Jason Bedrick

Jason Bedrick (born June 5, 1983) is a former member of the New Hampshire state legislature.[1] He was a Republican representing Windham, New Hampshire. He is currently a research fellow at The Heritage Foundation[2] and an adjunct scholar at the Cato Institute's Center for Educational Freedom, where he was previously a policy analyst.[3] Bedrick holds a Master's in Public Policy from Harvard Kennedy School at Harvard University.[4]

Bedrick with Rudy Giuliani in 2006

Bedrick is the first Orthodox Jew to hold elective office in New Hampshire, which has fewer than ten Orthodox Jewish families among its 1% Jewish population.[5]

Early life and education

Bedrick was raised in a secular Jewish home in Windham, New Hampshire, and he became religiously observant over the course of many years. He attended Bishop Guertin High School in Nashua, New Hampshire, where he received the Religious Studies Award for "the student who best understands the Christian message presented in the classroom."[6]

After graduation, he attended Babson College, majoring in business administration. At Babson College, he was a senior editor for the Babson Free Press Archived 2008-07-05 at the Wayback Machine and founder of the local chapter of the Alpha Epsilon Pi fraternity.[7] After college, he studied Torah in yeshiva Hadar Hatorah in Crown Heights, Brooklyn and Yeshiva Tiferes Bachurim, a part of the Rabbinical College of America in Morristown, New Jersey.[8]

Political positions

Bedrick is a strong supporter of school choice, including charter schools, education vouchers, and scholarship tax credits. He first ran for the New Hampshire State House unsuccessfully on a platform as an Independent in 2004.[1]

Bedrick's 2006 victory was a narrow one, by only six votes, after a recount. In addition to school choice, he is in favor of continuing New Hampshire's traditional absence of sales and income tax, and is in general a fiscal conservative.[5] Bedrick was unanimously endorsed by the libertarian Republican Liberty Caucus political action committee.[9] The New Hampshire Liberty Alliance gave Bedrick an "A" rating in their 2007 Liberty Rating for his pro-liberty voting record[10] and in 2008, they named him "Legislator of the Year".[11] Bedrick scored 98% on New Hampshire House Republican Alliance legislative score card.[12] In 2008, he endorsed Arkansas governor Mike Huckabee for president.[13]

New Hampshire House of Representatives

Bedrick was the first Orthodox Jew elected to the New Hampshire House of Representatives. He observes Shabbat and keeps kosher. Because Jewish law forbids taking oaths, during his swearing-in ceremony Bedrick substituted the words "I affirm" for "I swear."[5] Bedrick always wears a head covering and sports a full beard.[5]

2008 election

By a one-vote margin, 904–903, Bedrick was not renominated in 2008 to appear on the Republican ticket in the general election.[14]

References
  1. Date, Terry (December 10, 2006). "Welcome to the House: Windham lawmaker plans to keep quiet in first term". The Eagle Tribune. Archived from the original on January 22, 2013.
  2. "Jason Bedrick," The Heritage Foundation website.
  3. "Cato Institute: Policy Scholars," Cato Institute website.
  4. Bedrick, Jason, "Scholarship Tax Credit Programs in the United States: Implications for New Hampshire," Josiah Bartlett Center for Public Policy, January 2011.
  5. Masis, Julie (December 9, 2006). "Windham sends first Orthodox Jew in NH to legislature". New Hampshire Union Leader. Archived from the original on September 26, 2007. Retrieved December 12, 2006.
  6. Schoenberg, Shira "An Orthodox Lawmaker: 24-year old makes history in the legislature" Archived 2016-01-18 at the Wayback Machine Concord Monitor, Feb. 7, 2008.
  7. "Jordan’s Furniture Secrets of Success", Babson Entrepreneurial Exchange, 2005. Archived December 9, 2006, at the Wayback Machine
  8. "Campaign Website". Archived from the original on 2008-06-28. Retrieved 2008-05-15.
  9. "Republican Liberty Caucus website – Jason Bedrick". Archived from the original on 2007-10-23. Retrieved 2006-12-12.
  10. "New Hampshire Liberty Alliance website – 2007 Liberty Rating". Archived from the original on 2007-11-09. Retrieved 2007-12-10.
  11. "New Hampshire Insider". Archived from the original on 2011-07-14. Retrieved 2008-09-10.
  12. "New Hampshire House Republican Alliance website – 2007 Republican Platform Scorecard (pdf)" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2008-05-16. Retrieved 2008-05-15.
  13. "Jason Bedrick: Why I back Huckabee". 24 January 2008.
  14. "Vote GOP! – Representative Jason Bedrick (October 28, 2008)". Archived from the original on January 6, 2009. Retrieved December 1, 2008.
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