Proposes detailed Local First platform
Statewide leaders and activists join Exploratory Committee
Head of Somersworth Democrats, 2019 Young Entrepreneur of Year, London School of Economics grad throws his hat in the ring for State Party leadership.
“We’d be fortunate to have Emmett’s leadership, vision, and political savvy as chair of the NHDP.” – Leah Plunkett, Former Executive Council Candidate,
Law Professor, Working Mom
“As a proud New Hampshire Democrat, I am ready to make our state party even more inclusive in a way that activates local communities and gets folks invested.” – Emmett Soldati
Somersworth, New Hampshire…After waging an innovative, grassroots campaign for NH’s Executive Council District 2, Somersworth Democratic Committee chair and business owner Emmett Soldati is looking to the future of the NH Democraftic Party. While celebrating the wins for Joe Biden and the federal delegation, Soldati wants to address head-on the recent loss of the Executive Council, the Senate, and the House, and the unsuccessful attempt to unseat Governor Chris Sununu. To do that, he has created a detailed, people-centered platform to transform the party into an even more inclusive and successful organization. In an announcement today, Soldati made his bid for leadership of the party with a Local First platform focused on five concepts: strengthening relationships; providing resources; opening doors; sharing practices; and communicating transparently. Soldati said,
> > “WHY I’M ENDORSING EMMETT SOLDATI” READ LETTER FROM JIM VERSCHUEREN < <
“As a proud New Hampshire Democrat, I am ready to take advantage of the tremendous opportunities to make our state party even more inclusive: to continuously engage communities; to develop local issue messaging; to lower barriers for future candidates; to share best practices; to provide digital toolkits to local candidates; and to clarify for town and county chairs the available strategy and resources. I believe this is a recipe for success. The job of the chair is all about how we raise and expend resources, how we attract and retain talent, and how we set strategy for not only the next two years but the next 20. I’m ready to do that in a way that activates local communities and gets folks invested in our party no matter the year and no matter their town.”
Soldati has created an Exploratory Committee of New Hampshire leaders and activists (see list below) which includes Leah Plunkett, Former Executive Council Candidate, Law Professor, Working Mom. Plunkett said,
“Running in the same primary as Emmett, I was struck by the impression that he was running ‘alongside’ rather than ‘against’ the rest of the candidates. I saw firsthand how his campaign and message resonated with so many people previously uninspired by our politics. His campaign showed all of us what is possible for the future of this party and we’d be fortunate to have Emmett’s leadership, vision, and political savvy as chair of the NHDP.”
Exploratory Committee
In announcing the committee, Soldati said, “I’m excited that this group represents voices from across the state from communities large and small.”
Mo Baxley, Former NHDP Vice Chair
Roger Lessard, Hillsborough County Chair
Knute Ogren, Carroll County Chair
John Streeter, Sullivan County Vice Chair
Isaac Epstein, Strafford County Secretary
Shaun Filiault, Keene Town Chair
Jim Verschueren, Dover Town Chair
Nikki Fordey, Litchfield Town Chair
Michael DiTomasso, Raymond Town Chair
Dawna Pidgeon, Enfield Town Chair
Kate Delfino, Atkinson Town Chair
Carlos Cordona, Laconia Town Chair
Martin Goulet, Director, Amherst Town Committee
Liz Kosta, Plaistow Town Chair
Leah Plunkett, Executive Council Candidate
Mark Brave, Strafford County Sheriff
Palana Belken, Rochester City Councilor
Crystal Paradis, Somersworth City Councilor, Vice Chair of Somersworth Democratic Committee
Ed Butler, Former Carroll 7 State Rep.
Wendy Thomas, Former Hillsborough 21 State Rep.
Kathy Stack, Former Hillsborough 21 State Rep.
Elizabeth Crooker, Candidate, Hillsborough 25 State Rep.
Jackie Chretien, Hillsborough 42 State Rep.
