Donovan Fenton

Donovan Fenton

Democratic Party

New Hampshire State Senate District 10

Tenure

2022 - Present

Term ends

2026

Years in position

2

Predecessor

Jay Kahn

Prior offices

New Hampshire House of Representatives Cheshire 8

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Compensation

Base salary

$100/year

Per diem

$No per diem is paid

Elections and appointments

Last elected

November 5, 2024

Education

Bachelor's

Towson University

Graduate

George Washington University, 2015

Personal

Birthplace

Keene, N.H.

Contact

Official website

Official Twitter

Official Instagram

Campaign website

Campaign Facebook

Personal Facebook

Donovan Fenton (Democratic Party) is a member of the New Hampshire State Senate, representing District 10. He assumed office on December 7, 2022. His current term ends on December 2, 2026.

Fenton (Democratic Party) ran for re-election to the New Hampshire State Senate to represent District 10. He won in the general election on November 5, 2024.

Biography

Donovan Fenton was born and lives in Keene, New Hampshire. Fenton earned a B.A. in social sciences from Towson University and an M.A. in political management from George Washington University in 2015. He has served on the boards of The Community Kitchen of Keene and the Cedarcrest Center for Children with Disabilities.

Committee assignments

Note: This membership information was last updated in September 2023. Ballotpedia completes biannual updates of committee membership. If you would like to send us an update, email us at:editor@ballotpedia.org.

2023-2024

Fenton was assigned to the following committees:

• Senate Education Committee
• Senate Transportation Committee

2021-2022

Fenton was assigned to the following committees:

• House Transportation Committee

2019-2020

Fenton was assigned to the following committees:

• House Transportation Committee

2017 legislative session

At the beginning of the 2017 legislative session, this legislator served on the following committees:

New Hampshire committee assignments, 2017
• Environment and Agriculture

Sponsored legislation

The following table lists bills this person sponsored as a legislator, according to BillTrack50 and sorted by action history. Bills are sorted by the date of their last action. The following list may not be comprehensive. To see all bills this legislator sponsored, click on the legislator's name in the title of the table.

Elections

2024

See also: New Hampshire State Senate elections, 2024

General election

General election for New Hampshire State Senate District 10

Incumbent Donovan Fenton defeated Richard Merkt in the general election for New Hampshire State Senate District 10 on November 5, 2024.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Donovan Fenton (D)	63.1	20,841
		Richard Merkt (R)	36.8	12,166
		Other/Write-in votes	0.0	11

---

	Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 33,018
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
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Democratic primary election

Democratic primary for New Hampshire State Senate District 10

Incumbent Donovan Fenton advanced from the Democratic primary for New Hampshire State Senate District 10 on September 10, 2024.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Donovan Fenton	99.7	7,015
		Other/Write-in votes	0.3	22

---

	Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 7,037
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.
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Republican primary election

Republican primary for New Hampshire State Senate District 10

Richard Merkt advanced from the Republican primary for New Hampshire State Senate District 10 on September 10, 2024.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Richard Merkt	98.4	3,007
		Other/Write-in votes	1.6	48

---

	There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 3,055
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
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Endorsements

Ballotpedia did not identify endorsements for Fenton in this election.

2022

See also: New Hampshire State Senate elections, 2022

General election

General election for New Hampshire State Senate District 10

Donovan Fenton defeated Sly Karasinski in the general election for New Hampshire State Senate District 10 on November 8, 2022.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Donovan Fenton (D)	66.1	17,305
		Sly Karasinski (R)	33.8	8,860
		Other/Write-in votes	0.1	15

---

	There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 26,180
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.
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Democratic primary election

Democratic primary for New Hampshire State Senate District 10

Donovan Fenton defeated Bobby Williams in the Democratic primary for New Hampshire State Senate District 10 on September 13, 2022.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Donovan Fenton	66.7	4,525
		Bobby Williams	33.2	2,250
		Other/Write-in votes	0.1	8

---

	There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 6,783
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team.

