Noreilli Names Shurtleff House Majority Leader

House Speaker Terie Norelli, D-Portsmouth, named her leadership team on Dec. 19, for the 2013-2014 New Hampshire House Session and two elected officials who represent parts of Concord have major roles on the team.

State Rep. Steve Shurtleff, D-Penacook, who is also an at-large Concord City Councilor, was named House Majority Leader, and state Rep. Gary Richardson, D-Hopkinton, who is one of three elected officials that represents Ward 5 in the city, was named majority floor leader.

Shurtleff said he was happy to have been named to the leadership team but was “a little surprised” by it.

“I appreciate the confidence that the Speaker has shown in me,” he said.

Shurtleff added that he hoped it would be “a productive session with a renewed spirit of bipartisanship” between both the state's two major political parties.

“When I chaired the Criminal Justice committee in the 2008 session, both Democrats and Republicans worked together for the common good,” he said. “I hope that we can bring that attitude to the entire House.”

Richardson did not return an email requesting comment.

Others named to the leadership team include state Rep. Naida Kaen, D-Lee, who was named Deputy Speaker, and state Rep. Jeffrey Goley, D-Manchester, who was name deputy floor leader.

State Rep. Beth Arsenault, D-Laconia, state Rep. Mary Cooney, D-Plymouth, state Rep. Susan Ford, D-Easton, state Rep. Suzanne Gottling, D-Sunapee, state Rep. Melanie Levesque, D-Brookline, state Rep. Robert Perry, D-Strafford, state Rep. Deanna Rollo, D-Rollinsford, and state Rep. Stephen Spratt, D-Greenville, were also all named assistant majority leaders.