Jeb Bradley

Karen McNiff

​

(m. 2018)​

Jeb Bradley
President of the New Hampshire Senate
In office December 7, 2022 –December 4, 2024
Education	Tufts University (BA)

Joseph Edmund "Jeb" Bradley III ^[1] (born October 20, 1952) is an American politician and member of the Republican Party who serves in the New Hampshire Senate. He represents his hometown of Wolfeboro, New Hampshire and 16 other towns in east-central New Hampshire for District 3. He was a member of the New Hampshire House of Representatives from 1990 to 2000, and then served as the U.S. representative for New Hampshire's 1st congressional district from 2003 to 2007. ^[2] He was Majority Leader of the New Hampshire Senate from 2010 to 2018 and again from 2020 to 2022.

Early life and education

Bradley was born in Rumford, Maine, to Helen Jockers Bradley and Joseph Edmund Bradley, Jr. ^[3] After graduating from Governor Dummer Academy, he attended Tufts University, graduating in 1974 with a Bachelor of Arts ^[4] with a major in sociology. ^[5]

Career

Bradley lived in Switzerland and worked as a street magician, returning in 1981 to New Hampshire, where he later opened an organic grocery called Evergrain Natural Foods. ^[6] He and his wife sold the natural foods store in 1997. He also ran a painting business, and managed real estate.

Bradley was elected to the Wolfeboro Planning Board in 1986; three years later, he was named to the Budget Committee. He was a registered Democrat until 1989, when he switched to the Republican party. ^[5]

Bradley won a seat in the New Hampshire House of Representatives in November 1990 and was re-elected five times. In the legislature, he sponsored the Clean Power Act, which set limits on power plant emissions. He was chairman of the Science, Technology and Energy Committee, as well as the Joint Committee on Ethics. ^[7]

U.S. House of Representatives

Elections

2002

Bradley was first elected to Congress in 2002, winning the Republican nomination in a field of eight candidates, for the seat left vacant when Republican incumbent John E. Sununu ran for the Senate. He defeated Democrat Martha Fuller Clark in the general election, winning with 58 percent of the vote. ^[5]

2004

In 2004, Bradley defeated political newcomer Justin Nadeau of Portsmouth ^[5] to win a second term, receiving 63% of the vote. ^[8] Bradley outspent Nadeau 3 to 1. ^[9]

Bradley's chief of staff, Debra J. Vanderbeek, ran his 2004 campaign. Tom Anfinson, the financial administrator in Bradley's government office, said that Vanderbeek was paid 100 percent of her salary until the end of May 2004, 80 percent between June and September, and 50 percent between October and early November. Bradley's re-election committee paid her $13,561 in salary for the campaign, which she failed to report as outside income to the Clerk of the House, plus $3,317 in reimbursements for un-itemized campaign expenses. ^[10]

2006

See also: 2006 United States House of Representatives elections in New Hampshire § District 1

Bradley sought a third term in 2006. He defeated Michael Callis in the Republican primary on September 12, 2006, winning 87% of the vote. ^[11] Bradley faced Democrat Carol Shea-Porter and Libertarian party candidate Dan Belforti in the November 2006 general election. In what was considered an upset, Bradley lost his bid for re-election to Shea-Porter.

Bradley and Shea-Porter met October 24 for a debate sponsored by WMUR-TV and the New Hampshire Union Leader, ^{[12] [13]} and debated again on October 31. ^[14]

2008

See also: 2008 United States House of Representatives elections in New Hampshire § District 1

In January 2007, Bradley announced his intention to reclaim his former seat. He said he'd made up his mind a few days after his loss. ^[15] He lost the general election to incumbent Carol Shea-Porter, 52%–46%.

Tenure

Bradley appearing on Ask Congress with Lester Wolff

Members of the media, colleagues and opponents described Bradley as a moderate in the Republican Party when he was elected in 2002. ^{[16] [17]} He sided with his party by supporting the war in Iraq, the reauthorization of the USA Patriot Act, the prohibition of federal funding of overseas abortion, the $5 billion subsidy for the Chinese nuclear program. However, he opposed President Bush's energy bill and supported the Medicare Part D prescription drug subsidy. He has cosponsored bills to loosen regulations on embryonic stem cell research. ^[18]

Bradley served on the Armed Services, Budget, Veterans' Affairs and Small Business committees. ^[7]

Bradley has belonged to Christine Todd Whitman's It's My Party Too!, The Republican Main Street Partnership, The Republican Majority For Choice, Republicans For Choice and Republicans for Environmental Protection.

