Kathleen M. Martins

Candidate for New Hampshire House

District 10

Merrimack County
I am a resident of Hooksett, New Hampshire, where I raised my children, sending them through Hooksett, then Manchester, public schools. I am an educator with a Bachelor’s Degree in Psychology, a Master’s Degree in Education (resulting in K-8 Elementary Education certification), and further education that allowed me to earn my certification as a Reading and Writing Specialist. I have worked for the State of New Hampshire as a Child Protective Services Worker, Social Worker, and educator and currently, work for the Community College System as an Adjunct Instructor. I am an active union member who has held office at the chapter level, worked on committees at the chapter and union level, and represented my chapters at the union’s general council. Currently, I am the chair of the By-Laws Committee for my chapter, on the union’s Constitution and By-Laws Committee, and Councilor. I am a registered Democrat, an active member of my town’s Democrat Committee, and the secretary of that committee. I have served as a delegate to Democratic State Convention and served in the New Hampshire House of Representatives for the last six months of the 2018-2020 term, being assigned to the Election Law Committee during that time. When my children were in school, I was active in groups supporting those schools and their students including the Parent Teachers Association, Parent Teachers Organization, Athletic Boosters, and Band Supporters. In Band Supporters, I was the secretary and actively participated in coordinating band shows and parades. Now that my children are out of the local school system, doing the work of being a Representative is how I can serve my community.

Priorities

I am running because we need strong representation to fight for public education, voting rights, labor, the environment, public health, and equal rights. As a student who has experienced both private and public education, I know how important it is that public education is supported by public dollars and private education is a choice that parents make and support. When my parents sent me to private school as an elementary school student, they were proud to pay their taxes and support public education and to be able to pay for the education they wanted for me. They could afford that choice due to wages and working conditions that were earned by strong union representation and their right to vote for representatives that supported labor and the strong middle classes of the time. I will work to see those strong working classes rebuilt more equitably and inclusively, those the unemployed, underemployed, and retired to be cared for more justly, and for access to medical care and a safe environment for all. After first being asked by my local Democratic Committee to run for the position of Representative and serving in that role responsibly when I was elected in 2020, I continue to be willing to serve my town, district, and state in this manner.

Paid for by Kathleen M. Martins for New Hampshire House of Representatives