BARBARA COMTOIS
District 7 - Alton / Barnstead
Ms. Comtois is currently a state representative and is running for re-election.
NOT RECOMMENDED
Ms. Comtois is NOT recommended. Her extreme libertarian positions, disdain for public education, efforts to derail Gunstock, and repeated efforts to overturn the budget recommendations of the County Commissioners continues to plague Belknap County.
Candidate Data
from
Citizens Count & NH Liberty Alliance
Attendance (House avg 92%) 88%
Roll call votes (House avg 88%) 84%
Libertarian Rating B 78.3% (B & higher = Extreme Libertarian/Free Stater)
Ms. Comtois is running for re-election for one of three seats in Alton and Barnstead, Belknap House District 7. She has not returned either Citizens for Belknap questionnaire, but did respond to the Citizens Count survey.
She is a past co-chair of the House Freedom Caucus, and is endorsed by the NH Liberty Alliance, both groups which promote a libertarian agenda. Her NH Liberty Alliance rating 78.3%/B. We consider any rating over a B to be a libertarian. Her Citizens Count profile indicates she has an 88% attendance rate, and voted on 84% of roll call votes.
She has a 92% rating in the John Birch Society’s Freedom Index for 2026. The John Birch Society is considered an anti-government group by the Southern Poverty Law Center, and an anti-Semitic and racist organization by the Anti-Defamation League.
Among the bills she supported this year were the school choice bill, HB 1815, which sets limits to what share the state will pay for education, in avoidance of the ConVal & Claremont court decisions, and HB 1300, the so-called tax cap bill on the Nov. ballots.
We need to give her credit, however, for helping to take HB 1105 off the consent calendar. HB 1105 would have changed Belknap County positions from 2 year to 4 year seats, which Citizens for Belknap vehemently opposes. The bill was defeated, no thanks to other members of the county delegation.
Obstructionist in Chief
In the 2023/24 County Delegation, she apparently saw her role as one of obstruction, much to the annoyance of her Delegation colleagues.
In Jan. 2024, Comtois Launched Another Attack on Gunstock, Sponsoring HB 1414
Trying to accomplish in the State House what she couldn’t do at the Belknap County level, Rep. Comtois authored House Bill 1414 in early 2024, supported by Reps. Paul Terry, Peter Varney, Lisa Smart, and Nikki McCarter.
The bill proposed increasing Gunstock Mountain Resort’s revenue sharing payment to Belknap County, but also mandated not typical outside audits, but “forensic” audits, extremely expensive investigations used when criminal activity has taken place. The bill was opposed by a majority of the Belknap County Delegation and the Gunstock Area Commission. When the Municipal and County Government Committee refused to endorse the bill, House Committee Votes To Kill Bill To Require Forensic Audits at Gunstock, she organized House libertarians in a floor fight. Her bill was thankfully defeated.
A History of Attacking Gunstock
In 2022, Ms. Comtois was a member of a libertarian faction which forced out moderate members of the Gunstock Area Commission and replaced them with libertarian extremists. She was appointed to the Gunstock “audit committee,” attempting to dig up alleged financial mismanagement by Gunstock management.
When a coalition of Delegation members supporting removal of the extreme members of the GAC, and the county’s economy was on the line, Ms. Comtois and five other libertarian members boycotted the meeting. Ms. Comtois purports to protect taxpayers, but the resulting Gunstock legal cases cost Belknap County and the Gunstock Area Commission over $50,000.
Violated New Hampshire's Public Meeting Laws.
Ms. Comtois, as a member of the Gunstock Area Commission's "audit committee" participated in at least two secret meetings of the committee, apparently violating New Hamsphire's 91-a public meetings requirements. As state representatives sworn to uphold NH's constitution, they not only knew better, they failed the voters of Belknap County.
Please see the full Laconia Daily Sun story here:
As Gunstock audit finally arrives, committee's lack of Right to Know compliance raises questions about public access, transparency
No campaign contribution reports for the 2026, 2024 or 2022 cycle are available for Rep. Comtois because she has not filed a report since 2018.
Ms. Comtois has previously been endorsed by a Libertarian/Free Stater Group, but not in 2026
The Liberty Alliance is a group that promotes an extreme Libertarian and Free State Libertarian agenda. They have rated all 424 of New Hampshire's legislators in terms of how well each of them conforms to their brand of Libertarian values. Ms. Comtois, who pretends to be a Republican on the ballot, receives high marks from this group. True Republicans may want to take this fringe endorsement under consideration before casting a ballot.
Refused to Condemn January 6 Violence
A resolution was proposed in the New Hampshire House of Representatives condemning the violence in Washington, DC. Ms. Comtois voted against a rules change that would've allowed that motion to be voted on by the full house. The resolution to condemn the violence was never voted on, and therefore failed.
Click here to read a letter describing that event.
Voted to Block Gunstock Seasonal Loan
In 2018 Ms. Comtois voted to block the annual bridge loan (Revenue Anticipation Note) thereby cutting off the oxygen to Gunstock's operations. This was a routine annual process to allow Gunstock's management to invest in the coming season before the revenue flow began. Comtois vote was malicious and obstructionist with no legitimate purpose.
Her vote was finally overridden by other delegates.
Supported Underfunding of Nursing Home, Sheriff's Department and Corrections Department.
Ms. Comtois put our elderly poor citizens in serious jeopardy by underfunding the county nursing home. The primary mission of the county nursing home is to take care of the elder poor where 85% of the residents are supported by federal Medicaid funding. Due to underfunding the budget for critical staffing, the nursing home remains at only 54% occupancy (check figure) with over 100 on the waiting list to get in.
And as s a willing delegation participant, Ms. Comtois undermined the county Sheriff’s and corrections budgets.
Other Infomation: From the Laconia Daily Sun - September 9, 2022
"Comtois has been in her seat since 2016. She was not able to be reached for this article, but recently submitted a column to The Daily Sun about the Gunstock issue, criticizing the management team's walkout as “political theater” and “disrespectful toward Belknap County citizens.”
In her column, Comtois reiterated that it was not possible for the county delegation to sell or lease out Gunstock to a private entity, despite countywide discussion of that concern.
According to a Citizens Count survey, Comtois is opposed to minimum wage increase, instituting sales and income tax, mail-in voting, extending New Hampshire's renewable energy portfolio, marijuana legalization and repealing the state's 24-week abortion ban.
Comtois is in favor of decreasing business taxes, banning abortion during the first trimester, and conditional affidavit ballots for new voters who did not possess identification. Comtois also voted to keep the education freedom account program.
In addition to her six years of service as a member of the House, Comtois has over 20 years of agriculture experience running Sticks and Stones Farm in Barnstead. She is also on the Environment and Agriculture Committee.
In Her Own Words . . .
Ms.Comtois did not return her Citizens for Belknap Questionnaire again this cycle.