Bradley voted in favor of the 2006 "Same Sex Marriage Resolution", ^[19] which would have amended the Constitution, requiring that marriage "shall consist only of the union of a man and a woman." ^[20]

Bradley opposed an increase in the national minimum wage during his time in Congress. ^[21]

Bradley, who has visited Iraq three times, has been a supporter of the Iraq War. ^[22] In January 2006 he said "It is not possible to predict exactly when stability in Iraq will occur, but the progress is significant." ^[23] In June 2006 he said that he did not support a specific timetable for withdrawing American troops from the country, but that he saw signs of progress that the United States would be able to leave "sooner rather than later". ^[24] In August 2006 he said that Iraq needed a stable government and more security forces before the United States could set a withdrawal date. ^[25] In October 2006 he said "I look at the fact that Iraq has become central to the war on terror", and "We have got to achieve stability in Iraq and prevent it from becoming a launching pad for terrorists." ^[26]

He lost his seat in 2006 to an outspokenly antiwar candidate, Carol Shea-Porter. That year (and in 2008), the Democrats swept the state legislature and both U.S. House seats.

State Senate

Elections

2009

A few weeks into the new legislative session, Bradley's local State Senator, Bill Denley, resigned the seat after being charged with drunk driving for the third time. Bradley won a special election over Willard "Bud" Martin, who had lost to Denley in 2008.

2010

Bradley successfully ran for re-election as a State Senator during the 2010 election cycle. He was unopposed in the September 14 Republican state primary, and faced Democratic candidate Beverly Woods in the November 2 general election.

Tenure

After the elections, in which the Republican party regained the majority in the State Senate, Bradley was appointed Senate Majority Leader. ^[27]

Bradley's former Congressional aide, Frank Guinta (also a former mayor of Manchester and former state representative), ran as a Republican for Bradley's old Congressional seat. ^[28] Bradley did not endorse his former aide in the primary. In mid-August 2010, a month before the primary, Bradley stated that Guinta should consider dropping out of the race if he was unable to explain some possible irregularities in his campaign finance reports. Guinta did not drop out of the race and was elected to Congress. ^[29]

Bradley has been categorized as anti-choice by NH Choice Tracker, which notes that he "voted to pass a bill that repeals the right of reproductive centers to create protest-free 'buffer zones' outside their clinics," ^[30] a bill which would greatly impede the ability of members of the public to access reproductive care. ^[31] He also supported the controversial Education Freedom Account program, ^[32] which since 2021 has funneled nearly $45 million of public funds toward private schools with no oversight. ^[33]

In 2024 Bradley fought to radically amend the Senate’s version of HB1163, which would have legalized cannabis and regulated it similarly to alcohol, though he later voted against it anyway. ^[34] His and others’ edits to the bill were widely blamed for the bill’s ultimate failure in the House, a vote which was decried by ACLU Executive Director Devon Chaffee as a sign “that lawmakers are willing to ignore the will of their own constituents and are okay with continuing to needlessly ensnare over a thousand people – disproportionately Black people – in New Hampshire’s criminal justice system every year.” ^{[35] [36]} Ahead of the Senate vote on the bill, Bradley admitted, “I don’t want to see it get out of the Senate, period.” ^[37]

Personal life

Bradley lives in Wolfeboro. He and his former wife Barbara have four children: Jan, Ramona, Urs and Sebastian. An avid hiker, Bradley has ascended all of New Hampshire's 48 4,000-foot peaks and is a member of the Appalachian Mountain Club's Four Thousand Footer Club. ^[7] Bradley has completed the GRID which is when every 4,000-foot peak in New Hampshire is ascended in every month of the year. ^[38] He completed the GRID on Mount Madison on January 14, 2015. ^[38]

Bradley has a portfolio of stocks and bonds worth over $5 million. In October 2006, he said that putting his personal investments in a blind trust may be a "good idea", and that he was going to look into that option. The point became moot in January 2007, when he became a private citizen again. ^[26]

Bradley remarried in 2018.^{[ citation needed ]}

Electoral history

Year	Office	Election		Subject	Party	Votes	%		Opponent	Party	Votes	%		Opponent	Party	Votes	%
2002	Congress, District 1	General		Jeb Bradley	Republican	128,993	58		Martha Fuller Clark	Democratic	85,426	38		Dan Belforti	Libertarian	7387	3
2004	Congress, District 1	General		Jeb Bradley	Republican	204,836	63		Justin Nadeau	Democratic	118,226	37
2006	Congress, District 1	General		Jeb Bradley	Republican	95,538	49		Carol Shea-Porter	Democratic	100,837	51
2008	Congress, District 1	General		Jeb Bradley	Republican	156,338	46		Carol Shea-Porter	Democratic	176,435	52		Bob Kinsbury	Libertarian	8100	2

