The Steve Marchand Podcast

Lisa Kennedy Sheldon is running for elected office for the first time, but she's got the campaign slogan down: "Because you can care about people *and* the bottom line". It's a reflection of a distinguished - and diverse - career in nursing, as an executive, and as an educator. Sheldon is running in the New Hampshire Executive Council's 3rd District, which includes most of th...

This episode is a recording of a live event from June 18th with NH State Senate District 16 candidate Dian McCarthy. It's the first episode of a 2026 series I'm calling "Pitch Deck". Over the next 4+ months, I want to dive in on a number of the most intriguing, interesting, and important downballot races in New Hampshire. The first 15 minutes are a quick run through the analytics...

Scott Shepard is a candidate for State Representative in NH in Strafford 4 - one of the most competitive, "purple", and politically interesting districts in the state...but that's *not* why I wanted to sit down with him. Scott has a Substack, NH Insights, that is approaching the biggest public policy problems facing New Hampshire with a decidedly unique tone. Unlike most politicians,...

NH Democratic Party Chairman Raymond Buckley is the longest serving state party chair in America, going back to 2007. He has truly seen it all, being involved in state politics for over 50 years (he started well before he could get a driver's license) - from growing up with the state being a safe GOP presidential win through the 1970s and 80s, through a stretch where Democrats won 9 out of 10...

Memorial Day 2026 has come and gone - which means the unofficial next phase of New Hampshire's congressional primaries has begun. Carleigh Beriont is a Hampton Selectwoman, an educator, and a former labor organizer. She's vying to be the primary progressive choice of the six main candidates in this Democratic primary for NH-1. The seat is open, thanks to four-term incumbent Chris Pappas's (D-Manch...

Maura Sullivan is a leading contender for an open congressional seat - New Hampshire's 1st CD - considered one of the most competitive in America. As a first-time candidate for public office in 2018 - running in this same NH-1 the last time it was an open seat - Sullivan earned a strong 2nd place finish in an 11-way primary with over 30% of the vote. In the meantime, she's been deeply invo...

Today's episode is based on a live show recorded on Tuesday, April 28th, which gave my paid Substack subscribers a sneak preview ahead of the full "2026 NH State Senate Projection Show, V1.0". The full show, with graphics, charts, and full data, is available at my YouTube channel . This is a trimmed down, audio-friendly version of the full show, which gets into the six senate distric...

In the Democratic primary for NH's 1st congressional district - a purple seat that is open because incumbent Democrat Chris Pappas is pursuing NH's U.S. Senate seat - Stefany Shaheen has been the frontrunner since entering the race in May of last year. That's the advantage of being the daughter of the historic political figure Pappas is hoping to succeed - Senator Jeanne Shaheen, the f...

Following one of the first forums involving most of the sprawling field for the open, competitive Democratic primary in New Hampshire's 1st congressional district, Steve Marchand brought in each of the five candidates for live interviews. They talked about how they thought the event went, what they are hearing on the campaign trail, answered follow-up questions from Steve (who moderated the ev...

On Monday, Saint Anselm College released a new poll asking a wide range of questions about New Hampshire's 2026 elections and political landscape. The headline? The NH electorate is deeply dissatisfied with the direction of the country, and is poised to deliver a strong election night for federal - and perhaps state-level - Democratic candidates. The same electorate also said Governor Ayotte w...

Jon Kiper joined me recently on Substack Live for the first time since former Executive Councilor Cinde Warmington announced she would be running in the Democratic gubernatorial primary. With Portsmouth Mayor Deaglan McEachern (somewhat surprisingly) announcing he would not be seeking the nomination, it appears the field is set, with the 2nd- and 3rd-place finishers in the 2024 Democratic gubernat...

As we approach the NH legislature's annual crossover of Senate and House bills, Democratic House Leader Alexis Simpson and Deputy Leader Laura Telerski stopped by review the 2026 session. They visit on the heels of quite a week: About 180 bills went through the NH House last week alone! Despite the GOP having a sizable ~40-seat advantage in the House, there have been Democratic wins in 2026 -...

Rep. David Paige (D-Conway) is a sharp guy. In only his second term in the NH House, he's arguably the most sophisticated member in the 400-member body on the #1 issue facing New Hampshire these days: Housing (and the lack thereof). In this episode, we went through the reasons why the NH housing market is so tight, and so expensive. It's supply problems, including challenges legislators ca...

