New Hampshire Mayor & State Rep FLIPS from Democrat to Republican

Dale Girard, who serves as both a state representative in New Hampshire and mayor of Claremont, has become the latest politician to switch parties from Democrat to Republican.

Today, he announced that he has officially changed his party affiliation.

Here are the details:

BREAKING: Claremont, NH Mayor Dale Girard switches from the Democratic Party to the Republican Party pic.twitter.com/FcxNCxZPvK

— Libs of TikTok (@libsoftiktok) April 27, 2026

While becoming a Republican will not affect his mayorship in any capacity, it will slightly shake up the New Hampshire House.

The New Hampshire Bulletin reported:

The switch doesn’t impact his position as mayor as that is an officially nonpartisan role, but it does slightly shift the party composition of the New Hampshire House of Representatives. The Republicans’ majority in the House now grows from 214-178 to 215-177. A series of resignations and deaths this session have also affected the chamber’s composition, including Keene Democrat Dylan Germana, who resigned in February while the Attorney General’s Office was investigating whether he was legally domiciled in his district, and Gilmanton Republican Harry Bean, who died in February.

In a post on Facebook, Girard explained that his beliefs no longer align with the Democrat party that has gone so far to the left.

In other words, he’s not leaving the party — the party left him.

This is something we are starting to hear from a lot of former Democrats who change parties.

🚨 WOW! In a FLIP, New Hampshire Rep. Dale Girard (D) SWITCHES to the Republican Party

LFG! More people are waking up 👏🏻

He says he’s maintained the same beliefs his whole life.

It’s the Democrat Party who left HIM 💯

More should join him! 🇺🇸 pic.twitter.com/c1qTSHQCfz

— Eric Daugherty (@EricLDaugh) April 27, 2026

Read Mayor Girard’s full Facebook statement here:

In case that’s hard to read, here’s the full text of his post:

This morning, I went to Claremont City Hall and officially changed my party affiliation to the Republican Party.
This decision came after a great deal of thought and consideration. I want to be clear—this is not a reflection of any issue I have with Democratic Party leadership. However, during my time serving as a Representative in Concord, I came to realize that my personal ideologies did not align as closely with the party as I once believed.
Over the years, many have described me as a “Blue Dog Democrat,” a label more common in the Kennedy era than in today’s political climate. My voting record over the past two years has often aligned more closely with Republican positions, and this change reflects that reality.
That said, changing my party affiliation does not change who I am. My commitment remains the same: to represent the best interests of the City of Claremont, the Town of Croydon, and the State of New Hampshire.
This also does not affect my role as Mayor, which is a nonpartisan position.
If you have any questions, please feel free to reach out. I look forward to continuing my work in Concord and will be running as a Republican in the next election cycle, which opens in early June.

In that post, Girard said that he had been a “Blue Dog Democrat” for quite some time before becoming a Republican.

If you aren’t familiar with that term, it basically refers to someone who is more conservative within the Democrat party.

Just the News explained further:

“Blue Dog Democrats” refer to a more conservative wing of lawmakers within the party, though it has more recently positioned itself as centrist in ideology. The Blue Dog Coalition is an official caucus in the national House.

Switching parties is fairly uncommon for incumbent lawmakers. One recent example was Rep. Jeff Van Drew, R-N.J., who flipped to the Republican sin 2019 after opposing the impeachment of President Donald Trump. He was later reelected as a Republican.

Who’s going to be the next Democrat to change parties?

Sen. Fetterman, perhaps?