Last week was a big one for N.H. State Representative Denny Ruprecht, D-Landaff.
For one, he graduated summa cum laude from Plymouth State University on Saturday, May 8, with a B.A. in political science and minors in Spanish and sustainability.
For another, he was selected to join a national group of rising progressive leaders called the NewDEAL (Developing Exceptional American Leaders).
Ruprecht is among 19 state and local lawmakers from across the country chosen to join the group, which was founded in 2011 and now connects and supports 178 leaders in 47 states. Members of the NewDEAL have included Pete Buttigieg, Stacey Abrams and Jason Kander.
Ruprecht said Monday that he is really excited about his selection.
“It’s billed as a group of pro-growth progressives focused on rebuilding the economy, combating COVID …” he said. “The more I learn about it, the more excited I am about it. It seems like a really great organization and a really impressive network.”
Ruprecht said he was nominated for NewDEAL by John W. McCarthy, who currently works in the White House but met Rurprecht as the Deputy National Political Director for Biden’s presidential campaign.
Ruprecht, who has been involved with state politics since he was 15 or 16, gives a lot of credit to the N.H. presidential primary process and his early involvement with Biden’s presidential campaign for his ability to connect on the national scale.
As soon as a deputy N.H. state director, who happened to be an acquaintance, was named for the Biden campaign, Ruprecht sent an email over saying he was “all in” and willing to help.
“I think that really meant a lot to the team, especially early on, especially when there were a lot of people looking at Biden skeptically,” said Ruprecht. “And to have a young state rep all in right from the start … I think they really appreciated it.”
Ruprecht also credits Twitter as a great networking tool … and where he first met McCarthy, his nominator.
According to a press release from May 6, Ruprecht was selected to join NewDEAL because of his dedication to expanding opportunities for New Hampshire’s middle class and working families through high-quality education and a family-friendly economy.
“One of Representative Ruprecht’s key initiatives was his work to secure greater funding for the Haverhill public schools in his district,” reads the press release. “Representative Ruprecht has also led environmental advocacy efforts through the rebuilding of a heavily damaged dam, and has introduced legislation to protect minors by raising the minimum age of marriage.”
Ruprecht was campaign director for former state Sen. Jeff Woodburn in 2016, represented the state in the U.S. Senate Youth Program in 2017, and was first elected to the statehouse in 2018 at age 19, the Caledonian previously reported.
Last August, Ruprecht stepped into the national spotlight as one of 17 “rising stars” who delivered the keynote address at the Democratic National Convention.
While Ruprecht has made some post-graduation plans, he is not ready to reveal them quite yet.
“Stay tuned,” he said.
While college is over for now, the current house session continues.
Ruprecht said that the session has been very unusual, from the start.
“Everything about this session has been so unusual and, in a lot of ways, disheartening from the start … with the loss of our speaker and COVID, but also the agenda that’s being pushed right now by a lot of fringe people is really disturbing to me” he said. “This is not an agenda that’s good for New Hampshire in any way.”
Ruprecht is excited about a possible networking opportunity in D.C. in the fall with NewDEAL.
The new “class” of NewDEAL leaders includes Vermont’s Lieutenant Governor Molly Gray. Though Gray and Ruprecht have some age between them, he noted that they grew up in neighboring towns and high schools and he was encouraged to see her name on the list as well.
Ruprecht represents the towns of Bath, Benton, Easton, Landaff, Orford, Piermont, and Warren.
Post a comment as anonymous
Report
Watch this discussion.
(0) comments
Welcome to the discussion.
Log In
Keep it Clean. Please avoid obscene, vulgar, lewd, racist or sexually-oriented language.
PLEASE TURN OFF YOUR CAPS LOCK.
Don't Threaten. Threats of harming another person will not be tolerated.
Be Truthful. Don't knowingly lie about anyone or anything.
Be Nice. No racism, sexism or any sort of -ism that is degrading to another person.
Be Proactive. Use the 'Report' link on each comment to let us know of abusive posts.
Share with Us. We'd love to hear eyewitness accounts, the history behind an article.