Latest news with #DanInnis
Yahoo
16-07-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Dan Innis kicks off GOP bid for U.S. Senate in 2026
Declaring himself the 'best choice for New Hampshire,' three-term state Sen. Dan Innis, R-Bradford, is leaving a safe seat to challenge three-time nominee Scott Brown and become the GOP standard bearer for an open U.S. Senate seat in 2026. State Sen. Dan Innis launches bid for U.S. Senate Three-term State Sen. Dan Innis, R-Bradford, said his poor upbringing in rural Ohio helped qualify him as a candidate for the vacant, U.S. Senate seat in New Hampshire in 2026. The 63-year-old business professor and farmer had been climbing the pecking order in the Senate, chairing the powerful Commerce Committee, holding the number two post on both the Senate Finance and Education Finance panels. If Innis were to win the nomination, it would likely guarantee New Hampshire would elect in November 2026 the first openly-gay man to the U.S. Senate. Democratic candidate and all-but-inevitable nominee U.S. Rep. Chris Pappas was New Hampshire's first openly gay person elected to federal office in 2018. Wisconsin Democrat Tammy Baldwin became the first openly gay U.S. senator in 2012. A Columbus, Ohio native, Innis said he grew up poor in the southeastern city of Lancaster that had nine factories employing thousands that all closed during his youth. 'I watched my hometown literally die and become a small meth capital, it was so hard to watch,' Innis said in an interview. "This is what President (Donald) Trump is trying to turn around, to bring back manufacturing." A 'Pell Grants kid' who went to college on government grants and loans, Innis received undergraduate degrees at Ohio University and Miami University of Ohio before getting his doctorate in marketing and logistics from Ohio State University. 'Chris Pappas went to Harvard. I went to public universities ties. He was born with a silver spoon in his mouth, and I was born with a wooden spoon in my hand,' Innis said on the "Good Morning New Hampshire" program with Jack Heath. The Pappas family has for three generations owned the popular Puritan Backroom Restaurant in Manchester. Likely speaking about Brown as well, Innis said voters are looking for fresh faces with new ideas. 'I think it's time we send some new voices to Washington,' Innis said. 'We have been sending four Democrats every cycle to Washington, D.C. and most of them have lost touch with who we are in New Hampshire.' Brown won a U.S. Senate seat in Massachusetts before Democrat Elizabeth Warren unseated him in 2012. A native of Portsmouth, N.H., Brown moved back to Rye full time after his loss. Brown was the GOP Senate nominee in 2014, losing to incumbent Democrat Jeanne Shaheen, whose retirement next year will leave that seat open. 'I think it's just a matter of contrasting our background and our experience,' Innis said of Brown who he admired as someone who survived a 'rough upbringing.' 'Scott has been a U.S. senator from Massachusetts; I have been a state senator from New Hampshire," Innis said. "That's one of the big differences between us.' Came to N.H. 18 years ago to teach Another prominent Republican considering his own Senate primary run is Phil Taub of Bedford, a Navy Seal and co-founder of the Swim With a Mission charity fundraiser. "We need a strong candidate to go forward in this race, and I think that out of the three of us, I am the best choice for New Hampshire," Innis said. Innis has taught marketing and hospitality management for 18 years at the Peter T. Paul College of Business and Economics at the University of New Hampshire in Durham. State Sen. Dan Innis, R-Bradford, launches 2026 U.S. Senate primary campaign State Sen. Dan Innis, R-Bradford, shown at his Trails End Farm with one of his wagyu cattle. He also raises chickens and goats with his partner, Spencer. He and his partner, Spencer, operate Trails End Farm in Bradford that raises 250 chickens, 27 wagyu cattle and 13 goats. 'I am all about delivering value to the customer,' said Innis who if he were in the Senate would vote for the $9 billion spending cuts bill that includes erasing taxpayer support for the Corporation for Public Broadcasting. 'With the proliferation of media we have out there does the government need to be supporting broadcasting that tends to be biased?' Innis asked rhetorically. He pushed back on the congressional Democrat talking point that the Trump 'big beautiful bill' when fully implemented in a few years will take away health care for millions on Medicaid. 'There are such crazy arguments being made. They don't have a message right now, they are trying to get people scared but voters are smart,' Innis said. 'I don't know where else in the world other than Washington, D.C. where a major increase in spending is called a cut,' Innis said. Brown posted a statement on X that he welcomed a contested primary. 