of the FEC findings, other than from O’Connor at the end of the event and from a small group of protesters who stood on the sidewalk in front of the library before the event’s start.
“This is not a true town hall meeting,” said O’Connor, calling the town hall a sham. “I think that it is shameful that Congressman Guinta doesn’t care to know the names on this list, does not care to respond to the people who are calling for his resignation.”
O’Connor, speaking after Guinta’s exit, posited that the constituents called on during the town hall were planted there.
Guinta took four questions during the event, as well as addressing a question from Horrigan, who followed up on a question about illegal immigration. Horrigan, a Democratic state representative and one of five people who Guinta addressed during the event, had been outside protesting before the town hall.
Before entering the library, Horrigan stood with a sign that read “Frank Guinta is a damned liar,” the quote from the New Hampshire Union Leader’s six-word editorial in May. Holding signs with Horrigan were Lew Henry of Gilmanton Iron Works and Steve and Tess Smith of Center Barnstead, with messages such as “Frank, your mom wants her money back” and “Frank, what’s in your wallet?”
Bob Perry of Strafford stood nearby, also holding a protest sign. For five years, he has been following “the continuing saga of the campaign finance violations,” he said.
“This is no small matter,” he said. “People should be outraged.”
Of the protesters outside in Alton, only Horrigan attended the town hall.
Before taking questions from the audience, Guinta spoke about his work in Washington and about a new initiative that he launched this week. The initiative, “We the People,” calls for voters in the first congressional district to contact Guinta with their feedback.
“Get involved. Get invested. Make your government work better,” read cards about the initiative.
“We the People” encourages constituents to email, call or text Guinta with feedback, questions and ideas on what “Washington should be focusing on to better the lives of Granite Staters.”
“In New Hampshire, I’ve always felt that you’ve got to be as accessible as possible and you’ve got to be closest to the people . . . What this essentially does, is something very, very simple: It allows you to talk to me directly, access me directly, 365 days a year, 24 hours a day, seven days a week,” Guinta said. “I want people to have that direct accessibility.”
(Susan Doucet can be reached at 369-3309, sdoucet@cmonitor.com or on Twitter @susan_doucet.)
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"Former U.S. Rep. Carol Shea-Porter to run in 1st District election"
Staff Report, NH Union Leader, September 20, 2015
MANCHESTER — “I'm in, are you?”
If there was any doubt, former U.S. Rep. Carol Shea-Porter put it to rest Saturday. She announced at the Democrats' state convention that she is running again in the 1st District.
The three-term Democrat from Rochester previously said she would run in a special election if embattled Republican incumbent Frank Guinta resigned after his campaign finance scandal.
She later filed the requisite statement of candidacy paperwork with the Federal Election Commission.
“I kept my promise because I know that public office is a public trust, and we must never forget that,” Shea-Porter said.
Shea-Porter said she remains a populist. She cited her father, a Republican, who would say to her, “‘Our purpose in life is to comfort the afflicted and afflict the too comfortable,' and that's what we need to do. We need to bring fairness and opportunity to all Americans — that's our Democratic agenda.”
Shea-Porter will have a primary. Shawn O'Connor, a businessman from Bedford, has declared his candidacy for the 1st District.
In his remarks to the state convention, O'Connor said he would work to strengthen Social Security and Medicare, oppose new natural gas pipelines in New Hampshire, and raise the minimum wage. As an openly gay candidate, he said he would work to provide civil rights protections for the gay, lesbian and transgendered community.
He also embraced a populist message, citing the financial reform spirit of Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass.
“Elizabeth Warren was a professor of mine,” he said. “I will be the Elizabeth Warren in the House of Representatives.” Guinta, who defeated Shea-Porter in 2014 in their third general election match-up, has said he intends to run for re-election. His fundraising took a big hit in the second quarter, after the Federal Elections Commission concluded Guinta accepted $355,000 in illegal excessive campaign contributions in 2010, with the money coming from his parents' bank account. He continues to insist it was an oversight, and that he had equity interest in the private account: the FEC did not find his arguments persuasive. Guinta was fined $15,000, which he has paid, and he was ordered to return the $355,000 to his parents' account.
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