Patrick Long​, Hillsborough District 26 State Rep. Candidate

Patch Candidate Profile, Patrick N. Long

Age (as of Sept. 1, 2024)

37

Town or City of Residence

Manchester

Position Sought

State Rep

Family

N/A

Does anyone in your family work in politics or government?

None

Education

JD, Suffolk University Law School, 2013. MIP, Franklin Pierce Law Center, 2008, BA, Simon's Rock College, 2007

Occupation

Attorney, 2014-present

Previous or Current Elected or Appointed Office

Manchester Heritage Commission, 2023-Present, Manchester Personnel Appeals Board, 2022-2023

Campaign website

http://www.votepatricklong.com

The single most pressing issue facing our (board, district, etc.) is _______, and this is what I intend to do about it.

The most pressing issue in Manchester is the crisis of homelessness. It is partly an issue of housing affordability and partly an issue of access to treatment for people with mental health or addiction issues. Housing affordability can be addressed by building more housing, both affordable and market rate. For market rate, government just needs to get out of the way and do a better job of letting people use their own property as they see fit. For affordable options, we should do more to incentivize construction in appropriate locations.

For addiction and mental health, we need to expand treatment capacity. We need more beds and more people with the training and experience to deal with these problems. I am open to a range of solutions — increasing Medicaid reimbursements for addiction treatment, reciprocity for mental health professionals licensed in other states so they can practice here more easily, doing more to push people into treatment, etc.

What are the critical differences between you and the other candidates seeking this post?

I will protect reproductive freedom, work to secure fair funding for our schools, and take a balanced and responsible approach to dealing with homelessness and housing affordability.

Describe the other issues that define your campaign platform:

School funding fairness — Manchester gets less than our fair share of state education funding, while rich districts get more than their share. This is completely backwards. It means we pay more in property taxes to have worse schools that leave or kids behind the kids in rich districts.

Keep politicians out of your healthcare decisions. Whether and when you choose to start a family, and how you do it, is not politicians' business.

What accomplishments in your past would you cite as evidence you can handle this position?

As an attorney, I help people navigate complex problems every day. I'm also an Iraq vet, so I can stand up to whoever I need to to get the job done. No one in politics is as scary as an IED.

The best advice ever shared with me was…

It wasn't advice exactly, but my grandma told me a lot of stories about my grandfather's military service growing up, which inspired me to follow in his footsteps.

What else would you like voters to know about yourself and your positions?