Democrat Rep's Erratic, Disruptive Behavior Gets Her Banned From House On Non-Session Days

By Damien Fisher, NH Journal

After she reportedly caused disruptions outside of a Senate hearing last week, Rep. Ellen Read (D-Newmarket) is now banned from being in the House Chamber or House anteroom on non-session days.

House Speaker Sherman Packard (R-Londonderry) sent Read a letter on Friday informing her of the ban in response to Read’s outbursts during testimony on a bill she sponsored. Read told NHJournal she plans to fight the discipline.

“I am consulting with legal counsel at this time,” Read said via email.

Source told NHJournal Read stood in the hall outside the Senate Judiciary hearing room Tuesday night and shouted obscenities while Lynda Ruel, Director of the Office of Victim Witness Assistance at the Attorney General’s Office, and Senior Assistant Attorney General Jeffery Strelzin testified against the bill. Her shouting caused a momentary disruption during the hearing.

Read’s bill, HB 1633, is meant to expand access to information given to survivors of sexual assault, but Strelzin and Ruel testified the bill’s unintended consequences would end up harming victims. The bill would narrow the definition of sexual assault victim, excluding children and non-verbal victims, among other problems, Strelzin and Ruel testified.

One source told NHJournal Read then hissed at Strelzin and Ruel as they were leaving the State House following their testimony. Michael Garrity, spokesman for the Department of Justice, declined to comment on the situation.

Read did not introduce her own bill to the committee, and she had been told by supporters to stay outside the hearing room due to concerns about her emotional state, sources told NHJournal. Co-Sponsor Rep. Erica Layon (R-Derry) introduced the bill on Tuesday.

“As a survivor of sexual assault, just like Ellen Read, discussing our assaults publicly is always emotional,” Layon said.

Read’s antics outside the hearing drew an intervention from security, sources said. Layon told NHJournal she left soon after her own testimony and did not witness Read’s shouting. The House Sergeant-At-Arms, JB Cullen, did not respond to NHJournal’s request for comment, instead House Clerk Paul Smith emailed to say he did not know about any incident involving Read.

The drama continued the next day when Read stood outside the Senate offices on Wednesday morning “screaming like a lunatic,” according to more than one source. Security personnel intervened and reportedly led her away from the Senate offices.

Packard’s Chief of Staff Aaron Goulette would not discuss the punishment imposed on Read, but said she was never removed from the State House, either on Tuesday or Wednesday. It’s not known if the Senate is taking action against Read. One source said she is now banned from all Senate offices. Senate Chief of Staff Harold Parker did not respond to multiple requests for comment.

This isn’t the first time Read’s behavior has caused her trouble. In February of 2024, Read followed Drew Cline of the Josiah Bartlett Center for Public Policy out of the Legislative Office Building and yelled at him. Cline had just testified against Read’s rent stabilization bill that day.

Read’s shouting was so loud and animated that it was picked up by the microphone inside the House Municipal and County Committee meeting room, bringing the hearing to a halt.

“Unfortunately, I wasn’t presented with a discussion, only shouting,” Cline told NHJournal at the time. “When it was clear the shouting wasn’t going to stop, I walked away.”

In March of the same year, Read was stripped of her position as clerk on House Fish and Game and Natural Resources committee taken away after she shouted an expletive at Deputy House Speaker Steve Smith (R-Charlestown).

Read also made headlines when she was the only U.S. elected official to join an anti-Israel flotilla that attempted to run a blockade of the Gaza coast. The blockade was put in place to stop Iran from shipping weapons to the Hamas terrorist organization.

This story was originally published by the NH Journal, an online news publication dedicated to providing fair, unbiased reporting on, and analysis of, political news of interest to New Hampshire. For more stories from the NH Journal, visit NHJournal.com.