Eric Schildge, Democratic Activist
Maddie DeSantis, Democratic Activist
In a recent Op-Ed entitled How to Throw a Party, Soldati wrote,
“We should be the party that helps people connect and find strength in their community, no matter where they live…If we believe that our Party has the platform and the values that help most Granite Staters thrive—as I believe we do—then we should trust that when Granite Staters feel connected, they will support Democratic values in the voting booth. So isn’t it time we invite everyone to the party?”
Soldati’s ‘Local-First’ NHDP platform:
Soldati believes, “a strong and vibrant party is built on a solid foundation of shared values amongst local communities, building up from the bottom of the ballot, which in turn strengthens the top of the ticket.” Here are the five main points of the platform:
-
Strengthen relationships with local communities, leadership maintains contact regularly with all Democratic committees, encourage “off year” engagement, engage staff outside Manchester/Concord, establish local messaging based on real New Hampshire challenges, build recruitment committees
-
Provide resources – provide digital and video toolkits for local committees to change/update, build fundraising capacity at local level
-
Open doors – establish policies to support more candidates equally and lower barriers to entry, create open door policy for state party
-
Share practices – encourage local county committees to develop playbooks and share best practices.
-
Communicate transparently — provide constituents (e.g. town/county chairs) with window into strategy, resources (financial or otherwise), and resource deployment.
Party Chair Election
Filing for New Hampshire Democratic Party officer positions for 2021-2022 are open now until Friday January 15, 2021 for the positions of State Chair, First Vice Chair, Second Vice Chair, Secretary, and Treasurer. The 260+ members of the NH Democratic State Committee will vote virtually (Zoom) Sunday, March 14, 2021 at 1pm.
About Emmett Soldati
Former chief product officer for weather data company, Weather Analytics. London School of Economics grad. Recognized as 2019 Young Entrepreneur of the Year for his business, Teatotaller Cafe. Won a unanimous decision against Facebook pro se in the New Hampshire Supreme Court. LGBTQ+, Recovery, and Immigrant Justice Community Organizer. Arts in Reach board member. Ran for Executive Council District 2. Current chair, Somersworth Democratic Party. Emmett Soldati is all of that.
As Chief Product Officer for Weather Analytics, Emmett drove the product vision, design and marketing and served as the senior executive in managing U.S. Government accounts, including the Department of Homeland Security, Pentagon and the Intelligence Community. Before departing, he arranged for the DC firm to create a second headquarters in New Hampshire; today it is known as Athenium Analytics with a large workforce in Dover. He then went on to work as the Program Director for Athenium’s NGO, Farmers First Africa, supporting climate knowledge and food security for subsistence farmers.
For the last nine years, he has owned and operated Teatotaller Cafe, a café, tea-house, bakery and venue located in Somersworth, an openly queer café and venue which helped the small city find a sense of identity that USA Today recently described as the new Rainbow City, and attracted the attention of almost every presidential candidate leading up to the First in the Nation primary. https://stories.
Over the last two years, Soldati battled Facebook which had deleted an Instagram account of the business. In early 2020, the New Hampshire Supreme Court ruled unanimously in Soldati’s favor in his case. Soldati is one of the only pro se (i.e.: representing oneself) litigants to win a case in New Hampshire Supreme Court.
When Covid struck, Soldati closed the Cafe, and immediately began to focus on The New Economy. He started by navigating government sites to learn how best to help his own employees and other small businesses in the area. He guided his workers through their filing for unemployment, and advised small, local businesses via a weekly SmallBizLive – Mondays@5 Instagram Live program which served as an interactive clinic for small businesses featuring guests and Q+A. The program is an outgrowth of Soldati’s SmallBizGuide which he created as the crisis hit. https://mightysmall.io/
He then pivoted the cafe business by closing indoor dining and opened DoorstepBoba, now a successful beverage delivery service on the New Hampshire and Maine Seacoast and Concord, the site of the second Teatotaller Cafe, now in the planning stages. Beyond the doorstep deliveries, Teatotaller has launched its online tea blends under the name, Chai Curious. www.chaicurious.com
Raised in Somersworth, Soldati graduated from the Masters School in Dobbs Ferry, NY; from York University, Toronto (summa cum laude), before receiving his Masters in Cultural Studies from London School of Economics and Political Science. For more information, visit EmmettSoldati.com