References

1. 1970 Milestone. The Governor's Academy. 1970.
2. "Bradley wins state Senate race". fosters.com. Archived from the original on 2019-02-23. Retrieved 2018-10-15.
3. bradley
4. Congress.org Bio Archived 2006-02-16 at the Wayback Machine
5. Associated Press profile, accessed October 21, 2006
6. Ken Silverstein,"Invested Interests: Analyzing Rep. Jeb Bradley's Portfolio", Harper's Magazine, August 28, 2006
7. Rep. Bradley's biography
8. New Hampshire election results 2004, The Washington Post, November 24, 2004
9. Kevin Landrigan, "Following the money in N.H. races", Nashua Telegraph, August 27, 2006
10. Joshua Zeitz, "The Long Shadow of a Sex Scandal" Archived 2009-01-07 at the Wayback Machine , Mother Jones, October 16, 2006
11. Results, State Primary, September 12, 2006 Archived September 27, 2006, at the Wayback Machine , State of New Hampshire, Elections Division
12. John Distaso, "Three debates should give NH voters an earful" Archived 2007-09-29 at the Wayback Machine , Union Leader, October 21, 2006
13. "Bradley, Shea-Porter debate Iraq, spending", Boston Globe, October 24, 2006
14. Beverley Wang, "Candidates say other's policies are too costly", Associated Press, October 31, 2006
15. "Unknown" . Retrieved 2007-02-04.^{[ permanent dead link ‍]}
16. Portsmouth Herald editorial Archived 2005-12-14 at the Wayback Machine , August 30, 2002
17. Dante Scala, as quoted by New Hampshire Public Radio Archived 2006-11-06 at the Wayback Machine , November 11, 2002
18. "H.R. 810 (ih) - Stem Cell Research Enhancement Act of 2005". www.gpo.gov. Retrieved 2018-01-31.
19. Project Vote Smart Archived 2006-10-22 at the Wayback Machine
20. Library of Congress Archived 2006-10-17 at the Wayback Machine , H. J. RES. 88
21. Matthew Tetrault, "Dems meet, greet hopefuls" Archived 2007-03-12 at the Wayback Machine , Portsmounth Herald, August 28, 2006
22. "Backing Bush should be a liability at the polls" Archived 2007-03-11 at the Wayback Machine , Concord Monitor, August 20, 2006
23. "Rep. Jeb Bradley: Despite difficulties, we are making steady progress in Iraq" Archived 2007-03-11 at the Wayback Machine , Union Leader, January 31, 2006
24. Emily Aronson, "U.S. Rep Jeb Bradley seeks third term" Archived 2006-06-16 at the Wayback Machine , Portsmounth Herald, June 13, 2006
25. "Four Democrats vie for 1st District: Bradley could prove to be tough opponent" Archived 2007-03-10 at the Wayback Machine , Concord Monitor, August 22, 2006
26. Kevin Landrigan, "Bradley says finances not swaying his votes", Nashua Telegraph, October 10, 2006
27. Tom Fahey (December 1, 2010) NH legislators install new Republican leadership Archived 2010-12-03 at the Wayback Machine New Hampshire Union Leader
28. "Union Leader - Columns". Archived from the original on 2009-12-30. Retrieved 2009-03-20.
29. "Unknown".^{[ permanent dead link ‍]}
30. "NH Choice Tracker".
31. Arey, Whitney (April 2023). "Science Direct". Contraception. 120. doi:10.1016/j.contraception.2022.109919. PMID   36535415.
32. "Citizens Count".
33. "Granite State News Collaborative". 14 August 2024.
34. "WMUR". 28 May 2024.
35. "New Hampshire Bulletin". 13 June 2024.
36. "WMUR". 28 May 2024.
37. "Marijuana Moment". 13 May 2024.
38. "Jeb Bradley". www.48x12.com. Retrieved 2018-05-03.

External links

• Jeb Bradley for Senate campaign website
• Biography at the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress
• Financial information (federal office) at the Federal Election Commission
• Issue positions and quotes at On the Issues
• Appearances on C-SPAN

New Hampshire House of Representatives
Preceded by Russell Chase Kenneth MacDonald	Member of the New Hampshire House of Representatives from the 6th Carroll district 1990–1992 Served alongside: Mildred Beach	Succeeded by Gordon Wiggin
New constituency	Member of the New Hampshire House of Representatives from the 8th Carroll district 1992–2002	Succeeded by Lisbeth Olimpio Bettie Kenney
U.S. House of Representatives
Preceded by John Sununu	Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from New Hampshire's 1st congressional district 2003–2007	Succeeded by Carol Shea-Porter
New Hampshire Senate
Preceded by Bill Denley	Member of the New Hampshire Senate from the 3rd district 2009–2024	Succeeded by Mark McConkey
Preceded by Maggie Hassan	Majority Leader of the New Hampshire Senate 2010–2018	Succeeded by Dan Feltes
Preceded by Dan Feltes	Majority Leader of the New Hampshire Senate 2020–2022	Succeeded by Sharon Carson
Political offices
Preceded by Chuck Morse	President of the New Hampshire Senate 2022–2024	Succeeded by Sharon Carson
U.S. order of precedence (ceremonial)
Preceded by Richard N. Swett as Former US Representative	Order of precedence of the United States as Former US Representative	Succeeded by Paul Hodes as Former US Representative