John Stephen
Republican · NH · New Hampshire Executive Councilor, District 4
John Stephen is a state official and former health and human services commissioner who founded a consulting firm. He emphasizes fiscal oversight and health care reform.
Where John Stephen stands, based on their records
Supports
Anti-Corruption (1 record), Government Efficiency (1 record), Government Spending Reduction (11 records),
Track record
Track record — Anti-Corruption
Anti-Corruption · 1 support
Voted with Councilors David Wheeler and Joe Kenney to table a record 21 state contracts, saying the packets lacked documents such as proof of insurance and company ownership.
October 15, 2025Supports Anti-Corruption
Source: indepthnh.org
Track record — Government Efficiency
Government Efficiency · 1 support
Pushed the health department to renegotiate a no-bid Doorway addiction treatment contract with Mary Hitchcock Memorial Hospital. Overhead costs fell from 35 to 15 percent, and the revised $14.7 million contract passed unanimously.
July 8, 2026Supports Government Efficiency
Source: indepthnh.org
Track record — Government Spending Reduction
Government Spending Reduction · 11 support
Pushed the health department to renegotiate a no-bid Doorway addiction treatment contract with Mary Hitchcock Memorial Hospital. Overhead costs fell from 35 to 15 percent, and the revised $14.7 million contract passed unanimously.
July 8, 2026Supports Government Spending Reduction
Source: indepthnh.org
Voted against a GO-NORTH federal rural health contract for mental health services, asking whether state workers could do the job faster. The council approved it 3-2.
March 25, 2026Supports Government Spending Reduction
Source: indepthnh.org
Moved to table a request for $5.5 million more for court-appointed lawyers for people who cannot afford one, citing weak checks on who qualifies. The motion carried 4-1.
October 29, 2025Supports Government Spending Reduction
Source: indepthnh.org
Moved to table a $28.4 million contract to tear down the closed General Sullivan Bridge between Newington and Dover, saying the federal money could fund other road projects. The motion failed and the contract passed.
October 15, 2025Supports Government Spending Reduction
Source: indepthnh.org
Voted with two other councilors to reject adding $9.8 million and two more years to a health department consulting contract with Alvarez & Marsal for efficiency work. The amendment failed.
June 4, 2025Supports Government Spending Reduction
Source: media.sos.nh.gov
Voted against a $1.59 million state grant to the University of New Hampshire to set up a center for studying health care markets. The council approved it 3-2.
May 21, 2025Supports Government Spending Reduction
Source: media.sos.nh.gov
Voted against a $9.1 million contract with ProtoCall Services to run the state's central crisis line for people having a mental health crisis. The council approved it 3-2.
May 7, 2025Supports Government Spending Reduction
Source: media.sos.nh.gov
Testified before a New Hampshire legislative committee in support of a bill to add a work requirement to Medicaid. He cited the welfare work rules the state adopted in 2006 while he led the health department.
April 16, 2025Supports Government Spending Reduction
Source: indepthnh.org
Voted against an $18.5 million, six-year contract with Deloitte to replace the state's child welfare case tracking system. He said a new round of bidding might get a better price. The council approved it 3-2.
April 9, 2025Supports Government Spending Reduction
Source: indepthnh.org
Voted with two other councilors to reject a $564,415 federally funded contract for an Indiana firm to write the state's four-year workforce plan. He argued state staff could do the work for less. The contract failed 3-2.
February 5, 2025Supports Government Spending Reduction
Source: indepthnh.org
As state health commissioner, released cost estimates for GraniteCare, his plan to overhaul Medicaid. He projected $13 million in state savings over two years and $142 million by 2010. The plan proposed 1,400 fewer nursing home beds over five years.
January 21, 2005Supports Government Spending Reduction
Source: nhbr.com
Track record — Public Safety and Crime Control
Public Safety and Crime Control · 6 support
With Councilor Joe Kenney, called and led a meeting with the safety commissioner, attorney general, and chief justice after a Berlin woman was killed by her husband while he was out on bail. They reviewed gaps in how courts and police share bail and protective order data.
July 24, 2025Supports Public Safety and Crime Control
Source: indepthnh.org
Released a letter with Councilor Joe Kenney asking Chief Justice Gordon MacDonald and Administrative Judge Ellen Christo to immediately remove Magistrate Stephanie Johnson. She had set bail for a Berlin man who later killed his estranged wife.
July 14, 2025Supports Public Safety and Crime Control
Source: nhjournal.com
Wrote to a state court magistrate criticizing her decision to release a man accused of stabbing a stranger in Manchester without cash bail. He wrote that the decision undermined public safety.
February 11, 2025Supports Public Safety and Crime Control
Source: indepthnh.org
As an assistant attorney general, argued State v. Drewry. The New Hampshire Supreme Court agreed that a driver's license suspension after a fatal crash is not criminal punishment, so it does not block a homicide case.
December 23, 1996Supports Public Safety and Crime Control
Source: static.case.law
As an assistant attorney general, wrote the state's brief asking the New Hampshire Supreme Court to void a probation sentence for a habitual offender caught driving. The court agreed the trial judge lacked power to impose it.
