Inside the coordinated effort to dismantle local control and weaken the rule of law in the Granite State.
How the Freestate Project is Undermining the Live Free or Die State
This week, I am featuring an op-ed by my colleague, New Hampshire State Representative Kat McGee, published in the Manchester Union Leader. It was accompanied by a full-page ad signed by 150 people, asking for an end to violent political rhetoric by Majority Leader Jason Osborne and other Free Staters. I think Kat’s message needs to be heard by Granite Staters.
Here is Kat’s Op-Ed:
The Free State Project (FSP) spent the last 15 years working to redefine New Hampshire’s identity, but their vision of “live free” is a direct threat to the collaborative, community-minded spirit that defines our state. They came with the stated purpose of a political takeover, and now, we are seeing the dangerous results of their extremism in our State House. It’s time for the people of New Hampshire to reject this fringe ideology and reclaim our traditions.
Extremism has no place in New Hampshire, and neither does the political rhetoric that incites violence. Franklin D. Roosevelt warned us that “we have nothing to fear but fear itself,” but fear is a go-to tactic of this new political class. In the wake of Charlie Kirk’s murder, we saw the exploitation of a high-profile tragedy to stir political strife. Free State transplant and New Hampshire House Majority Leader Jason Osborne took to social media on X, addressing young men, proclaiming, “You are all Charlie Kirk now,” and “You have been conscripted to war.” He closed with “Only you can save the Republic. Godspeed,” thus urging impressionable young men to action.
For a public official to issue a blanket call for “war” against random Americans is a serious breach of the public trust and shows a disturbing lack of judgment. The political parties are not at war. When elected officials push extreme division, they have stopped solving problems; they’re using chaos to distract us, and it is the public who loses.
For years, Free Staters at the State House have imposed unworkable mandates, attacked local control, and recklessly cut state funding for services resulting in higher property taxes. They have made a shambles of state statutes and budgets, leaving a mess in their wake, and they have the audacity to call themselves conservative. Conservatism is about responsible governance, not reckless disruption.
Free State-friendly lawmakers attack the personal freedoms they claim to champion while happily following a national agenda that limits liberty and claims the only money we can find must help the rich, while the state’s problems go begging.
The First Amendment protects speech from government interference; it does not protect elected officials who breach the public trust. It may not be easy to stand up to bullies but stand up we must.
Politics is about governance. Calling for violence is not politics; it is extremism.
Reject extremism. Stand up for New Hampshire.
State Representative Kat McGhee
Ranking Member, House Science, Technology & Energy