JJ DeFeo

JJ DeFeo earned a high school diploma from Sanborn Regional High School. His career experience includes being a student.[1]

Who are you? Tell us about yourself.

Hello, my name is JJ DeFeo. I am, first and foremost, a fighter for individual liberties. At university, I study Political Theory and Constitutional Democracy, Physics, and Philosophy of Science; in short, I study the question "why" from as many angles as possible, and I study how do we solve these questions about the world.

All the way back to when I was in Middle School, I fought the SAU 17 school board consolidation plan that put 10-year-olds in the same space as 19 year olds. Later, in high school, I served as the at large student representative on the school board where I was the first one to fight back against their corrupt decisions. I thought so hard that they tried (and failed) to illegally kick me off the board THREE TIMES.

In 2025, I served in the federal government at the National Institute of Standards and Technology, working as a policy intern on the Manufacturing USA team to embolden and create American manufacturing competitiveness.

After that, I worked as a union community organizer for the AFL-CIO 501c4. In this role, I continued to hear the same stories over and over and over about the system not working for folks. I have worked for several political campaigns, garnering important lessons and experience in politics and policymaking, but I knew that right now, I had to stand up for my community myself.

Please list below 3 key messages of your campaign. What are the main points you want voters to remember about your goals for your time in office?

END PROPERTY TAXES, without an income or sales tax!

Property taxes are too damn high because NHs property tax system is poorly designed and penalizes basically everyone EXCEPT the people that need to be penalized.

We should switch to an offset land value tax system. L.V.T. taxes only the value of land, not the value of buildings. This means that the tax burden will be shifted onto folks who buy up and waste empty land in cities where businesses and/or housing and/or other uses could go. This should be paired with a significant tax break (the offset) for any property that is the owner's primary residence (aka, most of Fremont having only one property). This will further shift the tax burden on out of staters who leave homes empty.END NH's 2-PARTY SYSTEMS

The two party system often forces you to choose between bad and worse. We NEED to end that.

I support adopting a form of proportional representation for the legislature that maintains local representation. This means that if a party gets 25% of the vote, it gets 25% of the seats. You would keep local representation through mechanisms having to do with the list ballot (what we currently call the primary)

This will mean that all parties, both democrats and republicans, will be forced to actually compete in the marketplace of ideas instead of being a duopoly. Anyone who studies business or economics knows a competitive marketplace is better than having one or two stale options; it isnt any different for politicsLOWER YOUR RENT/MORTGAGE

NH has one of the worst housing crisises in the nation. It is becoming impossible for young folks to stay in the towns they grew up in, having to move away from their parents in order to find an apartment they can even come close to affording.

NH needs to adopt freedom-first standardized zoning where we ensure that greedy town and city governments are not restricting freedoms to build housing, so long as the buildings follow guidelines to maintain nice town vibes. Towns and cities will be the primary entity zoning still, but will just have to zone within the standards set.

This is a very pro-business, pro-freedom policy that will allow NH to be the best and freest housing state in the nation

What areas of public policy are you personally passionate about?

I am most passionate about consitutional reform. At university, one of my majors is Political Theory and Constitutional Democracy, AKA, I study constitutions, how ours came about, its shortcomings, and ways to address them.

I absolutely think that I can propose some common sense proposals that will make our government inherently more responsive to the needs of the people. These include the previously mentioned ending the 2 party duopoly, making the legislature year-round (our issues don't stop mattering in June), Executive Council reform, allowing for citizen-initiated ballot measures (just like we have in our towns), and more.

Who do you look up to? Whose example would you like to follow, and why?

I look up to Hank Green. For anyone who dosen't know, Hank Green is an online personality who is best known for his work engaging folks of all walks of life in positive things about science, as well as the world more generally. He EXUDES positivity, even when things are negative or sad. To me, I see him as one of the wisest beyond his years people in America, who is truly a normal Humans™ who just wants the world to be a better place and thinks deeply and extremely intellegently about how to get there, and how each of us has a different part to play in that.

I hope that at some point of my life, I am able to be like Hank Green.

What characteristics or principles are most important for an elected official?

Boldness.

You need to be willing to stand up to those in power, no matter if they are in your party or the opposite party. You need to be willing to use any and all leverage you have to ensure your constituents' voices get heard. If I am elected, I will do everything I can to ensure that my bills at least get votes on the floor so we can see who in both parties is in favor of vs who's against solving the root issues we face.

What do you believe are the core responsibilities for someone elected to this office?

1) Never sell out

2) Never simply vote party line, be willing to disagree if there is something that is wrong

3) Be clear and direct about what I believe; voters (even from the other party) respect an honest politician (very rare) vastly more than they respect a liar that they agree with slightly more. Honest conversations MATTER

What legacy would you like to leave?

I would love to be remembered as someone who was able to make deals with anyone and everyone in order to build a society and government in New Hampshire and New England (go sox) that serves the people better than anywhere else in the nation (or the world, for that matter).

What was your very first job? How long did you have it?

I worked for a candidate for school board, helping them knock doors and talk with community members about what matters to them.

What is something that has been a struggle in your life?

Focus. I tend to want to do anything and everything all at once, and I often have to remind myself to work on one thing at once

What do you believe is the ideal relationship between the governor and state legislature?

The governor's job is to execute the laws the state legislature creates. The legislators are the closest to the people, so under a system like our current system, the governor should, as much as possible, defer to the people's representatives when there is conflict.

What do you perceive to be your state's greatest challenges over the next decade?

Housing. If we do not solve our housing crisis, all of our young and innovative talent and businesspeople will move out of state to places with cheaper housing.

Do you believe that compromise is necessary or desirable for policymaking?

Yes, but not on your principles. Compromising on exactly what % each tax should be to make up our budget is 100% good. Compromising on exact language of government reform is good. Compromising on precisely what regulations we need to put on data centers is good.

I, however, will never compromise on my core values that underpin what I believe in. I will not compromise on the fact that our tax system is broken and needs reform. I will not compromise on ending our "bad or worse" voting system. I will not allow companies to come in and build things that harm our communities without regulation ensuring our safety.

What organizations or individuals have endorsed your campaign?

- The Forward Party & Young Forwardists

- Mental Health Now Certified

- Waiting to hear back from several unions, will update this when I hear back

What was the first historical event that happened in your lifetime that you remember?

My VERY first memory was my parent celebrating the 2008 election results. Truly a revolutionary moment.