'Unlike the Democrats and their coronation process, New Hampshire Republicans take the primary process seriously. I intend to campaign the New Hampshire way and look forward to a rigorous debate of the issues so that voters can choose the candidate with the experience, credentials and vision to take the fight to Chris Pappas next fall,' Brown said. 'Without a battle tested candidate capable of standing up to the well-financed Democratic machine, we will get stuck with Chris Pappas in the Senate for the next 30 years voting against our priorities on everything from immigration, energy, crime, men in women's sports and No Tax On Tips.' But Ray Buckley, chairman of the New Hampshire Democratic Party, predicted this GOP primary fight will be costly. 'The 2026 New Hampshire Republican Senate primary is off to the races and is shaping up to be a messy, chaotic, and turbulent primary with each candidate running to the far-right on every issue to win Donald Trump's approval.' 'Dan Innis is a far-right extremist who will do anything to get Donald Trump's endorsement. Innis and his opponent will be held accountable for the GOP's toxic plan that will rip health care from thousands of Granite Staters and raise costs on families and small businesses.' "Dan Innis knows that Chris Pappas is out-of-touch with the day-to-day needs of Granite Staters, and that in 2026 New Hampshire will finally elect a Republican U.S. Senator that will fight to lower taxes and keep New Hampshire safe," Puglia said. Innis said he'd welcome Trump's endorsement and gave the President high marks since voters returned him to the White House last November. 'He is doing one heck of a good job getting his program implemented,' Innis added. klandrigan@
Fox News
16-07-2025
- Business
- Fox News
Aiming to give Trump 'backup,' second Republican enters swing state race for Democrat-held Senate seat
EXCLUSIVE — New Hampshire state Sen. Dan Innis pledges that if he wins election to the U.S. Senate and makes it to Washington D.C., "I'll call bull when I see it." Innis, a three-term Republican state senator, made his pledge on Wednesday as he launched his Senate campaign in the key New England swing state in the 2026 race to succeed retiring longtime Democratic Sen. Jeanne Shaheen. It's expected to be a competitive and expensive race for a seat the GOP is working to flip from blue to red. New Hampshire, along with Georgia and Michigan, are the three top targets for Senate Republicans as they aim to expand their 53-47 majority in the chamber. "I built businesses, raised cattle, balanced budgets. I believe in borders, law and order, and putting Americans first. I've worked to lower your taxes and to stop illegal immigration," Innis, a small business owner, said in a campaign launch video. Pointing to President Donald Trump, he said that "Trump needs backup in the Senate." In his first national interview after announcing his candidacy, Innis told Fox News Digital that "we need New Hampshire values in Washington, D.C., and I don't think we have them right now." While Republicans enjoy total control of New Hampshire's state government, the Granite State for nearly a decade has had an all-Democrat congressional delegation. Innis argued that the state's congressional delegation "isn't carrying the message that we're hearing on the ground in New Hampshire and that is keep government out of my life, keep taxes low, secure the border and help grow the economy." He also took aim at four-term Rep. Chris Pappas, who, at this early point in the cycle, has no opposition in the race for the Democratic Senate nomination. "I don't think Rep. Pappas has represented us well at all," Innis charged. "We need someone new down there who's going to take New Hampshire to Washington and show them how to get things done." Innis becomes the second Republican to jump into the Senate race in New Hampshire. Former U.S. Sen. Scott Brown, who served as ambassador to New Zealand during Trump's first term in the White House, announced his candidacy last month. Ahead of his campaign launch, Brown had been crisscrossing New Hampshire since late last year, meeting with Republican and conservative groups. When asked how he will compete with Brown, who is much more well-known in New Hampshire, Innis told Fox News "everyone has an impression of him [Brown]. Not everyone knows me yet, so I have an opportunity to show people who I am …to help them to see that I'm the best candidate to beat Chris Pappas." Both Brown and Innis have traveled to the nation's capital to meet with the National Republican Senatorial Committee and with Trump's political team. "President Trump will pay close attention and my guess is he will probably play in this race and I hope I'm his choice," Innis said.