Former Executive Councilor (and 2020 gubernatorial candidate) Andru Volinsky released his "3-3 Tax Savings Plan" Tuesday morning at the NH State House, and it definitely got the New Hampshire political community talking. The plan would rely on a 3% income tax (w/significant deductions) and a $3 per $1,000 statewide property tax (with a $250K homestead exemption) to generate significant r...

What would you do if a bill going through your state legislature had the potential to be the most harmful piece of public policy in your state in a generation? If you're my two guests today, you'd build a statewide coalition to do something about it in a matter of weeks. My guests today are a pair of local leaders who are impressively organizing a statewide coalition opposed to HB751 - a b...

One of the most experienced and respected legislators in New Hampshire 400-member House, 23-term State Representative Mary Jane Wallner (D-Concord) has seen it all. She's been the Majority Leader, served under Democratic *and* GOP trifectas, and earned bipartisan respect along the way. MJ was *also* the Executive Director of one of Concord's best-known child care centers, serving as ED for...

New Hampshire State Representative Anita Burroughs has seen a lot during her four terms in the NH House, going back to her upset win vs. former Speaker of the House Gene Chandler in 2018. In the 7+ years since then, Burroughs has become a well-respected member of the Commerce & Consumer Affairs Committee, able to thread the needle: Working well with Republicans while publicly calling out the p...

New Hampshire is one of 20 states that do not have a state minimum wage, and thus default to the federal minimum of $7.25/hour - a number hasn't changed in over 16 years . Of those 20 states, NH has the highest cost of living, and (along with PA) are the only states in the northeastern U.S. with no state-level minimum wage. Rep. Kathy Staub (D-Manchester) is the lead sponsor of a bill ( HB1484...

For our year-end episode, I brought on two good friends who are a generation younger than me: Emerson Doiron and Zach Nelson. We talked 2025 politics (NH and national), but then things careened wildly: Getting iced coffee at Dunkin' with Eric Swalwell during a snowstorm. How playing Oregon Trail on the one computer in the classroom in the early-to-mid 1980s made me afraid of...Oregon. How Vega...

Alexis Simpson is the Minority Leader of the New Hampshire House - and so much more. The veteran Democratic legislator from Exeter is an ordained minister with an academic background in physics, who originally came into state politics through her interest in sustainable farming (a particularly important topic in NH). This diverse (and, in some ways, unconventional) background for a political leade...

Christian Urrutia is a Democratic candidate for Congress in New Hampshire's 1st district. It's an open seat, as current Rep. Chris Pappas (D-Manchester) is running for the U.S. Senate seat being vacated by retiring Senator Jeanne Shaheen. It's a competitive congressional seat (about D+2), and they don't come open often, so both sides of the aisle are engaged in sprawling primaries....

How do you know you're getting stuff done? When the NH House GOP files a frivolous "impeachment inquiry" bill to try to shut you up. We discussed that and much more with Executive Councilor Karen Liot Hill during a recent Substack Live broadcast. Included in the discussion: Her first year as the only Democrat on the 4-1, GOP-led Executive Council has been quite eventful, with unusual...

Steve sat down with U.S. Senate candidate Karishma Manzur, a medical scientist with a Ph. D. in biochemistry and molecular biology. She spent over 20 years working on treatments for illnesses like epilepsy and depression, and has been active in progressive politics and advocacy on causes as diverse as campaign finance reform, rank choice voting, and New Hampshire Peace Action. In this episode, we...

Today, Tom and I did a Substack Live, which we turned into a podcast. We go back more than 20 years, and Tom (who is in his first term as a New Hampshire state legislator representing a Grafton County district in the Upper Valley) has truly done it all: He's been a teacher, then a journalist, then a high-level political communications operative in state and national races, then eventually a pa...

This is a recording of a Substack Live Analysis and Q&A done on Thursday, November 6th. On Wednesday night, the 5th, Steve rolled out his V1.0 of his 2026 New Hampshire House projections, focusing on which of the 400 House seats are most likely to determine whether Democrats can go from the 178 they won in 2024 to a majority in 2026. To watch a recording of the Projection Show, visit Steve&#39...