Teen’s eye is on the House

Thursday, August 26, 2010

Staff photo by Bob Hammerstrom State representative candidates Theodore Groh of Wilton, and Jennifer Daler, right, of Temple stop to chat with Barbara Harling as they canvass neighborhoods in Temple Wednesday, August 18, 2010.

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Staff photo by Bob Hammerstrom State representative candidate Theodore Groh of Wilton Wednesday, August 18, 2010.

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Staff photo by Bob Hammerstrom State representative candidates Theodore Groh of Wilton, and Jennifer Daler, center, of Temple stopped to talk with artist Leah Dahlgren at her home in Temple Wednesday, August 18, 2010. The two were out canvassing Temple neighborhoods in hopes of winning a District four seat in the State House.

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Staff photo by Bob Hammerstrom Nineteen-year-old state representative candidate Theodore Groh, left, of Wilton greets John and Susan Pierce as he canvasses neighborhoods in Temple Wednesday, August 18, 2010.

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Staff photo by Bob Hammerstrom State representative candidates Theodore Groh of Wilton, and Jennifer Daler, right, of Temple stop to chat with Barbara Harling as they canvass neighborhoods in Temple Wednesday, August 18, 2010.

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Staff photo by Bob Hammerstrom State representative candidates Theodore Groh of Wilton, and Jennifer Daler, right, of Temple stop to chat with Barbara Harling as they canvass neighborhoods in Temple Wednesday, August 18, 2010.

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WILTON – Theodore Groh is 19, could pass for younger, but has a clear idea of what he wants to accomplish if he can win a seat in the state Legislature in November.

Groh will be one of four Democrats on the ballot – he and two others are on the District 4 primary ballot; a fourth is running a primary write-in campaign. Because there are four ballot slots in November, Groh is assured of a spot.

But he will face some formidable opposition in three Republican incumbents. The fourth District 4 legislator, Democrat Linda Foster, is retiring.

In a recent interview, Groh said very little of a critical nature about the Republicans, spending nearly all of his time talking about his ideas. The only real shot he took came at the end, when he said the GOP incumbents, particularly Bill O’Brien and Bob Mead of Mont Vernon, don’t spend much time in towns other than their own. (For their response, see related story.)

Groh was born and raised on a farm in West Wilton and lives there now. He graduated from the Pine Hill and High Mowing Waldorf schools in Wilton and got a scholarship to study for a year in Switzerland. In January, he hopes to attend St. Anselm College in Manchester where he will study political science.

For now, though, the young man who will turn 20 by the November election, is focusing on getting elected and doing that primarily by going house-to-house, he said. That’s something he also did two years ago when he was helping other Democrats.

“I spent hours and hours and hours knocking on doors in this district and talking to people and that left a strong impression on me” two years ago, he said.

What he found then, and what he still believes, is “there’s a real need out there.”

He talked about a farmer in Temple who is struggling to keep his farm going.

“He’s struggling to get (health) insurance and he’s wondering why it is that as a small businessman, he doesn’t have enough leverage with the insurance companies to actually get coverage that he can pay for,” Groh said. “His wife has health insurance through her job and she goes to the doctor for half an hour and pays $70 and the insurance pays most of it. But he goes and it’s $200 and insurance pays none of it. He’s asking why that doctor’s charging that much more for someone without insurance.”

He spoke of another neighbor who is retired and has difficulty paying her property taxes, but he wasn’t sure of the solution to that.

“That’s a difficult question because Gov. Lynch has taken The Pledge and has promised not to do anything about taxes, so there’s nothing as a state representative that I can do, unfortunately.”

But he did promise to fight state budget cuts that would only pass costs to cities and towns.

“The New Hampshire budget has a lot of assistance for cities and towns and if you were to make huge cuts across the board, everyone’s property taxes would be affected,” Groh said. “So that looks good on paper if you’re in the Legislature – well, we’ve cut everything by 30 percent – but eventually that’s going to add” to local taxes.

He returned, though, to the issue of farmers, something close to his heart.

“I grew up milking cows,” he said, “and I know a lot of independent farmers here and they have a difficult time getting a start because at the national level, as well as the state level, there are policies that support the big guys. So, there’s a question of looking at our laws and saying, well, what really works and how are we actually helping people and helping small businesses get a start?”

Groh is not one of those who believe that this is going to be a bad year for Democrats.

“The message that we’re trying to hit home,” he said, referring to running mates Jennifer Daler of Temple, a former state representative, and Andrew French and Kary Jencks (the write-in candidate), both of New Boston, “is that the Democrats in New Hampshire have been very fiscally responsible. We’ve got balanced budgets, we’ve got the second fastest growing job market in the country, we’ve got one of the lowest unemployment rates, we’ve got a great bond rating.”

The bond rating is so good, he said, “because the Legislature acts quickly and effectively when dealing with budgets, so you have to give credit where credit is due – to John Lynch and the Democratic majority.”

One of the legislators he and his running mates hope to replace is Foster, who is stepping down because, she said earlier this year, of the tone of incivility in the House, but that’s not something that daunts Groh.

“I find that when you talk to someone, you can always find common ground,” he said. “We go into houses perhaps with a McCain-Palin bumper sticker and say, look, we have common interests, let’s leave national politics alone for a bit and make sure the state is on the right track and doing the right things.”

He called himself a great fan of bipartisanship and said the reaction to his candidacy has been surprising.

“I was afraid that people were going to say, ‘Well, you’re really young and I’m not sure that’s OK.’ But I think people are really interested to see young people who are interested and passionate. For people who are skeptical, I say, ‘OK, just give me five minutes and let’s talk. Yeah, I look like this. I am 19. Let’s talk about it’.”

And if he takes some nasty flak during the campaign, he said it won’t bother him.

“You know, you just try to run your campaign as clean as you can and say, ‘I’m being clean and these guys are being nasty. Make your choice.’ ”

And he said that getting out into the district is important, accusing Republicans of not doing that.

“I may not agree with every voter,” Groh said, “but I’m listening.”

Michael Cleveland can be reached at mcleveland29@gmail.com.