Yahoo
12-06-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
Lawmakers decide which bills worth negotiating and kill the rest
On a day when the House and Senate created negotiating committees to try and salvage 50 bills, they voted to summarily kill about 15 others after concluding that compromise was unlikely to be reached on them. A major reform bill (SB 297) that hit the cutting room floor Thursday was the pitched battle between Secretary of State David Scanlan and HealthTrust, the state's largest risk pool, over whether Scanlan should get enhanced power to regulate these groups that manage insurance plans for units of government. Last week, the House of Representatives rejected Scanlan's reforms in favor of an amendment that would have let the groups decide whether to come under the regulation of Scanlan's office or the Insurance Department. Without debate, Senate Commerce Committee Chairman Dan Innis, R-Bradford, asked the Senate to 'non-concur' on the House changes and the Senate did on a voice vote which killed the measure. Scanlan said killing the bill made sense. "I am pleased the Senate voted to non-concur on the House amended version of SB 297. What began as an attempt to improve the transparency and accountability of pooled risk organizations entrusted with $750 million taxpayer dollars became an attempt by one risk pool to move to a regulatory environment favorable to them without addressing the underlying concerns," Scanlan said in a statement. Ivermectin bill rejected The Senate also decided to reject out of hand a controversial House-passed proposal (SB 119) to allow any doctor or pharmacist to provide ivermectin to any patient without a prescription. Ivermectin was created as a drug to treat parasites for animals but in the past decade it proved to be a prize-winning medication to treat humans for similar conditions. During COVID-19, the drug became a viral sensation for many Americans who used it to respond to the virus. House Democratic Floor Leader Lucy Weber of Walpole had argued against giving ivermectin the special status of having a 'standing order' for any patient. She noted the only medications that have that designation are EpiPens that treat allergic reactions, smoking prevention drugs and some forms of contraception. This was the main reason that former Gov. Chris Sununu gave when he vetoed a similar bill to this one. Rep. Yuri Polozov, R-Hooksett, said he pursued the bill because during the pandemic many medical providers were ostracized or even sanctioned for prescribing ivermectin. Many other bills were also killed because sections that legislators still wanted to survive had been tacked onto another bill. In this case, the original bill the House amended to favor ivermectin was expected to save the state up to $9 million a year to allow health care providers to prescribe brand name drugs in the Medicaid program if they have discounts or rebates that make these medications cheaper to purchase. The state Senate tacked that provision onto the trailer bill of its state budget. In a similar vein, the Senate on Thursday killed a bill (SB 60) dealing with legalized gambling that would have taken from state regulators and given to the Legislature the authority to write rules regarding immunization requirements. The House had already tacked that section onto the version of its own budget trailer bill. Another bill (SB 100) that died Thursday was meant to alter a 2021 ban on teaching discrimination in public schools to respond to a federal judge's ruling that struck it down as unconstitutionally too vague. The House-passed language would require a showing that the educator 'knowingly' was advocating bias in his or her teachings. Some socially conservative groups that supported the law had warned lawmakers that the House bill only addressed a small part of the legal flaws with the existing law. The Senate also rejected a House-passed bill that would have created a court docket to resolve disputes over so-called blockchain currencies such as bitcoin (SB 25). klandrigan@
Yahoo
16-05-2025
- Automotive
- Yahoo
Senate pulls a U-turn on bill to get rid of auto inspections
The state Senate took a sharp U-turn Thursday, kicking back to committee a controversial bill that would eliminate mandatory safety inspections for all cars and trucks in New Hampshire. Keeping leaders of groups on both sides of the issue in suspense for five hours, Sen. Dan Innis, R-Bradford, the lead senator on the issue, declared at day's end that he lacked support for his compromise program. 'I am going to make a motion to re-refer this bill (HB 649), much to my dismay,' said Innis, who chairs the Senate Commerce Committee. Innis said the state Department of Environmental Services weighed in late in the process, saying that it still had problems with the language of his proposal. 