July 6, 1995Supports Public Safety and Crime Control
Source: static.case.law
As an assistant attorney general, helped write the state's brief in State v. Girmay. The New Hampshire Supreme Court upheld a man's two first-degree murder convictions.
December 30, 1994Supports Public Safety and Crime Control
Source: static.case.law
Track record — Women's Reproductive Rights
Women's Reproductive Rights · 1 support
Voted for three state contracts worth about $2 million for sexual and reproductive health services at Amoskeag Health, Coos County Family Health Services, and Lamprey Health Care. Each passed 4-1.
June 25, 2025Supports Women's Reproductive Rights
Source: media.sos.nh.gov
Track record — General
General · 19 records
Announced the NH CPR Challenge, a council effort to offer free hands-only CPR training in all five council districts during EMS Week in May 2026. Bystanders had saved his life with CPR in November 2025.
March 24, 2026
Source: indepthnh.org
Issued a joint statement with Councilors David Wheeler and Joe Kenney praising ICE's work and the state police's cooperation with federal immigration agents. They also welcomed the decision not to build a proposed ICE facility in Merrimack.
February 24, 2026
Source: indepthnh.org
Voted with two other councilors against a 60-day extension of the state's vehicle inspection contract with Gordon-Darby, the company suing the state over the end of inspections. The extension failed.
February 4, 2026
Source: indepthnh.org
Voted against confirming John Reagan of Deerfield as a public member of the state Board of Chiropractic Examiners. The confirmation failed with three no votes and one abstention.
October 15, 2025
Source: media.sos.nh.gov
Opposed giving Taylor Caswell a third term as commissioner of Business and Economic Affairs. The governor withdrew the nomination in July 2025 because the votes were not there.
October 1, 2025
Source: indepthnh.org
Voted to reappoint John Formella as attorney general, saying no one knows the Department of Justice better. The council approved him 4-0, with one councilor recused.
September 17, 2025
Source: indepthnh.org
Signed a letter with Councilors Joe Kenney and David Wheeler asking the state business agency what role it played in a Chinese-owned company's purchase of land in Nashua, and whether a federal security review was requested.
August 14, 2025
Source: indepthnh.org
Abstained from the council vote confirming his brother, Robert Stephen, to the state Judicial Council.
July 9, 2025
Source: indepthnh.org
Abstained from council votes to amend the state's Medicaid managed care contracts with AmeriHealth Caritas, WellSense, and other health plans on June 25, 2025, and again on December 17, 2025.
June 25, 2025
Source: media.sos.nh.gov
Was named as a partner of the new Governor's Highway Safety Task Force, which the safety commissioner and attorney general lead to review crash data and recommend ways to cut road deaths.
March 26, 2025
Source: indepthnh.org
Won the November 5, 2024 election for Executive Council District 4, defeating Democrat Jim O'Connell.
November 5, 2024
Source: sos.nh.gov
His firm, The Stephen Group, won a $592,710 New Hampshire Department of Education contract to build a quality system for vocational rehabilitation. It had ranked third before oral interviews and was the highest bidder of the top three.
June 16, 2021
Source: indepthnh.org
Arkansas's Health Reform Legislative Task Force approved his firm's final report, which projected at least $959 million in Medicaid savings over five years.
December 15, 2016
Source: talkbusiness.net
His firm delivered a 350-page Medicaid report to Arkansas lawmakers. It urged keeping but changing the state's private option coverage, and found nearly 43,000 enrollees with out-of-state addresses and almost 500 who had died.
October 7, 2015
Source: talkbusiness.net
His firm, The Stephen Group of Manchester, was hired by an Arkansas legislative task force on Medicaid reform under a contract of up to $1,036,500.
May 7, 2015
Source: talkbusiness.net
Lost the 2010 race for governor of New Hampshire as the Republican nominee to Democratic Gov. John Lynch.
November 2, 2010
Source: indepthnh.org
As state health commissioner from 2004 to 2006, billed the state $54 a month for his home internet and cable box. His 2010 campaign said he needed to be reachable at all hours.
October 8, 2010
Source: nhbr.com
Announced in a July 2007 letter to Gov. John Lynch that he was leaving as state health commissioner. He had often clashed with Lynch over policy.
August 3, 2007
Source: nhbr.com
As an assistant attorney general, argued State v. Brown. The New Hampshire Supreme Court reversed a second-offense drunk driving conviction because the defendant was denied transcripts of earlier hearings.
December 18, 1998
Source: static.case.law
Track record — Impartiality
Impartiality · 1 favorable
Voted to confirm Bryan Gould to the New Hampshire Supreme Court. He said Gould believes politics has no place on the bench. The council confirmed him 4-1.
September 17, 2025Favorable on Impartiality
Source: indepthnh.org
Track record — Legal Competence
Legal Competence · 1 favorable
Voted to confirm Judge Daniel Will to the New Hampshire Supreme Court after reviewing his rulings and hearing testimony. He called Will a textualist who will protect citizens' rights. The council confirmed him 4-1.
February 11, 2026Favorable on Legal Competence
Source: indepthnh.org
Past race John Stephen ran in:
- Executive Councilor · November 3, 2026 · Executive Council District 4; New Hampshire · incumbent