Cassandra Levesque
Member of the New Hampshire House of Representatives
from the Strafford 4 district
Assumed office
December 5, 2018
Serving with Len Turcotte and Heath Howard
Preceded byJackie Cilley
Len Turcotte
Personal details
Bornc. 1999
Political partyDemocratic
ResidenceBarrington, New Hampshire
Alma materSouthern New Hampshire University

Cassandra Levesque (born c. 1999) is an American politician in the state of New Hampshire. She has been a Democratic member of the New Hampshire House of Representatives since 2018, representing the Strafford 4 district.[1] Levesque has contributed to efforts to eliminate child marriage in New Hampshire.

Early life

Levesque became a Girl Scout when she was five years old. She began researching child marriage as a project for the program's Gold Award. Levesque worked with her state Representative, Jackie Cilley, to draft a bill that would eliminate provisions allowing minors to marry with judicial and parental consent. The state House of Representatives voted against the bill's passage.[2][3] Despite the bill's failure, other legislation sponsored by Cilley passed which raised the minimum age for marriage from 13 to 16.[2] Levesque said she would continue to advocate for the minimum marriage age to be raised to 18.[4][5]

Electoral politics

When both incumbents from the Strafford 4 district, Cilley and Len Turcotte, decided to retire, local Democrats convinced Levesque to run in the 2018 election.[2] Levesque was elected on a campaign of representing small businesses and addressing water-quality issues.[6] At 19, she became the youngest serving member of New Hampshire's legislature.[7] Levesque has continued to press the issue of child marriage in the legislature.[6]

Electoral history

2018

New Hampshire's Strafford 4 House district Democratic primary results, 2018[1]
Party Candidate Votes %
Democratic Cassandra Levesque 699 51.3
Democratic Matthew Towne 663 48.7
Total votes 1,362 100.0
New Hampshire's Strafford 4 House district general election results, 2018[1]
Party Candidate Votes %
Democratic Cassandra Levesque 2,061 26.4
Democratic Matthew Towne 1,983 25.4
Republican Jenny Wilson 1,801 23.0
Republican Robert Drew 1,787 22.9
Libertarian Frank Bertone 187 2.4
Total votes 7,819 100.0

2020

New Hampshire's Strafford 4 House district Democratic primary results, 2020[1]
Party Candidate Votes %
Democratic Cassandra Levesque (incumbent) 870 51.2
Democratic Matthew Towne (incumbent) 827 48.6
N/A Write-ins 3 0.2
Total votes 1,362 100.0
New Hampshire's Strafford 4 House district general election results, 2020[1]
Party Candidate Votes %
Republican Len Turcotte 2,844 26.3
Democratic Cassandra Levesque (incumbent) 2,755 25.5
Democratic Matthew Towne (incumbent) 2,611 24.1
Republican Jenny Wilson 2,604 24.1
N/A Write-ins 5 0.0
Total votes 10,819 100.0

2022

New Hampshire's Strafford 4 House district Democratic primary results, 2022[1]
Party Candidate Votes %
Democratic Cassandra Levesque 798 34.4
Democratic Matthew Towne 776 33.4
Democratic Heath Howard 749 32.2
Total votes 2,323 100.0
New Hampshire's Strafford 4 House district general election results, 2022[1]
Party Candidate Votes %
Democratic Cassandra Levesque (incumbent) 3,363 17.4
Republican Len Turcotte (incumbent) 3,283 17.0
Democratic Heath Howard 3,243 16.8
Democratic Matthew Towne 3,236 16.8
Republican Kurt Wuelper (incumbent)[lower-alpha 1] 3,127 16.2
Republican Davis Miller 3,052 15.8
Total votes 19,304 100.0

See also

Notes

  1. ↑ Redistricted from the Strafford 3 district.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 "Cassandra Levesque". Ballotpedia. Retrieved 2018-12-03.
  2. 1 2 3 Taylor, Kate (2018-11-13). "In New Class of Young Lawmakers, a Former Girl Scout Goes to the Statehouse". The New York Times. Retrieved 2018-12-03.
  3. ↑ Belanger, Ashley (2017-09-07). "Cassandra Levesque is Determined to End Child Marriage in New Hampshire". Teen Vogue. Retrieved 2018-12-03.
  4. ↑ Gontcharova, Natalie (2018-05-14). "This Girl Scout Fought Against Child Marriage — & Scored A Win". Refinery29. Retrieved 2018-12-03.
  5. ↑ Werft, Meghan (2017-07-21). "Meet Cassandra Levesque: A Girl Scout and Global Citizen of America Ending Child Marriage". Global Citizen. Retrieved 2018-12-03.
  6. 1 2 Trickey, Eric (2022-01-09). "'Why Is Child Marriage Still Legal?': A Young Lawmaker Tackles a Hidden Problem". Politico. Retrieved 2022-11-27.
  7. ↑ "19-Year-Old Ready To Become Youngest New Hampshire Lawmaker". CBS Boston. 2018-11-27. Retrieved 2018-12-03.
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