November 2016

I had the honor of sitting down with State Representative John A Burt last week to discuss my positions. You can watch the show HERE. Here’s a breakdown, so feel free to skip to the parts you most care about:

2:26 – Why I am running
3:19 – Is Lou a "nice guy"?
5:13 – Government monopolies are bad
6:22 – A case for marijuana legalization
8:27 – Tax cuts and the beauty of the free market
12:59 – Commuter rail boondoggle
20:00 – School choice works
23:20 – Get out and vote on Tuesday, Nov. 8th
25:00 – My campaign ad
28:50 – John talks about who he is going to vote for

Please come out and vote on Tuesday, November 8th.

The Union Leader ran my hubby’s endorsement today.

To the Editor: My wife of 22 years, Carla Gericke, is running for the state Senate in Manchester and Goffstown. Carla is smart, funny, and, above all, principled. Also, she’s a fabulous cook. She will be an asset in the Senate.

I’m not just saying this because I love her. Our country has lost its way. Once the shining beacon of Liberty, it is now in the clutches of corruption, suffers under socialist programs, and fears its own shadow.

Small wonder that it’s been steadily falling in the rankings of economic freedom, number 17 now, and heading down. We are becoming poorer. 80 percent of us face poverty and unemployment.

Carla knows this trend can be reversed in New Hampshire. She wants to restore the balance in favor of personal responsibility, our local communities, and the freedom to create wealth. She has the courage, principles, and understanding needed to guide New Hampshire to a more prosperous future.

Carla’s been a lawyer, worked at several Fortune 500 firms like Apple and Logitech, and managed non-profit organizations. She knows how to work with other people to get things done, in all kinds of environments. She’ll get things done in the Senate, too.

Our choice is stark. Continue on the downward spiral by electing people with failed policies. Or, have the courage to admit failure, and blaze a new trail to prosperity. Away from this mess we’re in. That’s why I’m voting for Carla Gericke on Nov. 8, and hope you will, too.

LOUIS CALITZ
Manchester

Today’s Union Leader features my Op-Ed in which I discuss some of the issues that are important to me.

"As your senator, I will blaze a new trail to prosperity through free market principles with respect for individual and property rights, limited constitutional government, lower taxes, less regulation, and equal justice under the law. I will work to protect our state from growing federal overreach.

I believe in local control of education, lower energy costs, and affordable health care. The way we get this is by allowing more choice through market competition. When free marketeers warned that Obamacare would lead to significant price hikes, we were ignored. But we were right. More regulations and fewer choices are always bad for the economy."

Read more… The bottom line is we have an opportunity for real change in the state Senate. I won’t let you down! I humbly ask for your vote next Tuesday, November 8th.

"…there are several races where the Republican Senate candidate has taken more favorable positions on marijuana policy than his or her Democratic opponent… Carla Gericke (R-Manchester), strongly supports legalization." ~ Marijuana Policy Project

I support legalization because the war on drugs does more harm than good, and hurts non-violent people for the personal choices they make. I subscribe to the notion that vices are not crimes. Don’t like something? Don’t do it, but don’t force the weight of the state on your neighbors based on your views. In a free society, people can differ about how they lead their lives. I believe the government should stay out of your business as long as you are not harming someone else (or their property). I particularly disapprove of how the war on drugs has been used as an excuse to ramp up police militarization, increase SWAT raids, and normalize violations of our 4th Amendment rights against illegal searches and seizures.

Here’s the start of the article from Matt Simon at the Marijuana Policy Project:

"New Hampshire’s general election is right around the corner, and at this point only one thing is clear: many voters don’t even know who is running for state Senate.

Most of the state’s political oxygen has been sucked up by the presidential race, the race for U.S. Senate, and, to a lesser extent, the race for governor. However, the contests most likely to impact the future of New Hampshire laws and policies may be the 24 state Senate races, and the candidates seeking these offices have received little media coverage this summer and fall.

State Senate races are especially important for supporters of marijuana policy reform, who have watched the upper chamber kill seven House-approved decriminalization bills dating back to 2008. Fortunately for voters who are eager to see New Hampshire bring its marijuana laws out of the Dark Ages, the Marijuana Policy Project has published a voter guide that features detailed information on Senate candidates’ positions.

Read more at The Patch.

Free stater. Well done, GSP, well done. No really–slow clap–people would never have known I was a free stater unless, of course, they read my own bio right here on my Senate campaign website where it says I am the President Emeritus of this 501c3 educational nonprofit, or, I don’t know, maybe googled me, or say, visited Wikipedia.

Yes, I am a free stater, and I am damn proud of it.

I am proud to have chosen the best state in the country as my home. I am proud to be running for Senate in the "Live Free or Die" state. And I am going to be thrilled when I–a 44 year old woman–beat a nine term, 78 year old former football coach who is bought and paid for by monopoly gambling interests, who does not support marijuana legalization, and who is wildly out of touch with what taxpayers want. (Psst, it is to keep their hard earned money to spend as they see fit.)

In the almost decade I have lived in New Hampshire, I have worked tirelessly to promote liberty for us all, including winning a landmark First Circuit Court of Appeals case affirming the First Amendment right to film police encounters, and testifying in the legislature in favor of body cameras for local police, something you would think "progressives" would value considering Ferguson, Baltimore, et al, and, sadly, ad nauseam.

My many years of activism has helped our communities, for example, the Weare police department where I was arrested and charged with felony wiretapping, which carries a 7 year prison sentence, now uses body cams. And more NH police departments are considering the adoption of this technology. I have also fought against police militarization, against BEARCATS in our towns, against SWAT raids in our communities, and against government secrecy and surveillance. I guess "progressives" don’t like government transparency and accountability, or ending the war on drugs?

I oversaw historic successes during my five year tenure as president of the FSP. I have a track record most nonprofit executives would envy. Thousands of people moved to New Hampshire under my leadership, bringing families, new businesses, and investing more than $40 million in real estate.

Each year, the FSP hosts two internationally renowned educational conferences, bringing some of the greatest thinkers of our times to the Granite State. It took me three years to get NSA whistleblower and hero-of-the-people Edward Snowden to speak at Liberty Forum 2016. Don’t "progressives" support Snowden just like their Nixon whistleblower, Daniel Ellsberg?

I share many views with "progressives." For example, I am antiwar (where did y’all go under Obama???), I support marijuana legalization, localism, food and farm freedom (I buy my raw milk and local meat from a farm stand in Hooksett every week). I also support the constitution. When did this become "extreme"?

Since the constitution is the law of the land, it would be more accurate to say "progressive" positions are extreme and immoral–that pesky "taking from Peter to pay for Paul" conundrum.

My life philosophy is to make sure every individual is free to pursue life, liberty and happiness as he or she sees fit. I believe government that governs least governs best. I believe in solving issues peacefully, through free markets and voluntary community engagement.

Keep in mind that even if every free stater who runs wins, lawmaking is still a slow and arduous process, which protects people from "extremism," like when a sitting NH Democrat called in 2013 to "pass measures [against free staters] that will restrict freedoms that they think they will find here.”

If you live in District 20 (Goffstown and Manchester Wards 3, 4, 10, 11) I ask for your vote next Tuesday, November 8th. Being a free stater is one of the best reasons to vote for me!

If you want to learn more about me and my positions, please watch this short campaign clip.

PS: Thanks for the free publicity, GSP. You missed some folks, and I found new people I didn’t know about. Keep up the great work!