Two political newcomers vie for open House seat in Keene

Oct. 24--A pair of political newcomers will square off Nov. 3 in the race to represent Cheshire County District 6 in the N.H. House, an open seat that covers Keene's Ward 3.

The Democratic candidate, Dru Fox, is a retired administrative assistant in the Keene School District. She will take on Kyle LaBrie, a Republican in the retail branding and consulting industry.

Both candidates said they were inspired to run for public office by recent trends in the country's political climate, but they presented competing visions for the Granite State.

The seat is currently held by Rep. David Meader, a Democrat, who opted not to run for re-election. Here's a look at his possible successors:

Dru Fox

Fox, 66, is a lifelong Keene resident and has lived in Ward 3 for 37 years.

After 15 years as a manager at multiple Sears department store locations, she spent nearly two decades as an administrative assistant to the principals at Fuller and Wheelock elementary schools. Fox said she left Wheelock in 2014 to be the general manager at Jersey Mike's Subs, the sandwich restaurant on Winchester Street, before retiring three years later.

Fox explained that she decided to run for office after learning that Meader planned to vacate the District 6 seat. She was also motivated by a commitment to "women and women's rights and reproductive rights," she said, without elaborating on those issues in detail.

"I just decided it was time to step up and become more involved after Trump's election and these past four years," she said. "I feel like ... I'm joining thousands of women who are also seeking office for the first time."

Fox said if elected, she would support expanding the state's role in ensuring that New Hampshire residents have access to health care but added that she has "a lot to learn" before endorsing any particular plan. She also declined to say whether she would codify in the state law the abortion protections that are currently afforded by the Supreme Court's Roe v. Wade decision.

Explaining that the reliance on local property taxes to fund public schools creates inequalities, Fox said the state should consider increasing education spending from its current baseline level of approximately $3,700 per student each year. (The state provides additional funding based on factors like a district's poverty rate, ESL students and special education students.) Fox noted, however, that any hike in state funding should supplement, not replace, local education spending.

"I support anything that will help local communities fund their education," she said.

Fox said one of her legislative priorities, if elected, would be to provide assistance for small businesses that have sustained financial losses during the COVID-19 pandemic. She proposed offering low-interest loans, guaranteed by the state, to provide short-term relief to local economies.

"I would be supportive of anything we can do to help those small businesses through this difficult time," she said. "Major chains, they're all going to make it, but these ... families that have worked their life for a small business, they're the ones that need the help."

Fox also said she would support legislation to establish a $15 minimum wage in New Hampshire, which Gov. Chris Sununu vetoed in July, and emphasized her commitment to combatting climate change and to LGBTQ rights. In a candidate questionnaire submitted to The Sentinel, Fox said the state should codify the policing reforms that Sununu enacted in an executive order this month but added that those reforms are "far from complete."

Despite a lack of political bona fides, she said her background in school administration and local business provides valuable skills for a legislator.

"I've been in the public my whole life, dealing with families and children," Fox said. "I think I bring a good listening ear [and] the ability to reason through things before I make a decision."

Kyle LaBrie

LaBrie, 30, is also a lifelong resident of the region, having lived in Keene and Swanzey. A Monadnock Regional High School graduate, he previously worked at T-Mobile in Keene before recently being hired as a recruiter for the Florida-based retail consultant T-ROC.

LaBrie explained that he is seeking office to change what he said is a hyper-partisan political climate that has prevented compromise. He added that "propaganda" from both sides of the aisle has polarized the country and shows how public officials have abandoned ideological moderates.

"We need more people willing to work together," he said. "... You can't vote your conscience anymore. It always seems to be the lesser of two evils at this point, and you shouldn't be voting for an evil at all."

Noting that he hopes to maintain the "New Hampshire advantage" by limiting taxes, LaBrie said he is opposed to a statewide income or sales tax. Instead, he said the Granite State would benefit from legalizing marijuana and spending the revenue from recreational pot sales on additional funding for schools and educators, among other public services.

LaBrie recalled hearing his teachers complain about a lack of classroom items and being disturbed to see his high school math teacher bagging groceries on the weekend.

"I believe teachers in New Hampshire need a better standard of life," he said. "... You need to make them work for their tenure, but an established teacher shouldn't have to struggle."

LaBrie praised Sununu for responding quickly to the COVID-19 outbreak this spring without "trampling on people's rights" and said the revenue from a marijuana tax could be used to support local communities' recovery from the pandemic, as well as public infrastructure projects.

One of his main priorities, if elected, would be to protect Granite Staters' Second Amendment rights, LaBrie explained. He noted his opposition to any legislation banning automatic weapons.

"People have to hold themselves personally accountable for their possession and their firearms," he said. "You should be allowed to have them, but you should also be held responsible for their safety."

LaBrie acknowledged that "there has to be something done" to expand health care access, particularly after tens of thousands of people lost their employer-based insurance during the pandemic.

"Everyone should be able to see a doctor for basic necessities," he said.

He added, however, that he is strongly opposed to government-run health care, which he said always produces poor quality of service. LaBrie said that belief is informed by the experience that his brother, Jesse Joslyn, a former Marine, had with public health care.

Joslyn died in 2018 after struggling with physical and psychological injuries following his return from a deployment to Kosovo, LaBrie explained. LaBrie stressed the need for better health care for veterans, explaining that Joslyn suffered from being "shuffled around between doctors' offices." He proposed that New Hampshire offer resources to local veterans' support groups, like RUCK UP in Keene, as a way to support former servicemembers.

"Sometimes the veterans just get pushed aside, so you end up with homeless vets and [substance] addicts," he said. "We need to be giving them better care. They earned it."

Caleb Symons can be reached at 352-1234, extension 1420, or [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter @CalebSymonsKS.

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