Two Democrats are vying to oppose Republican David Wheeler in the Executive Council’s 5th District.

Melanie Levesque of Brookline and Shoshanna Kelly of Nashua, who both bring government experience to the table, will face off in a primary election on Sept. 10. Wheeler has no Republican opposition. He has held the seat for five nonconsecutive terms since 2001.

The district covers most of the Monadnock region, including Antrim, Bennington, Francestown, Greenfield, Greenville, Jaffrey, Lyndeborough, Mason, New Ipswich, Rindge, Temple and Wilton.

The Executive Council serves as a check on the governor’s power and holds the executive branch’s purse strings, as state contracts of more than $10,000 must get passed by the council. It also appoints state commissioners and judges and oversees other state functions. It isn’t an inherently political body, but some candidates have committed to approve various types of funding based on political and ideological values.

Independent and undeclared voters can temporarily change their party declaration to vote in the primary elections next week. Here’s what to know about the Democratic candidates on the ballot.

Melanie Levesque

Having grown up in Nashua and lived in Brookline for the past 30 years, Levesque said she knows a great deal about southern New Hampshire. She served three terms as a state representative and beat Kevin Avard for one term as a state senator in the 12th District. Avard took the seat back in 2020, and Levesque ran  an unsuccessful comeback bid against him in 2022.

Levesque is a telecommunications consultant and owns her business, TCS of America Enterprises. She also helped start a branch of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) in Nashua and was the first African-American to serve in the state Senate.

She had already decided to sit out from the Senate race this year, but said she got involved with the write-in primary campaign to reelect President Joe Biden. Later, when she saw Democratic gubernatorial candidate Joyce Craig speak at a campaign event, Levesque decided to run for Executive Council.

“She needed to have a very strong Executive Council, and we need to get a majority on the Executive Council in order to do any of the things that she wants to do for the State of New Hampshire,” Levesque said.

Ninety percent of what comes before the council is routine, Levesque said, but sometimes the debates can get “contentious” and “very critical” to the future of the state. For example, Levesque said she’d vote to approve funding for reproductive health care clinics and to support public education.

Levesque also said she’d favor of a new commissioner for the Department of Education. Craig and fellow Democratic candidate for governor Cinde Warmington have both pledged to nominate a replacement for the current commissioner, Frank Edelblut.

Levesque wants voters to know she’ll keep serving constituents and working to find consensus and compromise on the Executive Council even if a Republican wins the governor’s seat this fall.

“I show up, I follow up, and I stand up for my people,” Levesque said. “People know that they can count on me to get the job done, whatever that job may be, and that I will advocate for them.”

Shoshanna Kelly

Shoshanna Kelly is an at-large alderwoman and small business owner in Nashua.

According to Kelly’s website, voteforsho.com, she grew up in the Lakes Region and after leaving for college, made her way back to the Granite State in 2005. In 2013, she started her own creative advertising agency, where she works with both regional and national clients. Kelly has previously run unsuccessfully against Wheeler.

Kelly wants voters to know that although she lives in Nashua, she grew up in Moultonborough and knows what life is like in a rural town. As a working mom, she also said she knows what it’s like to deal with the cost of day care, a mortgage and other needs.

She said she got into local politics because she was frustrated by the people representing her. Kelly said she was then inspired to run for Executive Council when the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision on Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization opened up the opportunity for states to outlaw abortion, effectively overturning Roe v. Wade.

Kelly said Planned Parenthood and other reproductive health care funding has been rejected by the Council multiple times – something she wants to change.

“As a representative of the people, your job is to rule in their best interest,” Kelly said. “You don’t have to have reproductive cancer screenings or an abortion, but the money and the intent for the rest of New Hampshire is incredibly important for just having a healthy community.”

As an alderwoman, Kelly has prioritized public education, small business and fighting climate change, according to her website. She’s also on a committee to bring more affordable housing units to Nashua.

Charlotte Matherly is the State House reporter for the Concord Monitor and Monadnock Ledger-Transcript in partnership with Report for America. Follow her on X at @charmatherly, or send her an email at cmatherly@cmonitor.com.