RE-ELECT PATRICK LONG FOR WARD 7 STATE REPRESENTATIVE ON NOVEMBER 3! (Democratic Primary September 8!)
About me
I've enjoyed being your State Rep since 2024 and would like to sign up for another term in Concord.
I’m a Manchester homeowner, an Iraq War veteran, and a small business owner (a lawyer). I have served in municipal government previously. I was an alternate on the Manchester Heritage Commission and served on the Personnel Appeals Board, and from 2007-2010 I was on a town finance committee in Massachusetts.
My ties to the city go back many years, even before I lived here. From 2008-2014 I was in NH Army National Guard units based in Manchester’s Canal Street armory (first the 3643rd Brigade Support Battalion, and then the 372nd Signal Company after I got a promotion). From 2010-2011 I deployed to Kuwait and Iraq in support of Operation New Dawn. I could have had a safer assignment in Kuwait, where most of my unit went, but I volunteered to go with another unit to serve on a gun truck escorting convoys into Iraq instead. Having spent a lot of time here for National Guard duties, I knew Manchester was a great place to live and that’s why I chose it when it was time to buy a home.
Among other issues, I want to protect access to health care for everyone, ensure Manchester receives our fair share of state education funding so that we can have the schools Manchester's kids deserve, and work on finding solutions to homelessness, housing affordability, and addiction. I will work hard to represent ALL of Ward 7, regardless of political affiliation, gender, race, religion, etc.
Use of photo in military uniform does not imply endorsement by Department of Defense, U.S. Army, New Hampshire National Guard, or related entities.
Protecting Health Care, Including Mental Health, Reproductive Health Care, and Medicaid
I opposed House Republicans' cut of $37.8 million dollars in mental health care funding and will continue to oppose such cuts. Same goes for their $105 million cut in Medicaid (including federal funds we would have lost via their fiscal irresponsibility), and their choice to raise costs on families with Granite Advantage or the Children's Health Insurance Program. I also opposed their $51 million in "back of the budget" cuts to health care (a sneaky way to cut services but have someone else be blamed for the specific cuts). These cuts have directly impacted Manchester, including taking funds away from Waypoint meant for protecting women and children from abuse and teaching families at risk of DCYF intervention how to do better so their kids don't get taken away. They also cut money from cold weather shelters and dental care here in Manchester. And they're not done implementing the cuts; it will get worse.
I am pro-choice and support the introduction of state laws to protect reproductive freedom--abortion, IVF, and other reproductive health care. These are medical choices that should be made by the people affected by them in consultation with their doctor, not by politicians. As a lawyer, I find it extremely concerning that the Supreme Court chose to overturn 50 years of settled law to take away the right to choose, and I have to ask what other rights we think we have that politicians may soon be able to take away.
Good Schools
Unlike many Manchester legislators who voted to arbitrarily cut $10 million in state funding from our schools, I want to ensure Manchester's schools have the resources that our students and teachers need in order to succeed. Current state law allows the legislature to underfund our schools and give more money to richer districts. Despite a requirement in the state constitution to provide all kids an adequate education, and a court order finding that state aid to lower-income districts such as Manchester was not meeting that requirement, the current legislature has decided not to guarantee adequate state education funding to all schools. Our schools are underfunded and our property taxes are higher than they should be because our district does not get its fair share, while richer districts get more. I support raising the base adequacy aid amount, by law, to the $7,356 per student that is currently required to provide an adequate education, and adjusting it appropriately for inflation in the future. And restoring the $10 million that my colleagues took from us.
Housing Affordability, Homelessness, and Addiction
The legislature made a lot of progress on reforming zoning regulations to make it easier to build housing on your own property this term. The media gives the Republicans all the credit but in reality it was a bipartisan coalition with more Democrats than Republicans voting for reform. I was one of them and will continue to be if you re-elect me. I also voted against a partisan effort to repeal the Housing Appeals Board, which is your most important protection for your property rights if you disagree with a government land use board.
I serve on the boards of two community organizations working on these challenges. I don’t know what all the answers are here, and I would like to hear your ideas. But to start we need to build more affordable housing, and help people get the treatment they need for substance abuse and mental health issues, so they will stay off the streets. I will continue to work to ensure that everyone who wants to buy or rent a home in Manchester is able to afford it. Opioid users who want to quit need to be able to get into detox immediately, and users of any drug need to be able to get into rehab right away when they are ready to quit, so they don’t change their minds. In my law practice, I work with a lot of people who have mental health or substance abuse issues, and my experience is that it is important to be humane about meeting their needs, while also demanding accountability for harmful behavior.
4 Pat Longs
No, I am not related to Ward 3 Alderman Pat Long, but we were once in an Ink Link article together, along with his sister Patricia and a cat named Pat Long, as a fundraiser for the Manchester Animal Shelter. Here's all of us together!