1st Congressional District Candidate Howard First Denies, Then Regrets, Offensive Comments To Trans State Rep

By Michael Graham, NH Journal

For a congressional candidate with little name recognition and a cash-on-hand deficit in his latest Federal Election Commission filing, state Rep. Heath Howard (D-Strafford) has managed to generate plenty of headlines — most of them negative.

The latest controversy erupted on Facebook, where state Rep. Alice Wade (D-Dover) accused Howard of using the trans issue (Wade is a man who identifies as a woman) to pressure the Democrat into staying out of the NH-01 primary.

“Last year, a fellow state representative and someone I considered a close friend called me repeatedly, telling me not to run for Congress,” Wade wrote. “He told me our friendship would be over if I stayed in the race. He questioned my integrity. He tried persuading me with promises of future political support if I stepped aside. And, most painfully, he told me that because I’m an openly transgender woman, I stood no chance of winning higher office in New Hampshire.

“That person was Representative Heath Howard.”

Wade added that Howard “told me I should drop out because I am transgender and that a trans candidate simply could not win higher office in New Hampshire.”

“Coming from anyone, those comments would be painful,” Wade wrote. “Coming from someone who publicly stood beside me opposing anti-trans legislation, they felt like a profound betrayal.”

“Eventually, it worked,” Wade added. “I’d been exhausted by the hostility that comes with being an openly trans woman in public life, and by the private pressure convincing me my identity would only be a burden on the ticket.”

Asked about Wade’s allegations, Howard initially told NHJournal they were not true.

“I did not say that,” Howard said in an email Monday.

“I endorsed her (Wade) in her contested primary election, we have co-sponsored legislation together, and I considered her to be a friend and ally,” Howard added. “It’s saddening and disappointing to see ‘he said, she said’ politics turn people’s lives and livelihoods into a form of reality entertainment, dragging us further and further from legislative changes that would benefit not only LGBTQ+ individuals, but society as a whole.”

But on Tuesday, a progressive activist posted a Facebook message appearing to corroborate Wade’s account.

“After a great deal of thought, I’ve decided to revoke my endorsement of Heath Howard for Congress,” Melody Knapp wrote.

“In my interactions with Heath, I was directly lied to multiple times. I also experienced what I viewed as manipulative behavior,” wrote Knapp, whose progressive bona fides are well established. (“The ocean reminds me that borders are made up,” she wrote in a separate post.)

“I’ve also heard accounts from people I know and trust that Heath made comments suggesting another candidate couldn’t win because they are trans,” Knapp added. “If those accounts are accurate, I find those remarks completely unacceptable and incompatible with the kind of movement I want to be part of.”

By Tuesday afternoon, Howard had acknowledged making remarks about Wade’s identity and apologized for them in a statement to WMUR.

“Intent and impact are different things,” Howard said. “It was never my intent to reduce Alice’s candidacy to her identity, but I recognize that my words caused unintended harm, and I sincerely apologize.”

It is not Howard’s first conflict with fellow progressives. Howard had served as vice chair of the New Hampshire House Progressive Caucus before he was unceremoniously removed amid internal conflicts. The caucus then endorsed one of his NH-01 rivals, Christian Urrutia.

Howard is one of several candidates — including Carleigh Beriont, Sarah Chadzynski and Urrutia — competing for the progressive vote in the Democratic primary. Howard is running as the Democratic Socialist of America candidate.

Stefany Shaheen and Maura Sullivan are running as more traditional liberals, though Shaheen has been shifting to the left as the primary approaches.

Urrutia has won the support of most of the major far-left organizations involved in the race, including Bernie Sanders’ Our Revolution, the New Hampshire Youth Movement, 350NH Action and the House Progressive Caucus.

Howard, meanwhile, has attracted attention with a series of provocative statements and confrontations.

Last November, he heckled U.S. Sen. Jeanne Shaheen at a New Hampshire Democratic Party fundraiser over her vote to end a federal government shutdown without securing an extension of enhanced Obamacare subsidies. He followed that confrontation with an anti-AIPAC campaign video featuring a song with the lyric “F*** the police.”

In January, private text messages obtained by WMUR showed Howard and then-gubernatorial candidate Jon Kiper complaining about the treatment of male candidates by the New Hampshire Democratic Party.

Kiper wrote that he did not believe the party wanted to support “cis white men” and added, “Women kind of run the party. Don’t say that out loud.”

“Yeah, but that’s why we keep losing,” Howard responded.

Howard generated another round of controversy in May when he told WMUR that Israel had no right to exist as a Jewish state.

“I don’t think that Hamas has a right to exist. I don’t think Israel has a right to exist,” Howard said. “I think that people have a right to exist.”

The Jewish Federation of New Hampshire called his remarks “deeply troubling,” saying they contributed to an atmosphere in which Jewish Granite Staters feel “isolated, targeted or unsafe.”

Despite all the attention, Howard’s campaign continues to struggle financially. According to his latest FEC filing, Howard raised $43,328 and spent $49,738 through June 30, reporting negative $9,732 in cash on hand.

He has shown some support in the polls, however. Howard received 9 percent in the most recent Saint Anselm College Survey Center poll, trailing Shaheen at 22 percent and Sullivan at 15 percent.

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.