The Legislative Ethics Committee is recommending that the New Hampshire House censure Rep. James Spillane, a Republican from Deerfield, for social media posts that were “clearly defamatory” of other House members and “constituted harassment.”
In posts on X in March, Spillane called Rep. Katherine Harvey, a Spofford Democrat, a “liar” and Democratic Rep. Tim Horrigan of Durham “retarded.” He also wrote that Horrigan’s mother has “(expletive) her cousin,” and accused him of “dropping acid in the 60’s.”
In a five-page special report, Ethics Committee Chairman Ned Gordon, a former circuit court judge and GOP state senator, wrote that Spillane “made extremely offensive assertions.”
“This is not an acceptable disagreement over a legislative outcome. It is a direct personal attack. It demonstrates a complete lack of respect and absolute lack of concern about the dignity of another member of the legislature,” Gordon wrote. “It cannot be viewed in a manner consistent with the established ethical guidelines established by the General Court.”
Spillane, the chairman of the House Fish and Game Committee, defended his social media posts on free speech grounds, according to the committee’s report. He also argued the posts fell outside the Ethics Committee’s jurisdiction, because they weren’t made in the course of his duties as a member of the Legislature.
The Ethics Committee disagreed.
“While he may have the legal right to make offensive or demeaning comments about other members, the legislature also has the authority to establish standards and to regulate its membership,” Gordon wrote.
In an X post Friday, Spillane took aim at the Ethics Committee report, and re-upped his criticisms of Horrigan.
“They left out the fact that he admitted under oath that his mother and father are indeed cousins, or that he pled the 5th when cross examined about his ingestion of illegal substances,” Spillane wrote, before again referring to Horrigan by a slur for people with disabilities.
Spillane, who is serving in his sixth term and seeking reelection, is no stranger to social media controversy.
In 2019, he was stripped of his post on the House Fish and Game Committee and investigated for illegal hunting after sharing a gory photo of a squirrel he’d shot off a bird-feeder with a .50 caliber gun.
In 2020, Spillane was investigated by the Civil Rights Unit of the Attorney General’s office over a Facebook post in which he wrote: “Public Service Announcement: If you see a BLM sign on a lawn it’s the same as having the porch light on for Halloween. You’re free to loot and burn that house.”
In 2021, the Ethics Committee formally admonished Spillane for sharing an antisemitic drawing on Parler, the social media app, for which Spillane apologized.
Last year, Spillane was back in the news for a X post in which he referred to a meeting of moderate political leaders as a “gay retards” summit.
Formal censure of House members is rare, though the body did censure Weare Republican Travis Corcoran in May for a social media post widely viewed as antisemitic and for calling for the Trump administration to deport a Democratic lawmaker who was born in the Philippines.
The timing of any potential censure vote on Spillane is unclear. The House is expected to meet again early this fall to take up bills vetoed by Gov. Kelly Ayotte.
