Stacie-Marie Laughton

Stacie-Marie Laughton (born c. 1984)[1][2] is an American politician who served in the New Hampshire House of Representatives from 2020 to 2022, representing District 31 in Hillsborough County. A member of the Democratic Party, she had previously been elected to the chamber in the 2012 elections to represent Ward 4 in Nashua, but resigned her position as Representative-elect due to the surfacing of a past criminal conviction.[3] She was also a selectwoman in the ward.

Stacie-Marie Laughton
Member of the New Hampshire House of Representatives
from the 31st Hillsborough district
In office
December 2, 2020 – December 22, 2022
Personal details
Political partyDemocratic
ResidenceNashua, New Hampshire

2012 election victory and resignation

Laughton was the first openly transgender elected official in New Hampshire and the first openly transgender person elected to a state legislature anywhere in the United States.[4]

After her election, media outlets reported that Laughton had in 2008 been sentenced to 7 1/2 to 15 years in prison for conspiracy to commit credit card fraud and 3 1/2 to seven years for falsifying physical evidence. The sentences ran concurrently and were later reduced to one year in the Belknap County Department of Corrections. She served four months before being released under the condition of 10 years of "good behavior."

Laughton did not disclose the conviction during her campaign, nor was she legally required to under the law. In New Hampshire, convicted felons are ineligible to hold public office until their "final discharge" from prison. Republicans claimed that the good behavior condition meant that Laughton had not received a "final release"; however, prison officials consider the "final discharge" to be when the inmate exits incarceration. On November 27, 2012, Laughton issued a statement: "After a lot of thought and after talking with the state party chair and my Democratic caucus director, I’ve decided to resign my position of state representative-elect."[5]

In December 2012, Laughton announced that she would run in the election to fill the seat she resigned from.[6] However, later that month state Attorney General Michael Delaney (D) issued an opinion stating that since Laughton's sentence had been suspended on condition of "good behavior," she had not received a "final discharge" because she was still under the sentencing court's control until 2019. On January 2, 2013, Laughton abandoned her candidacy. While she would have faced a hearing before the state ballot law commission the next day, Delaney's opinion alone convinced her that she had no chance of staying on the ballot.[7] The opinion led to her selectman's post being nullified.[8]

Return to politics

In 2019, Laughton paid $2,000 in restitution to be cleared to run for public office again and formed an exploratory committee in hopes of returning to city government.[9] She ran for and won her former selectman seat in Nashua that year. In 2020, she once again ran for the New Hampshire House of Representatives,[10] ultimately winning the seat.[11]

Bomb threat

Laughton turned herself in to police on March 12, 2015, after a warrant for her arrest was issued stemming from a bomb threat phoned in to Southern New Hampshire Medical Center on February 27.[8] She was initially charged with making a false report of explosives. A judge reduced the charge to a misdemeanor and sentenced her to a six-month suspended jail term.[9]

Stalking and illegal texts

On November 12, 2022, Laughton was arrested and held in jail on a single stalking charge of violating a court order,[12] prohibiting her from posting on Facebook about a woman. She is facing up to nine months in jail due to her suspended sentence for texting 911 during non-emergencies.[13]

Child pornography

On June 22, 2023, Laughton was arrested and held in jail on preventative detention pending arraignment to four counts of distribution of child sexual abuse images.[14][15] On July 17, she was further charged with aiding and abetting in the sexual exploitation of children.[16]

References
  1. "Meet the United State's (sic) first transgender elected state legislator". The Independent. November 23, 2012. Archived from the original on May 24, 2022. Retrieved January 17, 2018.
  2. Claffey, Jason (March 14, 2015). "Nashua's Stacie Laughton Blames Mental Illness for Bomb Threat". Nashua Patch. Retrieved January 17, 2018.
  3. "With state representive(sic) win, Laughton state’s first openly transgender lawmaker". The Telegraph, November 8, 2012.
  4. "Nationwide Wins for State and Local LGBT Candidates". Metro Weekly, November 8, 2012.
  5. State rep.-elect Laughton to resign post The Telegraph, November 27, 2012
  6. "Laughton vows to run to replace herself for Nashua's Ward 4 House seat". Nashua Telegraph. Retrieved March 13, 2015.
  7. "Laughton ineligible to run for state rep, withdraws from District 31 race in Nashua". Nashua Telegraph. Retrieved March 13, 2015.
  8. NH's first transgender lawmaker arrested for hospital bomb threat Archived 2015-03-18 at the Wayback Machine New Hampshire Union Leader, March 12, 2015
  9. Houghton, Kimberly (April 24, 2019). "Transgender NH legislator eligible to return to public office after completing restitution". New Hampshire Union Leader. Archived from the original on August 9, 2015. Retrieved May 4, 2019.
  10. Houghton, Kimberly. "Transgender woman barred from House by unpaid restitution wins Nashua Ward 4 selectman seat". Union Leader. Retrieved May 8, 2020.
  11. Schinella, Tony (November 4, 2020). "Election 2020 Results In Nashua: Sununu, Democrats Win Handily". Patch. Retrieved November 4, 2020.
  12. Tony Schinella (November 13, 2022). "Nashua Democrat State Rep. Arrested Again, Accused Of Stalking". MSN.com. Retrieved November 21, 2022.
  13. Ramer, Holly (November 30, 2022). "New Hampshire state representative charged with stalking". WMUR-TV. Retrieved November 30, 2022.
  14. Lynch, Troy (June 23, 2023). "Sources: Arrest of former state rep is connected to woman accused of taking explicit photos of children in her care". WMUR-TV. Retrieved June 23, 2023.
  15. Feely, Paul (June 22, 2023). "Former Nashua lawmaker charged with distributing sex abuse images, say police". New Hampshire Union Leader. Retrieved June 23, 2023.
  16. "Former state lawmaker charged with sexual exploitation of children". AP News. July 18, 2023. Retrieved July 23, 2023.
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