Melissa A.
Litchfield
Experience. Integrity. Results.
Service Before Résumé
“I never set out to build a political résumé. I simply kept saying yes when my community needed someone willing to serve.”
Melissa and her husband raised their four children here — all four attended Swasey Central School. Like so many parents, her involvement began with a simple goal: make sure our children had strong schools, responsible leadership, and a community that felt like home.
That first step eventually led her to the New Hampshire State House, where she has now served two terms representing Brentwood, Danville, and Fremont.
Before public office, Melissa spent more than a decade in the life and disability insurance industry as an underwriter and underwriting consultant. She earned a Bachelor of Arts in Accounting from Assumption University, completed graduate coursework toward an MBA at Southern New Hampshire University, and earned professional LOMA and HIAA certifications.
Those experiences taught her to study the details, ask questions, understand the numbers — and never assume the easiest answer is always the right one.
Behind Every Bill Number Is a Family
During the 2025–2026 session, measures Melissa sponsored or helped advance became law — real protections for homeowners, children, students, and taxpayers.
Legislation Signed Into Law
- HB 617 — Prime sponsor. Strengthened New Hampshire's Homestead Right, significantly increasing protected home equity — protecting the roof over a family's head in times of serious financial hardship.
- HB 1460 — Prime sponsor. Prohibits the sale of a child's personal data.
- HB 781 — Prime sponsor. Helped advance New Hampshire's bell-to-bell cell phone policy.
- HB 1267 — Co-sponsor. Requires parental or guardian permission before certain outside personnel may question a minor student at school, subject to an exception for legitimate child-welfare investigations. Became law after the Legislature overrode the governor's veto.
- Educator Credentials & Special Education — Prime sponsored legislation strengthening background check disqualifications for educator credentials and improving special education reporting.
- Student Safety — Co-sponsored legislation increasing penalties for passing a stopped school bus.
- Families & Health — Worked with colleagues on domestic violence protections and expanding health-insurance coverage for prosthetic devices.
Her Work Began Long Before Concord
- Nine years on the Swasey Central School Board — including seven years as Chair
- Six years on the Exeter Region Cooperative School Board — Finance Subcommittee Chair
- Four years on the Brentwood Budget Committee as the School Board's appointed representative
- Today: member of the Brentwood School Board
- Today: member of the House Education Policy and Administration Committee
For me, public service has never been about how many bills have my name on them. It is about whether I am doing the work. Am I listening? Am I asking the right questions? Am I willing to speak up when something does not make sense?
Where She Stands
Clear positions. Documented results. No guessing where your representative stands.
No Income Tax in NH — Not Now. Not Ever.
New Hampshire's tax structure is different from most states. While our property taxes are undeniably high, property taxes are only one piece of a family's total tax burden. New Hampshire has no individual income tax, no general sales tax, and no Interest & Dividends Tax. According to the Tax Foundation's State and Local Tax Burdens analysis, New Hampshire's overall state and local tax burden was approximately 9.6% of income, compared with 11.2% nationally. Among the New England states, New Hampshire had the lowest burden in that analysis: New Hampshire 9.6%, Rhode Island 11.4%, Massachusetts 11.5%, Maine 12.4%, Vermont 13.6%, and Connecticut 15.4%. Importantly, these figures are from Tax Foundation's 2022 analysis and predate New Hampshire's complete elimination of the Interest & Dividends Tax on January 1, 2025. New Hampshire also ranks #3 in the nation in the Tax Foundation's 2026 State Tax Competitiveness Index. The Tax Foundation notes that New Hampshire's lack of an individual income tax and general sales tax contributes to its strong overall ranking. Property taxes remain a serious concern, and we should continue working to control their growth. Creating a new statewide income tax is not the answer. New Hampshire should protect what makes our state different: no income tax, no general sales tax, and greater accountability for how taxpayer dollars are spent.
Protecting Children and Strengthening Parental Rights
Parents should remain central to decisions involving their children, and children deserve strong protections both at school and online. I have worked to strengthen parental rights, student privacy, and safeguards for children. I prime-sponsored HB 1460, now law, which prohibits the sale of a child's personal data. I also co-sponsored HB 1267, now law, which requires parental or guardian permission before certain non-school personnel may question a minor student at school, with child-welfare exceptions. I co-sponsored HB 273, now law, giving parents and legal guardians access to records showing printed and audiovisual materials currently borrowed by their minor child. I believe parents should have meaningful access to information involving their children and a strong voice in the decisions that affect them.
Government Transparency and Accountability
Government works best when taxpayers can clearly see how decisions are made, where public money comes from, and what obligations come with that funding. I co-sponsored HB 656, now law, which increases transparency around state and federal funds received by school districts, including disclosure of obligations tied to accepting those funds. I also prime-sponsored HB 1379, now law, which addresses the publication of New Hampshire's annual special education complaint and findings report. I believe taxpayers, parents, and local officials deserve clear information, responsible oversight, and accountability for the decisions made with public dollars.
Protecting Your Home, Family & Individual Rights
Government should protect individual rights, respect private property, and provide families with meaningful legal protections. I prime-sponsored HB 617, now law, which strengthened New Hampshire's Homestead Right by increasing protected home equity from $120,000 to $400,000 for a single person and from $240,000 to as much as $550,000 for a married couple. I also co-sponsored HB 1522, now law, which strengthened domestic-violence protections and updated the fatality-review process, and HB 1603, now law, which added procedures to verify threatened and endangered wildlife records, notify landowners, and require permission before gathering site-specific species data on private property. I believe New Hampshire should continue protecting families, homeowners, and individual rights while keeping government accountable to the people it serves.
Voters Deserve to Know
Melissa believes voters deserve to know who represents them, what that person stands for, and what that record actually shows.
Can she work with people who may not agree with her on everything and still find a way to move a good idea forward? That question guides every vote she takes in Concord.
She is grateful for the trust people have placed in her over the years — from our local schools to the State House — and remains committed to serving Brentwood, Danville, and Fremont with the same work ethic and sense of responsibility that first brought her into public service.
Experience. Integrity. Results.
Endorsed by Organizations That Know the Record
NRA
RTW
NHFRW
Citizens Alliance New Hampshire
New Hampshire Liberty Alliance
Granite State Taxpayer “Penny Pincher” Gold Legislator
Stand With Melissa
Brentwood, Danville, and Fremont deserve a representative who studies the details, asks the hard questions, and delivers results. Your support keeps that work going.