Max Abramson
Member of the New Hampshire House of Representatives
In office
December 2, 2020 – December 7, 2022
Preceded byJason Janvrin
Succeeded byJason Janvrin (representing Rockingham 40th district)
ConstituencyRockingham 37th
In office
December 5, 2018 – December 2, 2020
ConstituencyRockingham 20th
In office
December 2014 – December 2016
ConstituencyRockingham 20th
Personal details
Born
Albert Abramson

(1976-04-29) April 29, 1976 (age 47)
Kent, Washington, U.S.
Political partyRepublican
(until 2012, 2014–2016, 2018–2019, 2020, 2020–present)
Other political
affiliations		Libertarian
(2012–2014, 2016–2017)
Independent (2019–2020)[a]
Democratic (2020)[2]
Veterans (2020)
Reform (2020)
EducationGreat Bay Community College

Albert "Max" Abramson (born April 29, 1976) is an American politician who most recently served as a member of the New Hampshire House of Representatives, representing Rockingham District 37 (Hampton Falls, Seabrook) from 2018 to 2022. He previously represented the same district from 2014 to 2016. He ran for the nomination of the Libertarian Party for the 2020 presidential election, but dropped out on March 3, 2020.[3]

Abramson was the Libertarian nominee for Governor of New Hampshire in 2016. He sought the Veterans Party nomination for President but lost.

Career

In 2010, Abramson was a candidate in the Republican primaries for the New Hampshire House of Representatives, Rockingham District 14, but lost narrowly.[4]

Following his resignation from the Seabrook Planning Board and Budget Committee, Abramson announced a run for the position of the Rockingham County attorney's office as a Libertarian, remarking that the office was "overstaffed" and was not investigating "violence, sexual misconduct, and theft by police officers".[5]

Abramson was elected to the New Hampshire House of Representatives, as a Republican, representing Rockingham, District 20 in late 2014.[6]

When his appeals of the 2010 "reckless conduct" failed and the charges discovered, he was removed from the House Criminal Justice and Public Safety Committee by Republican House Speaker Shawn Jasper.[7][8][9]

In May 2016, Abramson announced that he had changed his party registration from Republican to Libertarian.[10] In September, he was nominated as the Libertarian Party of New Hampshire's candidate for Governor of New Hampshire in the 2016 gubernatorial election, garnering 4.3% of the popular vote.[11] Abramson's campaign, buoyed by Gary Johnson's campaign, won major party status and automatic ballot access for the Libertarian Party of New Hampshire for the first time in 20 years.[12]

Following the 2016 election, Abramson switched back to the Republican Party and was re-elected in 2018 to the seat he previously held in the Legislature.[13]

In 2022, Abramson was one of 13 Republicans to vote for a constitutional amendment to secede New Hampshire from United States.[14]

In 2022, Abramson opposed New Hampshire legislation that would allow homeowners to add up to four housing units on lots that were previously exclusively zoned for single-family housing.[15]

In September 2022, Abramson lost the Republican primary for the Rockingham 40th district to Jason Janvrin, who had preceded him in representing the 37th district; Janvrin would go on to win the general election in November.[16]

2020 presidential campaign

Following the 2018 election, Abramson announced his return to the Libertarian Party[a] to campaign for the 2020 Libertarian presidential nomination.[17]

Abramson officially announced his campaign for president under the Libertarian banner on June 30, 2019, two days after again leaving the Republican Party, and becoming an independent.[18][19] During his campaign, Abramson was the only incumbent elected official running for the Libertarian nomination,[20] however, he never actually joined the Libertarian Party.[a] He stated that his primary campaign platform was to bring troops home and cut the national debt. Moreover, the goal of Abramson's campaign was not "necessarily" to win the presidency, but to elect as many Libertarians to legislature seats as possible.[21] Abramson quit the Libertarian Primary on March 3, 2020, subsequently ending his bid for the Libertarian presidential nomination.[22][23]

