To the Editor:

On November 17, 2016, I wrote to the members of Bedford’s delegation to the NH General Court. This included Senator Andy Sanborn, Rep. Laurie Sanborn, Rep. Keith Murphy, Rep. David Danielson, Rep. Bart Fromuth, Rep. Terry Wolf, and Rep. Linda Gould. (I did not write to incoming Rep. John A. Graham, whose contact information was not yet posted to the General Court website, nor to Rep. Ken Peterson, who will not be serving another term.)

Earlier that month, our President-Elect named Steve Bannon – noted anti-Semite, white supremacist, and wife-beater – as his chief strategist. In light of this disgusting appointment, I asked the members of our delegation the following questions:

What is your stance on white supremacy?

Where do you stand on antisemitism?

What is your stance on spousal abuse and domestic violence?

Will you denounce Donald Trump’s appointment of Steve Bannon, and demand that Bannon be removed from his position?

Will you issue a statement in your official capacity as a state legislator to that effect?

Will you call upon your fellow legislators, regardless of party affiliation, to join you in condemning Steve Bannon and demanding he never set foot in the White House?

I received no answers.

Only Rep. Gould responded to my letter, dodging my questions in an unsatisfactory way. (She wrote that she "support[ed] values, principles, and behaviors consistent with our Founders and with the Republican platform." It should be noted that neither our Founders nor the Republican platform have a documented stance regarding these issues.) The other members of our delegation have never sent me a reply.

During this past election, roughly 3,000 Bedford voters cast their ballots in favor of the current delegation while withholding their votes from Donald Trump. I assume these voters trusted our delegation to be good and decent human beings, unlike the current standard-bearer of their party.

But given that this delegation cannot be bothered to address the concerns of their constituents, nor stand against domestic violence, nor condemn hate, nor criticize an obviously odious decision from the upper echelons of their party, I would urge those 3,000 voters – and anybody else who would ask for a modicum of decency from their legislators – to send a different group of people to represent us at the State House.

Alexander Joy

Bedford