In a rare move, the New Hampshire House voted to initiate possible disciplinary proceedings against Republican Rep. Travis Corcoran Thursday over a series of inflammatory social media posts. The decision comes as partisan tensions and caustic behavior continue to flare in the House.
At issue for Corcoran — who maintains a busy schedule of social media traffic — are recent posts on X, in which he called for a “final solution” in response to a karaoke night invitation from a Jewish lawmaker, and another in which he talked of deporting a fellow lawmaker who was born in the Philippines: “She has to go back,” he wrote.
House Speaker Sherman Packard had condemned the posts earlier, and on Thursday the full House moved to send Corcoran’s case to the Legislative Administration Committee for what Packard described as “review and report.”
Read more: Why it's so hard to police bad behavior in the NH House
The referral came at the request of the House’s top Democrat, Rep. Alexis Simpson of Exeter. Such referrals are rare: The Legislative Administration Committee hasn’t been asked to consider sanctioning a lawmaker since 2017.
But Corcoran's online conduct, which often includes inflammatory and offensive posts, has been under scrutiny in Concord for some time. A letter Packard sent Corcoran this week indicated his office has been receiving complaints about his social media activity for more than a year.
“Your verified public writings are negative, targeted and purposely written to leave a hate-filled interpretation,” Packard wrote Corcoran. “In sum, your statements are disrespectful, inappropriate and unworthy of the dignity of our state legislature.”
The “Letter of Caution” Packard sent Corcoran followed Corcoran’s failure to respond to voice messages left by a bipartisan panel of lawmakers tasked with reviewing public complaints about members of the Legislature.
Records from the House clerk’s office show the group, formed in 2019, has sent nine caution letters to lawmakers over the years, taking up a range of conduct issues.
They include rude behavior by a lawmaker at a state DMV office; another lawmaker telling members of the public to 'shut up;' and another being dismissive to people weighing in on legislation who are not from New Hampshire.
But several of the letters involve lawmakers’ behavior on social media. One admonished a lawmaker for posting the address of an antagonistic voter on Facebook. Another letter tells a longtime lawmaker that a bipartisan review panel “was unanimously disappointed that you defended your use of the hashtag ‘NHGOPTaliban.’ ”
According to several advisory group's members, Corcoran has apologized for being non-responsive to the group’s phone calls, but on Thursday he seemed disinclined to back away from his social media posts, or explain himself.
“My only comment for NPR, is that NPR is regime media, the end,” Corcoran said when asked by an NHPR reporter about the House’s action Thursday.
Precedent would suggest Corcoran's political future will likely fall to voters in his hometown of Weare to decide, as the Legislature rarely censures its members. Lawmakers facing scandal sometimes choose to resign, but the last time the House voted to expel a member was in 1913 and involved bribery allegations. The House’s top Republican says Corcoran’s case boils down to speech rights.
“We’ll see what happens,” said House Majority Leader Jason Osborne. “I think at the end of the day, everyone realizes that members have free speech, and you might not like all of it.”
Locally produced, locally powered
Behind the headlines you read on our website, there’s a dedicated team of journalists working hard to bring you local news you can trust. On any given day, that can look like:
- • Reporters hustling to track down sources, get the facts and hold powerful officials accountable
- • Producers coordinating interviews with people who offer perspectives that go beyond soundbites
- • Editors carefully vetting our stories to make sure they’re accurate, fair and easy to follow
I believe that journalists, when we do our jobs well, can play a crucial role in connecting people and making communities stronger. But we can’t do this work without you.
Your donations, in any amount, can help keep independent journalism vibrant in New Hampshire — and accessible to everyone, no paywall required.
Sincerely,
Dan Barrick
News Director
