Portsmouth Democrat State Senate Candidate's Residency Questioned

PORTSMOUTH, NH — The residency requirement of one of two Democrats running for state Senate has come into question after a political website unearthed posts and information online where the candidate claimed he was living in New York six years ago and not New Hampshire.

NH Journal reported Monday that Deaglan McEachern, who is running in a primary against Rebecca Perkins Kwoka for the open District 21 State Senate seat being vacated by long-time state Sen. Martha Fuller Clark, may not be qualified to run for the seat.

State Senate seats in New Hampshire only have three requirements: The candidate must be 30 years of age, the candidate needs to live in the district they are running in, and the candidate needs to have been a registered voter and domiciled in the state at least seven years. While there have been a number of lawsuits about the definition of domicile and residency when it comes to voting and running for office, the basic understanding is clear: You should be living in New Hampshire, have a driver's license here, be voting here, registering your car here, etc.

In order to be able to serve as the Democrat's nominee for state Senate in District 21 on Sept. 9, the winner would have had to have been living in the district since Sept. 8. 2013.

But NH Journal found evidence online which seems to show that McEachern has not been living in the district since 2013.

In a wedding notice from February 2014, as an example, McEachern said he and his wife were "happily living in the Beehive of Brooklyn," according to the report. In another online post, McEachern wrote about a family medical issue and explained moving from New York back to New Hampshire on Aug. 4, 2014, calling the day a vivid memory. Records show, according to the report, McEachern voted via absentee ballot in 2014. He purchased a home in Thornton Street in Portsmouth in April 2015, according to the city of Portsmouth assessor's online database.

So how is it possible that McEachern can run for state Senate? According to the report, McEachern said he had "always maintained residency in New Hampshire."

When asked to explain how that was possible, he simply repeated, "I have always maintained residency here. I voted absentee. I have just always maintained my residency."

Patch has reached out to Jessica Eskeland of the New Hampshire Secretary of State's Office to find out why McEachern was not disqualified from running or if there has been a challenge to his ability to run but have not heard back from her or anyone in the department at post time. McEachern is also not on a list of disqualified candidates issued by the state.

According to the NH Journal report, McEachern's campaign website bio page stated after working in San Francisco and New York, he moved back to New Hampshire with his family in 2014. That information, however, has since been scrubbed from the site.

Deaglan McEachern comes from a storied political family in the state. His father, Paul McEachern, who recently passed away, was a long-time activist, attorney, and ran for governor unsuccessfully four times — but was the party's nominee twice. Paul McEachern was also a fierce opponent of the Seabrook nuclear power plant in the 1980s.

Perkins Kwoka was unable to be reached for comment at post time for this story.

The winner of the Democrat's primary will face Sue Polidura of Portsmouth, the only Republican running for the seat.

Two years ago, the residency of another state Senate candidate was challenged but later dropped.

Jon Morgan, a Democrat from Brentwood, bested incumbent District 23 state Sen. Bill Gannon by a little more than 100 voters in the 2018 general election.

Gannon requested a recount and also for the Ballot Law Commission to check Morgan's residency. Republicans believed Morgan wasn't eligible based comments he made that were captured on video in October 2018 at a Brentwood candidate's night saying he had moved back to the state six and half years ago. Online property records showed Morgan purchased his home in June 2012 and voted in the general election that year but not the primary in September 2012 or the presidential primary. Morgan called the challenge to his residency a smear while Republicans and other activists said they were taking him at his own words and actions.

Gannon, in late November 2018, dropped the residency challenge of Morgan — but is attempting to faceoff again against him this November if he can best another candidate running in Republican primary for District 23, Allen Winston Cook.

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