Amanda Merrill

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Biography

I have been here in southeastern New Hampshire for most of my life. The Merrills moved to South Hampton from the bordering town of Amesbury, Massachusetts when I was in the fourth grade. In South Hampton, I had the rare experience of going to a three-room eight-grade school where everyone had a part in the musicals we put on in the town hall. I got the political bug during my high school years in Hampton, fighting what at the time seemed like outrageous dress code restrictions as a student councilor and serving as the NH chair of Youth for McCarthy (presidential candidate Eugene McCarthy, that is).

My NH-grown education continued with a B.A. from UNH and a Ph.D. from Dartmouth. After teaching for a couple of years at a state university in Massachusetts, I was pleased to return to Durham, where my husband Ken Fuld started a UNH teaching career that has spanned 29 years; he has just started a new position as interim Dean of the College of Liberal Arts. I shifted gears to a research and conference-planning job with the Forest Service and we started a family. Our son Sam will be 27 this fall and is a baseball player with the Chicago Cubs organization. Anna, 22, is a university student in Boston.

In 1988 a high school friend serving in the NH Legislature called to say I should think about running. I took him up on his suggestion and ended up serving in the House of Representatives for five terms. Over the course of my ten years in the House, I was prime sponsor of successful legislation addressing energy planning, hazardous and solid waste policy, land conservation, and ethics guidelines; I also worked on legislation setting the stage for statewide kindergarten and for the comprehensive definition of an adequate education. In my last term I was proud to be elected Deputy Democratic Leader by my peers.

Since that time, I have worked as policy director of a non-profit citizens group, program associate in the UNH undergraduate research program, interim director of the Land and Community Heritage Investment Program, and most recently, as a policy staff member with the NH House Democratic Majority caucus. I was a founding board member of the Granite State Conservation Voters and continue to be involved with visual arts projects at the Mill Pond Center for the Arts in Durham. My family has been fortunate to have lived in the same wonderful neighborhood here in Durham for almost 22 years.

My work in the House these past two sessions reminded me of the satisfaction I find in being a part of the legislative process and made me acutely aware of the challenges that continue to face us here in District 21 and in the State. So, when my friend Sen. Iris Estabrook decided she was ready for a change and announced that she would not seek re-election, I decided I was ready for a change, too—and so here I am, seeking your support in my bid to become the next state Senator to represent Dover, Durham, Epping, Lee, and Rollinsford. It would be an honor to serve you.