Republican primary election

Republican primary for New Hampshire State Senate District 10

Sly Karasinski defeated Ian Freeman in the Republican primary for New Hampshire State Senate District 10 on September 13, 2022.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Sly Karasinski	63.4	2,268
		Ian Freeman	35.0	1,253
		Other/Write-in votes	1.6	58

---

	There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 3,579
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team.

2020

See also: New Hampshire House of Representatives elections, 2020

General election

General election for New Hampshire House of Representatives Cheshire 8

Incumbent Donovan Fenton won election in the general election for New Hampshire House of Representatives Cheshire 8 on November 3, 2020.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Donovan Fenton (D)	100.0	2,321

---

	Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 2,321
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team.

Democratic primary election

Democratic primary for New Hampshire House of Representatives Cheshire 8

Incumbent Donovan Fenton advanced from the Democratic primary for New Hampshire House of Representatives Cheshire 8 on September 8, 2020.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Donovan Fenton	99.9	729
		Other/Write-in votes	0.1	1

---

	Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 730
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team.

2018

See also: New Hampshire House of Representatives elections, 2018

General election

General election for New Hampshire House of Representatives Cheshire 8

Incumbent Donovan Fenton defeated John Therriault in the general election for New Hampshire House of Representatives Cheshire 8 on November 6, 2018.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Donovan Fenton (D)	70.3	1,576
	Submit photo	John Therriault (R)	29.5	661
		Other/Write-in votes	0.2	4

---

	Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 2,241
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team.

Democratic primary election

Democratic primary for New Hampshire House of Representatives Cheshire 8

Incumbent Donovan Fenton advanced from the Democratic primary for New Hampshire House of Representatives Cheshire 8 on September 11, 2018.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Donovan Fenton	100.0	583

---

	Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 583
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team.

Republican primary election

Republican primary for New Hampshire House of Representatives Cheshire 8

John Therriault advanced from the Republican primary for New Hampshire House of Representatives Cheshire 8 on September 11, 2018.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔	Submit photo	John Therriault	100.0	187

---

	There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 187
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team.

2016

See also: New Hampshire House of Representatives elections, 2016

Elections for the New Hampshire House of Representatives took place in 2016. The primary election took place on September 13, 2016, and the general election was held on November 8, 2016. The candidate filing deadline was June 10, 2016. Incumbent Cynthia Chase (D) did not seek re-election.

Donovan Fenton ran unopposed in the New Hampshire House of Representatives District Cheshire 8 general election.

New Hampshire House of Representatives, District Cheshire 8 General Election, 2016
Party		Candidate
	Democratic	Donovan Fenton  (unopposed)
Source: New Hampshire Secretary of State

Donovan Fenton ran unopposed in the New Hampshire House of Representatives District Cheshire 8 Democratic primary.

New Hampshire House of Representatives, District Cheshire 8 Democratic Primary, 2016
Party		Candidate
	Democratic	Donovan Fenton  (unopposed)

Campaign themes

2024

Ballotpedia survey responses

See also: Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection

Donovan Fenton did not complete Ballotpedia's 2024 Candidate Connection survey.

2022

Donovan Fenton completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2022. The survey questions appear in bold and are followed by Fenton's responses. Candidates are asked three required questions for this survey, but they may answer additional optional questions as well.

Expand all | Collapse all

Who are you? Tell us about yourself.

I'm running for New Hampshire State Senate for the people in District 10. I was born and raised here in New Hampshire where I have a small business and live with my family. I am a public-school graduate and proud member of our community.

I was first elected to the NH House in 2016 and have worked on the Environment and Agriculture committee as well as the Transportation committee.

In 2017 I was appointed to the New Hampshire Canadian Trade Council by the Secretary of State to strengthen business ties and trade agreements between New Hampshire and Canada.

I have spent the past six years in the New Hampshire House Of Representatives where I have been fighting for childcare, alternative energy, affordable housing, small business, public education, reproductive justice, mental health funding and environmental sustainability.

Please list below 3 key messages of your campaign. What are the main points you want voters to remember about your goals for your time in office?

