On Tuesday Sept. 13, adjunct professor Shaun Filiault won the N.H. democratic primary to be a state representative Cheshire District 7, moving on to the November general election to face David A. Kamm.
Filiault said he has been surrounded by politics since an early age. He grew up around parents who were constantly involved in local elections. Filiault noted that his “earliest memories involve my parents being in political campaigns,” as his father is a long-term city counselor of Keene.
Filiault studied at the University of South Australia (UniSA) and got his Ph.D. in health psychology. After teaching at UniSA in the health promotion program, he reconsidered his career path and went back to school for law.
Filiault’s first venture into local politics began when he came back to Keene. He first ran for Keene’s school board in March of 2020, which he then won. He later resigned from this position in July of 2020 to avoid a conflict of interest when the law firm he worked under became the Keene school district’s public attorney.
He went back into local politics this past election, mainly because of stances his incumbent stood for, such as support of the gay panic defense.
Filiault described the gay panic defense as “a common law defense to murder which downgrades a murder charge to a manslaughter charge if the accused murderer were to get flirtatiously hit on by a gay man, and this caused them to experience a temporary moment of insanity and, in turn, kill the gay man who hit on them.”
He further noted that this defense “sounds like a relic of the 1800s and should not be a thing that is allowed in 2022.”
Filiault said he is also a strong supporter of common sense gun laws being put in place and legalization of the recreational use of marijuana — both of which he found that his incumbent voted against.
“Usage of marijuana is kind of a non-issue. Moreover, if New Hampshire were to legalize it, it would bring in $20 million a year, which would be great for our schools,” Filiault explained.
Filiault campaigned using a more old-fashioned, boots-on-the-ground method of knocking door to door, which proved to still be efficient. He had a very small campaign team, consisting mainly of him and his already politically-involved parents.
“I, personally, knocked on 600 doors around the ward and got to know the voters,” Filiault said. “I probably walked 100 miles throughout the ward, but I think that’s the best way to campaign.”
Filiault emphasized the importance of getting to know the voters in Keene. He ultimately ran to fairly represent the views of Keene’s residents through his “grassroots” campaign. He urged students to get involved in campaigns around the area to further ensure their views are being represented.
Any students wishing to assist Filiault in his campaign can reach him at sfiliault@me.com.
Sonny DeFilippo can be contacted at
sdefilippo@kscequinox.com
