The Department of Justice has issued a cease-and-desist order against a Newfound Memorial Middle School teacher, nearly a year after a New Hampton school board member filed a complaint about the teacher’s use of a school district email account for electioneering by advocating for others to serve on the school board.
Computer education teacher Erin Edwards of Hebron, whose husband Thomas Edwards was serving on the Newfound Area School Board, sent a message from her sau4.org email address on March 14, 2023, supporting the candidacies of Michael Delaney of New Hampton and Joe Maloney of Bristol for school board positions. All seats in the seven-town district are elected at-large.
The email included a link to a letter to the editor that had appeared in The Laconia Daily Sun, in which Jennifer Larochelle of Hebron had written, “Vote Delaney and Maloney for common sense.” Edwards wrote, “I’m going to take her recommendation and vote for Michael … I would never vote for [incumbent] Fran [Wendelboe] of course.”
In another district email she sent the same day, Edwards wrote, “Several people have emailed me asking about Michael Delaney. He’s running against Fran in New Hampton. He doesn’t have much of an online presence. What I was able to find … Jen Larochelle is supporting Michael Delaney and Joe Maloney.” She again included the link to Larochelle’s letter to The Laconia Daily Sun.
Assistant Attorney General Brendan O’Donnell determined both emails constituted electioneering, violating RSA 659:44-a “because the communications were designed to influence the votes of voters in an upcoming municipal election.”
O’Donnell determined that a third email, sent on March 13, 2023, was legal because it merely provided information about voting dates and times, a sample ballot, and information about certain candidates without endorsing a particular candidate or advocating for the success or defeat of a warrant article.
While the Department of Justice could have issued a fine or jail time for violating the law, O’Donnell wrote, “this Office orders you to cease and desist from using government property or equipment for electioneering.”
Fran Wendelboe, whose conservative views clashed with many of her colleagues on the school board, said Larochelle’s comments about her opponent “were totally fabricated. Larochelle had never met or talked to him.”
During the March 2023 election, Wendelboe lost to Delaney by four votes. While Wendelboe won in five of the towns in the Newfound Area School District, Delaney prevailed, 73-22, in Hebron and 84-80 in Danbury.
A month later, on April 20, Delaney resigned, writing, “I do not feel as though this is a good fit for me.”
In his email to Chair Melissa Suckling, Delaney wrote, “There are issues that give me pause to remain as a part of this group. I wish to state that all have been graceous [sic] and welcoming. I pray that the board insists upon a rigorous curriculum which in no way presents any form of indoctrination or other means of formenting [sic] feelings of guilt, or shame of being an American. I also hope that the board actively seeks out new teachers that, as teachers, want to fulfill a vocation, and refute all indoctrination as presented in the 2019 project, or similar studies. One overlooked benifit [sic] of a rigorous curiculum [sic] is that it aids in developing coping skills. There are far too many ‘snowflakes’ don’t you agree? I wish all the best to all on the Board, and especially to all of the students.”
That left the remaining school board members with the task of filling the vacant New Hampton position. When they met May 8 to select a successor from three candidates, they chided Wendelboe for her four-vote loss to an unknown candidate. Thomas Edwards characterized her loss as a mandate, demonstrating voters did not want her on the school board.
“No one had any idea who this person was, couldn’t have picked him out of a lineup, had no idea what he represented, didn’t even know anything about him,” Edwards said. “That individual got four more votes than you across the board. Many times when you’ve sat here you tell us you have the most experience of any of us politically. What does that mean to you, if someone that’s running for office is running against somebody?
“They didn’t campaign, nobody knows who they are, what they represent, but people go vote for that person over the incumbent.”
Wendelboe blamed her loss on Erin Edwards’ illegal emails, which she obtained through a right-to-know request. Without naming her, Wendelboe suggested someone had convinced people in Hebron not to vote for her.
Thomas Edwards responded, “I live in Hebron, the town that you’re making some implication about … I have no idea what you’re talking about.”
The school board failed to give Wendelboe a single vote, choosing instead Nathan Saler, the history department chair at New Hampton School. He received three votes, and the third candidate, Bridget Lyle, received two.
Wendelboe subsequently filed a complaint about the emails to the Attorney General’s Office.
In the 2024 school district elections, voters brought Wendelboe back to the board, also choosing Larochelle over Edwards as Hebron’s board member.
After the cease-and-desist order was issued Aug. 1, Wendelboe commented, “I know more emails existed but the SAU did not turn them over under my right-to-know request. I understand they were quickly deleted.”
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