• The world is in a climate crisis, and we need to act now. This is a direct threat to us and to future generations. If we don’t take immediate action to protect our home, planet Earth, no other issue will matter. This is an issue that affects everyone. We must commit ourselves to protecting our natural resources, increasing investments in renewable energy, providing incentives and policies to help create clean energy jobs, and continuing to develop ways for homes and businesses to become more energy efficient.
• We need sustainable, long-term economic relief for both residents and small businesses. Actions taken by the majority in the NH legislature during this past session and in the budget process have done absolutely nothing to lower property taxes – in fact, they have cut state funding for property tax drivers such as public-school funding. Working families and small businesses are being crushed by some of the largest property taxes in the country. We need incentives for more development of affordable housing options across the state. We need an incremental increase in NH’s minimum wage up to $15 an hour to help struggling families and individuals, to sustain a skilled workforce, and attract young workers to our state.
• Public Education in NH must be supported, not undermined. The budget passed last year drastically cut public school funding. It included a budget-busting and unnecessary school voucher program that siphons off much-needed public funding to private, religious, and home school programs. These “Educational Freedom Accounts” will cost local property taxpayers tens of millions of dollars over the next few years. All public schools will suffer, particularly rural ones. The budget also included an amendment that banned schools and state agencies from teaching and training “divisive concepts.” I support repeal of this bad legislation.

What areas of public policy are you personally passionate about?

New Hampshire has a childcare problem. It’s two-fold: low wages for workers and a critical shortage of options. There are waitlists for almost every age group. Childcare centers are struggling to hire and retain a workforce to keep up with the needs of parents and guardians. Low wages of childcare workers are causing recruitment issues, which in turn results in centers closing. Businesses, like my own, struggle to hire employees, because many potential employees don’t have access to childcare.

Quality, accessible, affordable healthcare is a basic human right for everyone. Improving access and lowering costs needs to be a priority for legislators. I believe we must put public health science above political considerations when it comes to the health of Granite Staters.

A woman’s right to make her own health care decisions must be protected at the state level, either by constitutional amendment or state legislation. We cannot go backwards to a time where women were denied the right to decide what is best for themselves. Reproductive healthcare is an essential aspect of a woman’s fundamental human rights.

Note: Ballotpedia reserves the right to edit Candidate Connection survey responses. Any edits made by Ballotpedia will be clearly marked with [brackets] for the public. If the candidate disagrees with an edit, he or she may request the full removal of the survey response from Ballotpedia.org. Ballotpedia does not edit or correct typographical errors unless the candidate's campaign requests it.

2020

Donovan Fenton did not complete Ballotpedia's 2020 Candidate Connection survey.

Campaign finance summary

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Note: The finance data shown here comes from the disclosures required of candidates and parties. Depending on the election or state, this may represent only a portion of all the funds spent on their behalf. Satellite spending groups may or may not have expended funds related to the candidate or politician on whose page you are reading this disclaimer. Campaign finance data from elections may be incomplete. For elections to federal offices, complete data can be found at the FEC website. Click here for more on federal campaign finance law and here for more on state campaign finance law.

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Donovan Fenton campaign contribution history

Year	Office	Status	Contributions	Expenditures
2024*	New Hampshire State Senate District 10	Won general	$17,481	$0
2022	New Hampshire State Senate District 10	Won general	$6,245	$0
2020	New Hampshire House of Representatives Cheshire 8	Won general	$576	N/A**
2018	New Hampshire House of Representatives Cheshire 8	Won general	$0	N/A**
2016	New Hampshire House of Representatives, District Cheshire 8	Won	$2,126	N/A**
Grand total			$26,428	N/A**
Sources: OpenSecrets,  Federal Elections Commission ***This product uses the openFEC API but is not endorsed or certified by the Federal Election Commission (FEC).
* Data from this year may not be complete
** Data on expenditures is not available for this election cycle
Note: Totals above reflect only available data.

Scorecards

See also: State legislative scorecards and State legislative scorecards in New Hampshire

A scorecard evaluates a legislator’s voting record. Its purpose is to inform voters about the legislator’s political positions. Because scorecards have varying purposes and methodologies, each report should be considered on its own merits. For example, an advocacy group’s scorecard may assess a legislator’s voting record on one issue while a state newspaper’s scorecard may evaluate the voting record in its entirety.

