CONCORD, New Hampshire—It was late 2018 when some of the biggest names in Democratic politics started blowing up Steve Shurtleff’s phone.
Shurtleff had just been nominated as speaker of the New Hampshire House of Representatives, and congratulations were in order: former Vice President Joe Biden called. Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) called. Sen. Cory Booker (D-NJ) called. Some others rang, too, whom Shurtleff couldn’t recall.
“I know for a guy from New Hampshire, that was flattering,” said Shurtleff. “They said, congratulations on being nominated, you’re gonna be a great speaker and all.” He sarcastically recalled his reaction to the flattery: “Aw, gee! They really know me!”
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That presidential hopefuls might be solicitous of the top lawmaker in all-important New Hampshire is not a shock. What’s a little more surprising: many of Shurtleff’s lesser-known colleagues in Concord—and he has 423 of them—are also basking in attention from the horde of presidential candidates descending on the first-in-the-nation primary state.
In a crowded and wide-open primary field, candidates are looking for all the help they can get in order to gain a competitive edge, and in the early states that define the primary, endorsements and ground support from state lawmakers can make a big difference.
But the battle for endorsements in New Hampshire is unlike anywhere else. The Granite State has more state legislators than anywhere else in the country—three times more than Iowa’s comparatively puny state house.
Even in this early stage of the primary, the halls of the state capitol are filled with chatter from dozens of would-be 2020 kingmakers. Everyone from prominent state senators to rank-and-file House representatives seems to have a story: regular check-in calls from Warren, an hour-long coffee with Booker, dinner with Sen. Kamala Harris (D-CA).
Longtime state Sen. Lou D’Allesandro, for example, has met with seven candidates so far, some of them multiple times. “When they come to town, if they’d like to meet people, I’m happy to introduce them to people,” said D’Allesandro, explaining his role. “I’m happy to be with them, and happy to help them in any way I can.”
Junior lawmakers are getting in on the action, too: 20-year old state Rep. Garrett Muscatel introduced Harris to a crowd of Dartmouth College students last week, and posted to Twitter a photo of his recent meeting with Pete Buttigieg, the mayor of South Bend, Indiana.
“I’m here to facilitate, to make sure other people get to see who presidential candidates are,” Muscatel told The Daily Beast. “I’m doing what I can to talk to as many people as I can. It’ll be a while before I can endorse anyone.”
With more than nine months to go before New Hampshire’s primary election, public endorsements are still scant. A pair of state senators have endorsed Booker; the rest of their colleagues are unspoken for.
Political insiders predict a free-for-all for endorsements among candidates, which would be a notable departure from how things were done in the past. State lawmakers have historically lent support to a single candidate as a bloc, said Ray Buckley, the chair of the New Hampshire Democratic Party and a former lawmaker himself. He predicted that is unlikely to happen in 2020.
“With so many candidates,” Buckley told The Daily Beast, “it’s really hard to tell where they’re all gonna end up in February.”
The state house is a “smorgasbord of political philosophies,” said Shurtleff. “We have people who are somewhat to the far left, very much to the left, and people like myself who are more center-left.”
In a state where ordinary voters hold disproportionate sway and attention—locals joke they need to see presidential candidates three times before making a decision—it can be tempting to dismiss the hundreds of state lawmakers as unimportant. Many members themselves are self-deprecating when talking about how significant they really are.
The New Hampshire legislature is, as it’s sometimes lovingly put, a “citizen’s legislature.” Barriers to winning office are low, with only 3,300 people housed in each House district. Lawmakers are paid $100 for their services each year, before taxes—that’s a tenth of a percent of what a California state lawmaker earns—and the grandest perk of the office is arguably a special license plate.
But it’s that closeness to voters that makes representatives’ role in the primary process unique. “Most of the state reps are on a first-name basis with a significant chunk of their constituents,” said Buckley.
“When we endorse a candidate, we’re bringing along neighbors, friends, family, and other supporters… They’re people who will go out and canvas for you. If you’ve got a local legislator knocking on doors for you, and you’re a candidate for president, that’s going to be a significant boost.”
Lawmakers gave many of the 2020 candidates high marks for their engagement in New Hampshire, where the greatest sin is to not take its first-in-the-nation status seriously. “I think the earnestness of all the candidates, taking seriously the first-in-the-nation primary and really digging into retail politics, is great to see,” said state Sen. Dan Feltes, who said he’s done town halls in his Concord-area district with Warren, Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY), Buttigieg, and former Rep. Beto O’Rourke (D-TX).
State Sen. Carol Rosenwald, formerly the number two House Democrat, said lawmakers have an obligation to hear out every candidate, from long-shots to front-runners. “Whether they’re going to rise to the top of the heap or not,” Rosenwald told The Daily Beast, “they’ve expressed interest in something I consider fundamental to the political landscape of New Hampshire.”
Lawmakers notice when candidates behave differently. In the 2016 primary, recalled Rosenwald, she did not hear from Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) even though she was open to supporting him. She eventually endorsed Hillary Clinton, though Sanders would win the Granite State primary. She has yet to hear from Sanders this time around, though she has met with several other candidates. “His campaign doesn’t seem to operate the way other campaigns do,” Rosenwald said.
Most of the dozen lawmakers who spoke with The Daily Beast said they plan to weigh in on the race because they want to see Donald Trump defeated.
“Normally, I don’t endorse, but I think this time around I will, it’s so important,” said Shurtleff, who said he’s already met with several candidates and is getting so many requests to sit down that he can’t fit them all in his schedule.
“How many people really care?” he laughed. “It’s probably not all that great. But they ask, and it’s nice to be asked.”
