Dean Barker: Norelli balanced House members’ progressive policy ideas with establishment agenda

After 18 years in the New Hampshire House, Speaker Terie Norelli – my representative and neighbor in Portsmouth Ward 2 – announced she will not seek re-election this fall. Blue Hampshire founder Dean Barker pays tribute to the unique skills Norelli brought to the job:

I know of no one who has been better able to balance the more progressive policy ideas of House members with the agenda of establishment New Hampshire Democrats, while giving each side equal weight. […]

I’ve only met Terie once or twice, and each time only pleasantries were exchanged. But I have tremendous respect for how effective she has been in moving good legislation through the House while equally balancing the aims of progressive and establishment Democrats. An almost impossible task and a thankless job. One that has allies angry at you for one reason or another during a legislative season no matter how skilled you are at threading the needle of compromise.

Marriage equality, to use just one example. Today it is an inevitable national movement, When New Hampshire achieved it, it was a rarity among states and represented a major progressive victory. There were a few key people responsible for that victory; Terie Norelli is one of them.

“I feel sorry for the next House Speaker,” Barker concludes. “The bar has been set very, very high.”