Ballotpedia is in the process of developing an encyclopedic list of published scorecards. Some states have a limited number of available scorecards or scorecards produced only by select groups. It is Ballotpedia’s goal to incorporate all available scorecards regardless of ideology or number.

Click here for an overview of legislative scorecards in all 50 states.  To contribute to the list of New Hampshire scorecards, email suggestions to editor@ballotpedia.org.

2024

To view all the scorecards we found for this legislator in 2024, click [show].

In 2024, the New Hampshire State Legislature was in session from January 3 to June 13. Business and Industry Association of New Hampshire Legislators are scored on their votes on economic issues. Cornerstone Legislators are scored based on their votes and if they align with the organization's values. National Federation of Independent Business Legislators are scored on their votes on bills related to business issues. New Hampshire House Republican Alliance Legislators are scored based on if they voted with the Republican Party. New Hampshire Liberty Alliance Legislators are scored by the organization "on pro-liberty and anti-liberty roll call votes." Open Democracy Action Legislators are scored on their votes on bills supported or opposed by the organization. Planned Parenthood New Hampshire Action Fund: Senate and House Legislators are scored on their stances on policies related to reproductive health issues

2023

To view all the scorecards we found for this legislator in 2023, click [show].

In 2023, the New Hampshire State Legislature was in session from January 4 to June 29. Business and Industry Association of New Hampshire Legislators are scored on their votes on economic issues. New Hampshire House Republican Alliance Legislators are scored based on if they voted with the Republican Party. New Hampshire Liberty Alliance Legislators are scored by the organization "on pro-liberty and anti-liberty roll call votes." The American Conservative Union Legislators are scored on their votes on conservative issues.

2022

To view all the scorecards we found for this legislator in 2022, click [show].

In 2022, the New Hampshire State Legislature was in session from January 5 to May 26. Business and Industry Association of New Hampshire Legislators are scored on their votes on economic issues. Cornerstone Legislators are scored based on their votes and if they align with the organization's values. National Federation of Independent Business Legislators are scored on their votes on bills related to business issues. New Hampshire House Republican Alliance Legislators are scored based on if they voted with the Republican Party. New Hampshire Liberty Alliance Legislators are scored by the organization "on pro-liberty and anti-liberty roll call votes." Open Democracy Action Legislators are scored on their votes on bills supported or opposed by the organization. Planned Parenthood New Hampshire Action Fund: Senate and House Legislators are scored on their stances on policies related to reproductive health issues.

2021

To view all the scorecards we found for this legislator in 2021, click [show].

In 2021, the New Hampshire State Legislature was in session from January 6 to June 24. Americans for Prosperity Foundation-New Hampshire Legislators are scored on their votes on bills related to economic issues. Business and Industry Association of New Hampshire Legislators are scored on their votes on economic issues. New Hampshire House Republican Alliance Legislators are scored based on if they voted with the Republican Party. New Hampshire Liberty Alliance Legislators are scored by the organization "on pro-liberty and anti-liberty roll call votes." Open Democracy Action Legislators are scored on their votes on bills supported or opposed by the organization. The American Conservative Union Legislators are scored on their votes on conservative issues.

2020

To view all the scorecards we found for this legislator in 2020, click [show].

In 2020, the New Hampshire State Legislature was in session from January 8 to June 30. The session was suspended from March 14 to June 11. Business and Industry Association of New Hampshire Legislators are scored on their votes on economic issues. Club for Growth Foundation Legislators are scored on their votes on bills related to economic issues. National Federation of Independent Business Legislators are scored on their votes on bills related to business issues. New Hampshire House Republican Alliance Legislators are scored based on if they voted with the Republican Party. New Hampshire Liberty Alliance Legislators are scored by the organization "on pro-liberty and anti-liberty roll call votes." Open Democracy Action Legislators are scored on their votes on bills supported or opposed by the organization. The American Conservative Union Legislators are scored on their votes on conservative issues.

2019

To view all the scorecards we found for this legislator in 2019, click [show].

