Senate GOP Caucus Gives State Senator The Boot, Kicked Out Over Alleged Bad Behavior

By Damien Fisher, NH Journal

The New Hampshire Senate GOP caucus voted Wednesday to give Sen. Tim McGough the boot, banning him from its upcoming meetings — an unprecedented punishment for one of its own members.

The vote to temporarily ban McGough from caucus gatherings comes less than a week after Senate President Sharon Carson stripped the Merrimack Republican of his committee assignments over allegations of abusive treatment of colleagues and staff.

Caucuses meet and act in private. However, it didn’t take long before rumors began swirling around Concord that the caucus had taken action against McGough. By the end of the day, multiple State House sources had confirmed to NHJournal on background that McGough was gone — for the moment.

Caucus meetings are used to promote party unity in the Senate as members strategize about how they will handle legislation and policy debates.

And Senate Republicans are solidly united on one subject: their disdain for McGough.

“The only problem I had was that we didn’t kick him out for the rest of the session,” one senator said on background. Banning McGough for the rest of the session was reportedly considered before the caucus agreed to a temporary punishment.

McGough has been under scrutiny by Senate leadership since last fall over complaints from senators and staffers about what they describe as rude, caustic, and sometimes threatening behavior. Before being stripped of his committees and kicked out of the caucus, he had already been ordered to stay away from Senate staff.

In fact, McGough is the only senator with no staff support — a circumstance one longtime State House source called “friggin’ weird.”

McGough declined to respond to multiple requests for comment Wednesday night.

Specifics regarding McGough’s behavior have been difficult to lock down because, as Carson said when announcing her decision to sanction McGough, “It is a personnel matter and disclosure of underlying details would constitute an invasion of privacy for several individuals.”

However, NHJournal has been able to piece together a few details.

For example, when McGough learned that a staffer who had angered him was on prescription medication, he began mocking and insulting the staffer, telling people at the State House they “had a serious drug problem,” a source confirmed.

In fact, the medication was for a relatively common health condition, but multiple sources recounted McGough storming into the office of the staffer’s supervisor, screaming about the staffer’s meds and demanding they be fired. The confrontation escalated into threats against the supervisor. When it was over, McGough began spreading the “drug problem” rumor through the State House.

That behavior would be troubling from any elected official. It is particularly striking from someone who holds himself out professionally as a medical device executive and former EMT, roles that demand discretion with patient medical information.

Asked about the reports, McGough denied revealing private medical information about anyone at the State House.

Instead, the first-term senator has been accusing Carson of carrying out a political hit job.

“The Senate President and I have shared a tenuous relationship ever since I was elected. She didn’t want me to win because she knew I would challenge the status quo,” McGough told InDepthNH. “She knew I wouldn’t sit silently by and be bullied by her tactics to control the caucus. And now here we are.”

A State House source who worked in close proximity to McGough said the senator operates in only two modes.

“He has this narcissistic way of acting,” the source said. “He’d make you his best friend one day, and then rip your eyes out the next.”

Multiple sources recounted to NHJournal that McGough and his wife, Rep. Julie Miles (R-Merrimack), created an embarrassing scene during Gov. Kelly Ayotte’s inaugural celebration at the Omni Mount Washington Resort & Spa. The couple attended the inaugural ball and stayed the night. The next morning, they requested a massage — and were told the facility was fully booked.

McGough would not take no for an answer. “Do you know who I am?” he reportedly demanded. When that failed to produce results, he berated the staff until he was asked to leave. He refused, until Ayotte’s own team stepped in and told the senator it was time to go home.

This story was originally published by the NH Journal, an online news publication dedicated to providing fair, unbiased reporting on, and analysis of, political news of interest to New Hampshire. For more stories from the NH Journal, visit NHJournal.com.