'I think it is better to re-refer and revisit it when we come back' in 2026, Innis said. A clearly frustrated Sen. Tim McGough, R-Merrimack, said he had worked with both sides on his own proposal to seek a middle ground and thought he had found it. Senate takes U-turn, punts repeal of inspections bill back to committee State Sen. Tim McGough, R-Merrimack, standing at left, was one of only three senators who opposed the move to kick back to committee the House-passed bill to eliminate annual safety inspections for all cars and trucks. 'After months of work on this with many stakeholders, countless thousands of emails, we all expected an 'ought to pass' on this and to get real progress down the road to get rid of this onerous inspection process,' McGough said. 'This ongoing yearly parade into the mechanic to try and chase problems with your check engine light — people want action now. They need action now.' Sen. Howard Pearl, R-Loudon, said he also wanted to vote on the bill, but he agreed with Innis. 'When a bill isn't ready, it isn't ready, and that's the hard part. We have to make that hard decision to slow things down a bit,' Pearl said. 'It was a disappointment to me as well. We don't have an agreement within the 24 of us in this room that we have a positive path forward.' The re-referral vote was 19-3, with Sens. Keith Murphy and Victoria Sullivan, both R-Manchester, and McGough the lone opponents. Sen. Kevin Avard, R-Nashua, was absent Thursday. Gov. Kelly Ayotte has avoided taking a position on the bill. Innis's compromise would require inspections only every other year for new cars and to eliminate the unpopular annual emissions tests for most vehicles. That plan deadlocked, 3-3, before Innis's committee. While the legislation has been a popular topic for debate, previous efforts have failed to get far due to the opposition of the New Hampshire Auto Dealers Association lobbying group and the New Hampshire Municipal Association. House Deputy Speaker Steven Smith, R-Charlestown, became a convert after he changed the law to reduce inspection failures due to rust only to have state officials and the auto industry restore it in agency rules. The House passed the full-repeal bill overwhelmingly, 212-143. This does not end the debate. The trailer bill to the House-approved state budget would get rid of all the jobs in the Division of Motor Vehicles and Department of Safety related to the inspection program. What's Next: The Senate Finance Committee is expected to strike changes to vehicle inspections from its version of the budget trailer bill. Prospects: Thanks to the House's state budget trigger, the issue will only be resolved when the Legislature and Gov. Ayotte come together on a compromise two-year spending plan. klandrigan@
Yahoo
15-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Bill expanding access to ADUs gets final nod
A bill to increase the size of accessory dwelling units and to allow them to be detached from the home cleared its final legislative hurdle Thursday. 'This bill will remove confusion, produce uniformity and eliminate unnecessary barriers,' said House Commerce Committee Chairman Dan Innis, R-Bradford. The passage of HB 577 came after the state Senate soundly rejected a move from Sen. Donovan Fenton, D-Keene, to water down the House-passed bill, which had the backing of the New Hampshire Municipal Association. 'I was trying to find middle ground but clearly this wasn't the day for that,' Fenton said. 'In my view, ADUs have a place and work great in many communities. Trouble is, I heard from many officials in small towns very wary of this.' Municipal Association lobbyist Brodie Deshaies confirmed his group could have lived with Fenton's amendment, which would have made several changes including restoring a local-control requirement that it would be up to each town to approve an ADU ordinance and a delay in the effective date of the law to July 1, 2026. 'The amendment surely would have made a bad bill better, but we would have preferred the Senate reject it outright,' he said. The Senate turned down Fenton's amendment and passed the bill on voice votes. Bigger with more bedrooms The legislation, which would take effect July 1, increases the allowed size of an ADU from 750 to 950 square feet and expressly allow two-bedroom units. Sen. Tim McGough, R-Merrimack, said the bill addresses two of the state's critical needs. 'Not only does the bill allow property owners to enhance asset value, but it also enables them to give their family members a jump start on living at home when they're young and age gracefully,' McGough said. 'By removing unnecessary red tape and making it easier to build small homes like backyard cottages and garage apartments, we're helping seniors stay close to loved ones and giving young people a foothold in the communities they grew up in,' said Nick Taylor, executive director of Housing Action N.H. 'This legislation means more affordable, right-sized home choices for Granite Staters at every stage of life — and that's a big step toward tackling our housing shortage.' +++ What's Next: The bill will soon head to the desk of Gov. Kelly Ayotte. Prospects: While Ayotte hasn't commented on this legislation specifically, she said expanding ADU access was one of her priorities while campaigning for governor last fall. klandrigan@