On June 8, Abramson asked the Veterans Party of America for their presidential nomination, but they did not hold a national convention for 2020.[24] He also later announced a run for the nomination of the Reform Party.[25] Abramson attempted to organize a merger between the two parties, which was negatively reacted to by Reform Party leadership.[26] Abramson finished a distant second to Rocky De La Fuente at the Reform Party Convention on June 20.[27] On August 22, Abramson announced on Twitter that The Veteran's Party of America decided not to hold a convention or run a candidate for the 2020 presidential election, effectively ending his 2020 presidential run.[28] He decided to run as a Republican for the New Hampshire House of Representatives from District 37 of Rockingham County.[29]

Legal issues

On December 19, 2010, Abramson was arrested after firing a gun into his backyard to breakup a fight. Abramson raised a claim of self defense and claimed he did this to prevent someone from getting stabbed in a fight happening inside his home.[6] At the time, Abramson was a member of the Seabrook Planning Board and Budget Committee.[30] In March 2012, he was convicted of felony reckless conduct for the incident.[31][30] He was found guilty of one felony charge of reckless conduct and sentenced to one years' suspended sentence, 262 hours of community service.[32] He resigned from the Planning Board on July 17, 2012.[citation needed]

Years later in 2015, as an elected assemblyman the charges surfaced and he was removed from the House Criminal Justice Committee by Speaker Shawn Jasper.[33]

Electoral history

2012 Rockingham County attorney election[34]
Party Candidate Votes %
Republican James Reams 76,471 52.3%
Democratic Joseph Plaia 60,210 41.2%
Libertarian Max Abramson 9,473 6.5%
Total votes 146,208 100%
2014 Rockingham District 20 General Election [35][36]
Party Candidate Votes %
Republican Dennis Sweeney 1,977 23.7
Republican Francis Chase 1,912 23.0
Republican Max Abramson 1,732 20.8
Democratic Mark Preston 1,416 17.0
Democratic David Ahearn 1,283 15.4
Total votes 8,327 100
Republican hold
Republican hold
Republican hold
2016 New Hampshire gubernatorial election[37]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Republican Chris Sununu 354,040 48.8% +1.4%
Democratic Colin Van Ostern 337,589 46.6% -5.8%
Libertarian Max Abramson 31,243 4.3% N/A
n/a Write-ins 1,991 0.3% +0.1%
Total votes 724,863 100% N/A
2018 Rockingham District 20 General Election
Party Candidate Votes %
Republican Aboul Khan (incumbent) 2,233 20.3
Republican William Fowler 2,053 18.7
Republican Max Abramson 1,980 18.0
Democratic Patricia O'Keefe 1,819 16.6
Democratic Greg Marrow 1,511 16.8
Democratic Denis Rice 1,385 12.6
Total votes 10,981 100
Republican hold
Republican hold
Republican hold

Notes

  1. ^ a b c While Abramson was running for the Libertarian Party presidential nomination, he was not officially registered with the party.[1]

