You might think you know what this means, but not here. Here, we are finally acting for ourselves: for the kids, the teachers, the workers, the struggling parents, and the small business owners. Everyone who just wants to live and enjoy their life without struggling.
Not a politician … yet. A mom, a small business owner, and your neighbor. It's time to be human again.
I own Bite Me Kupcakez, the gluten free bakery my mom and I built together here in Merrimack. I run it in her memory. I've been with my husband Dylan since we were 17, and we're raising four kids, including twins.
I'm not running because I collected the right credentials. I'm running because I've spent years inside the systems everyone says are broken, and I can tell you exactly where they break.
My mom raised four kids, and every one of us found our own way to build something worth being proud of. Two of my siblings run their own small businesses. Another plays in multiple bands, helps mentor young musicians coming up, and works in communications when he's not on stage. She knew what it was like to live paycheck to paycheck, and she still had more compassion than anyone I've ever known. That's where mine comes from. I also spent twenty years as a competitive figure skater, starting at age three. I still skate for fun, and one day I'd love to teach it myself.
These days you're just as likely to find me behind a mixer as you are behind a microphone, volunteering at the schools, or playing at Twin Bridges Park with my kids here in town. Either way, I'm still all in for Merrimack.
My mom is the reason Bite Me Kupcakez exists. She raised four kids who each found our own way to build something worth being proud of, and she never once let any of us think that was out of reach. This is us at the very start, us near the end, and me carrying her legacy forward after she passed. Running my own company, and now running for office, both trace straight back to her.
I competed as a figure skater from age three to twenty-eight. I don't compete anymore, but I still get out on the ice for fun, and one day I'd love to teach it myself. These are my girls' first steps on skates, following right behind me.
No dodging, no focus grouped answers. Tap any issue to read exactly what I'd fight for in Concord.
My nana on my mom's side, rest her soul, was an elementary school librarian in the Tewksbury, Massachusetts school system for years. My best friend of thirty years has been a teacher for eleven years now, across a range of grade levels, and she's currently teaching seventh grade. I grew up understanding what teachers and school staff actually give to a community.
My husband Dylan has worked tree service and industrial trades since we started our family. I'm not guessing what fair wages, safe conditions, and gig protections mean to a working household. I'm married to it.
My uncle, John McCabe, was murdered in Tewksbury, Massachusetts in 1969, when he was fifteen years old. His case went unsolved for decades and wasn't finally closed until 2021, after both my nana and papa had already passed. I think often about how many families wait that long for answers, and it's part of why cold cases matter to me, not as statistics, but as people. More on the case here.
Military service runs in my family. My grandfather on my mom's side served in the Navy, and my great uncle on that side served in the Army. My grandfather on my dad's side served as well, and later became a NYC police officer. Rest both their souls. I still do what I can to help my great uncle navigate the VA whenever he needs it.
My dad was the first person in his family born here in the US, after his parents came over from Ukraine. My mom's side traces back to Irish immigrants who did the same thing a generation earlier. This isn't an abstract issue for me. It's the reason I'm here at all.
Here's what I've learned navigating special education, social services, and caregiver programs for my own family: New Hampshire leaves money on the table constantly. Federal matching dollars go unused. Programs exist that families never hear about. The problem is rarely that the state can't help. It's that the state doesn't tell you it can.
I had three high-risk pregnancies between the ages of eighteen and twenty-five, all three ending in C-sections, none of them by choice. Each one was either an emergency or a failed induction. My twins were diagnosed with twin-to-twin transfusion syndrome, and I needed a fetal surgery that was still considered experimental at the time, done in Philadelphia. Some of my kids also have disabilities and get extra support at school here in town, so I've sat on both sides of that table, the IEP process and the 504 process. When I talk about postpartum care, or about families falling through the cracks in a system that never tells them what's available, I'm not guessing. I lived every part of it.
That means letting people's records speak for themselves instead of tearing them down. If a Republican and I agree on two things, I want to start there, not spend our time fighting about the third. Affordability isn't about what tax bracket you're in either. Whether it's housing, healthcare, or staying in the home you raised your kids in, that should be true for everyone in Merrimack.
I grew up with parents on opposite ends of the political spectrum, and my best friend of 30 years is a registered Republican. I don't need everyone to agree with me. I need the state to work for the people living in it. That's what "finally acting for ourselves" means.
From candidate forums to Merrimack Democrats events, this campaign is built on showing up. Grateful for the Merrimack Democrats, who've chipped in with donations along the way, and grateful to every neighbor, friend, and family member who's supported this campaign so far. It genuinely means everything.
Every dollar goes to signs, lit, and getting in front of voters.
Venmo: @Boutin4NH-Merrimack
(ActBlue link coming soon)
Catch me on Let's Talk Merrimack, stop by the bakery, or flag me down at the grocery store. And if it's easier, I'll come to you. Coffee, your kitchen table, wherever. Ask me anything and I'll give you a straight answer.
Follow the campaign on Facebook, grab a yard sign, and tell a neighbor. Word of mouth beats big money every time.