‘The House should remove her’: N.H. lawmaker faces backlash after claiming she can’t be prosecuted for speeding

CONCORD, N.H. — A state lawmaker who asserted “legislative privilege” in an effort to escape prosecution for two high-speed traffic stops on Interstate 93 is facing growing calls to step down.

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In a joint statement on Monday, three Republican members of the New Hampshire House pushed for Democratic Representative Ellen Read of Newmarket to resign from the chamber, saying she endangered the lives of other motorists when she was clocked driving 107 miles per hour in 2024 and shouldn’t have claimed that police had no authority to stop her on account of the office she holds.

“That is not a defense,” said Deputy Majority Leader Joe Sweeney of Salem. “That is an abuse of office. She should resign, and if she refuses, the House should remove her.”

Representative Ross Berry said the New Hampshire Constitution shields lawmakers from political arrests, not the consequences of violating traffic laws that apply to their constituents. Representative Joe Alexander said Read had “demanded a special set of rules for herself” and, in so doing, “forfeited the public’s trust.”

While it’s unclear whether the House would be willing to take the extraordinary step of expelling Read from the 400-seat chamber, Republicans aren’t alone in pining for Read’s exit. Democratic Representative Kris Schultz of Concord sent a letter last week to the Republican speaker and Democratic minority leader asking them to call for Read’s resignation.

Schultz wrote that Read’s pattern of lashing out at those with whom she disagrees led to the end of their friendship. Lawmakers and legislative staff shouldn’t have to put up with her “unhinged attacks,” she wrote.

“She has targeted me in the past when she wrongly assumed I was spreading rumors of her personal life. … I know what it is like to be screamed at for a full hour with no ability to calm her down,” Schultz wrote. “It took months of this behavior and the urging of my husband before I finally cut her off. I regret waiting so long. Ellen Read clearly is unfit for service to this state and literally makes the rest of us look bad.”

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Read is accused of yelling at a sheriff’s deputy who conducted a second traffic stop, in 2025, when she was allegedly clocked driving 92 m.p.h. in a 65 m.p.h. zone. Read appealed to the New Hampshire Supreme Court, which declined in June to hear her case and reiterated that decision earlier this month.

The existence of Read’s two traffic stops and subsequent litigation was first reported July 13 by the Boston Globe. Gracie Gato, a spokesperson who released an error-riddled statement on Read’s behalf in the wake of the Globe’s reporting, has since resigned from that volunteer position.

Read didn’t directly answer when asked Monday whether she will resign. The person representing her in court, Dana Albrecht, who is not a lawyer, responded on her behalf, saying those who have called on Read to resign don’t “like” her.

“The politics of personal destruction needs to stop,” Albrecht said in an email, adding that he thinks Read would rather talk to Fox News than the Globe at this point.

“And that says it all,” he added.

Read is running for reelection. She and two other Democrats will be on the ballot for the Sept. 8 primary in a three-seat district that favors Democrats.

This story appears in Globe NH | Morning Report, a free email newsletter focused on New Hampshire, including great coverage from the Boston Globe and links to interesting articles elsewhere. Sign up here.

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