References

  1. ^ "Party Information". app.sos.nh.gov. PCC Technology Group LLC. Retrieved February 7, 2020.
  2. ^ "Party Information (D)". app.sos.nh.gov. PCC Technology Group LLC. Retrieved March 7, 2020.
  3. ^ Abramson, Max (March 3, 2020). "Max4Prez". Facebook.
  4. ^ Cronin, Patrick (September 10, 2010). "Primary in District 14 rep. race". Seacoast Online. Retrieved July 14, 2019.
  5. ^ Haddad, Jim (November 3, 2012). "After arrest, Seabrook Libertarian seeks county attorney's job; other Rock. County races listed". Fosters.com. Retrieved July 14, 2019.
  6. ^ a b "NH House leaders weighing future of rep convicted of felony". WMUR-TV. December 30, 2014. Retrieved July 14, 2019.
  7. ^ [1] | May 18, 2011 | District 14 candidate indicted on reckless conduct charges | Patrick Cronin | [2]
  8. ^ http://www.concordmonitor.com, January 2, 2015, House Speaker Jasper removes felon state rep from criminal justice committee By Allie Morris, [3]
  9. ^ "Lawmaker convicted of gun-related felony removed from Criminal Justice Committee | New Hampshire Journal". Archived from the original on July 2, 2016. Retrieved April 1, 2021.
  10. ^ "New Hampshire Legislator Changes Registration from 'Republican' to 'Libertarian". Ballot Access News. July 27, 2016. Retrieved July 29, 2016.
  11. ^ Sullivan, Max. "Seabrook Rep. Max Abramson running for governor". seacoastonline.com. Archived from the original on February 24, 2021. Retrieved July 15, 2019.
  12. ^ "NH Libertarians Officially Recognized as Party For First time in 20 Years + "Free Staters" Win 15+ State Rep Races". November 9, 2016.
  13. ^ "Welcome to the NH General Court | NH General Court". www.gencourt.state.nh.us.
  14. ^ Rayno, Garry (March 10, 2022). "New Hampshire Secession Goes Down in Flames". InDepthNH.org. Retrieved March 15, 2022.
  15. ^ "'Missing middle' housing bill tabled by House". NH Business Review. March 22, 2022. Retrieved March 27, 2022.
  16. ^ "Ballotpedia: Max Abramson". June 28, 2023. Retrieved June 28, 2023.
  17. ^ "WAL 2020 Presidential Candidate Series: Meet Max Abramson". July 1, 2019. Archived from the original on July 6, 2019. Retrieved July 6, 2019.
  18. ^ Abramson, Max (June 30, 2019). "Rep. Max Abramson Announces Presidential Bid – Bring the Troops Home". Max Abramson. Retrieved August 3, 2019.
  19. ^ Winger, Richard (June 29, 2019). "New Hampshire Legislator Changes Registration from Republican to Libertarian". Ballot Access News. Retrieved August 3, 2019.
  20. ^ Ryan, Aidan (August 1, 2019). "N.H. legislator seeks Libertarian Party presidential nomination". Boston Globe. Retrieved August 3, 2019.
  21. ^ Sullivan, Max (July 28, 2019). "Seabrook's Abramson seeks Libertarian presidential nomination". The Portsmouth Herald. Archived from the original on December 29, 2020. Retrieved August 3, 2019.
  22. ^ Abramson, Max (March 3, 2020). "Facebook Post by Max Abramson". Facebook. Retrieved March 3, 2020.
  23. ^ Winger, Richard (March 22, 2020). "Max Abramson Withdraws from Libertarian Presidential Race". Ballot Access News. Retrieved March 22, 2020.
  24. ^ "Max Abramson". Facebook.
  25. ^ Saturn, William (May 8, 2020). "Max Abramson to Seek Reform Party 2020 Presidential Nomination". Independent Political Report. Retrieved May 9, 2020.
  26. ^ Saturn, William (May 25, 2020). "Souraya Faas Considering Run for Reform Party Presidential Nomination". Independent Political Report. Retrieved May 27, 2020.
  27. ^ "Reform Party Nominates Rocky de la Fuente for President Again | Ballot Access News". June 20, 2020.
  28. ^ @RepAbramson (August 22, 2020). "The Veterans Party of America's ExecComm decided not to hold a national convention this year and not to run a candidate. They made this announcement on July 31st" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
  29. ^ "2020 Election Information". New Hampshire Secretary of State. Retrieved September 5, 2020.
  30. ^ a b Chiaramida, Angeljean (March 21, 2012). "Town official convicted in gun incident". The Daily News. Retrieved July 14, 2019.
  31. ^ Cronin, Patrick (March 20, 2012). "Seabrook politician is found guilty". Seacoast Online. Retrieved July 14, 2019.
  32. ^ Patrick Cronin (May 18, 2011). "District 14 candidate indicted on reckless conduct charges". The Portsmouth Herald.
  33. ^ Allie Morris (January 2, 2015). "House Speaker Jasper removes felon state rep from criminal justice committee". Concord Monitor.
  34. ^ "County Offices – 2012 General Election". The State of New Hampshire. November 6, 2012. Retrieved July 17, 2019.
  35. ^ "2014 State Representative". Secretary of State, New Hampshire. Retrieved October 16, 2020.
  36. ^ "NH State House – Rockingham 20". Our Campaigns. Retrieved October 16, 2020.
  37. ^ "2016 General Election Information and Results". Secretary of State, New Hampshire. Retrieved November 27, 2016.

External links

Members of the New Hampshire House of Representatives
(← 2016) 2020 United States presidential election (2024 →)
Categories