In 2019, the New Hampshire General Court was in session from January 2 through June 30. Club for Growth Foundation Legislators are scored on their votes on bills related to economic issues. New Hampshire House Republican Alliance Legislators are scored based on if they voted with the Republican Party. New Hampshire Liberty Alliance Legislators are scored by the organization "on pro-liberty and anti-liberty roll call votes." Open Democracy Action Legislators are scored on their votes on bills supported or opposed by the organization. The American Conservative Union Legislators are scored on their votes on conservative issues.

2018

To view all the scorecards we found for this legislator in 2018, click [show].

In 2018, the New Hampshire General Court was in session from January 3 through June 30. American Civil Liberties Union - New Hampshire Legislators are scored on their votes on bills related to civil liberties. Business and Industry Association of New Hampshire Legislators are scored on their votes on economic issues. New Futures Legislators are scored on their votes on health issues. New Hampshire House Republican Alliance Legislators are scored based on if they voted with the Republican Party. New Hampshire Liberty Alliance Legislators are scored by the organization "on pro-liberty and anti-liberty roll call votes." Open Democracy Action Legislators are scored on their votes on bills supported or opposed by the organization. The American Conservative Union Legislators are scored on their votes on conservative issues.

2017

To view all the scorecards we found for this legislator in 2017, click [show].

In 2017, the New Hampshire General Court was in session from January 4 through June 22. The state House met for a veto session on November 2. Americans for Prosperity - New Hampshire Legislators are scored on their votes on bills related to economic issues. New Futures Legislators are scored on their votes on health issues. NH House Republican Alliance Legislators are scored based on if they voted with the Republican Party. New Hampshire Liberty Alliance Legislators are scored by the organization "on pro-liberty and anti-liberty roll call votes." Open Democracy Action Legislators are scored on their votes on bills supported or opposed by the organization. The American Conservative Union Legislators are scored on their votes on conservative issues.

2016

To view all the scorecards we found for this legislator in 2016, click [show].

In 2016, the New Hampshire General Court was in session from January 6 through June 1. Americans for Prosperity Foundation-New Hampshire- 2016 Legislative Scorecard Legislators are scored on their votes on bills related to economic issues. Cornerstone Policy Research: 2015-2016 Legislative Scorecard Legislators are scored based on 15 roll call votes in the House and seven roll call votes in the Senate during the 2015-2016 session. Granite State Taxpayers: Senate and House Legislators are scored on how they voted on tax and fiscal legislation. New Hampshire Business and Industry Association: 2016 Legislative Scorecard Legislators are scored based on their votes on business legislation. New Hampshire Liberty Alliance: 2016 Liberty Rating report card Legislators are scored by the organization "on pro-liberty and anti-liberty roll call votes." New Hampshire National Federation of Independent Business: 2016 Voting Record Legislators are scored on their votes on small business issues. NH House Republican Alliance Legislators are scored based on if they voted with the Republican Party. The American Conservative Union Legislators are scored on their votes on conservative issues.

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Footnotes

Political offices
Preceded by Jay Kahn (D)	New Hampshire State Senate District 10 2022-Present	Succeeded by -
Preceded by -	New Hampshire House of Representatives Cheshire 8 2016-2022	Succeeded by -

[show]

Current members of the New Hampshire State Senate

Leadership

Senate President:Sharon Carson

Majority Leader:Regina Birdsell

Senators

District 1

David Rochefort (R)

District 2

Timothy Lang (R)

District 3

Mark McConkey (R)

District 4

David Watters (D)

District 5

Suzanne Prentiss (D)

District 6

James Gray (R)

District 7

Dan Innis (R)

District 8

Ruth Ward (R)

District 9

Denise Ricciardi (R)

District 10

Donovan Fenton (D)

District 11

Tim McGough (R)

District 12

Kevin Avard (R)

District 13

Lucinda Rosenwald (D)

District 14

Sharon Carson (R)

District 15

Tara Reardon (D)

District 16

Keith Murphy (R)

District 17

Howard Pearl (R)

District 18

Victoria Sullivan (R)

District 19

Regina Birdsell (R)

District 20

Patrick Long (D)

District 21

Rebecca Perkins Kwoka (D)

District 22

Daryl Abbas (R)

District 23

William Gannon (R)

District 24

Debra Altschiller (D)

Republican Party (16)

Democratic Party (8)