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Travis Corcoran

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Travis Corcoran
Member of the New Hampshire House of Representatives
from the Hillsborough 44th district
Incumbent
Assumed office
December 7, 2022
Personal details
Political partyRepublican[1]

Travis Corcoran is an American politician and writer. He serves as a Republican member for the Hillsborough 44th district of the New Hampshire House of Representatives.[2] He describes his political orientation as anarcho-capitalist.[3]

Biography

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Corcoran earned a degree in computer science and history from Cornell University in 1993 and has worked professionally as a software engineer.[2][4]

In 2003, Corcoran founded the online video rental service SmartFlix, specializing in instructional videos.[5]. In 2007, he founded the online comic book retailer HeavyInk.[6][7] Both businesses closed in March 2016.[8][9][10]

Corcoran is a Roman Catholic.[3][11]

Writings

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Corcoran runs Morlock Publishing, a small science fiction press.[3] His 2017 hard science fiction novel The Powers of the Earth was awarded the 2018 Prometheus Best Novel Award by the Libertarian Futurist Society, and his 2018 novel Causes of Separation won the 2019 award.[12]

Corcoran is a smallholder farmer[3][13] and author of Escape the City, a homesteading manual targeted towards city-dwellers desiring to move to the country.[14][15]

Political positions

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Abortion

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Corcoran stated in response to CitizensCount's 2022 candidate survey that he believed "current NH abortion laws make a decent trade off between conflicting interests." He voted against banning abortion after 15 days gestation, against guaranteeing a constitutional right to abortion before 24 weeks, and against repealing civil and criminal penalties for healthcare providers who violate the New Hampshire's 24-week abortion ban.[16]

Climate change

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Corcoran stated in the candidate survey that he opposed what he described as "silly feel-good restrictions" on New Hampshire citizens. He voted against a greenhouse gas reduction goal of net zero by 2050.[16]

Drug policy

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Corcoran voted in support of two bills that provided for the legalization of private cannabis sales with an excise tax. He also voted in favour of a harm reduction bill to exempt some drug checking equipment such as fentanyl test strips from the definition of drug paraphenalia.[16]

Education

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Corcoran stated his support for New Hampshire's Education Freedom Account school voucher program, writing it delivered "great benefits" to families, "at a fraction of the cost of union-controlled public schools". He voted in favour of two bills to increase the household income limit for Education Freedom Account eligibility.[16]

Corcoran voted in favour of a significant increase to state funding for special education students.[16]

Corcoran has stated that he supports a ban on teaching certain concepts relating to race, such as the idea that people may be inherently "racist, sexist, or oppressive". He voted in favour of a ban on the teaching of certain sex-related content in schools.[16]

Euthanasia and assisted suicide

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Corcoran voted against a bill allowing medical aid in dying.[16]

Free speech

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In 2023, Corcoran along with three other legislators sponsored an anti-SLAPP bill.[17] The Institute for Free Speech rates New Hampshire as the worst in the union when it comes to anti-SLAPP protections.[18] The bill was ultimately defeated.

Gun control

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Corcoran opposes stricter gun control laws. He voted against a proposed red flag law, against a requirement that firearms be traded through licensed dealers with background checks, and against the establishment of a system for the State of New Hampshire to report some mental health records to the federal firearm background check system.[16]

LGBT+ rights

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Corcoran stated that he is in favour of banning discussions of sexual orientation and gender identity in grades K-3. Corcoran voted in favour of a bill prohibiting students of male biology from playing on female middle and high school sports teams. He also voted for a bill banning gender transition medical care for minors under age 18, and to prohibit teaching about gender identity in public schools (outside of high school psychology courses), and requiring students to use the bathroom corresponding to their sex.[16]

Corcoran was interviewed by the New York Times for a 2005 article on the issue of the Vatican barring homosexuals from the priesthood. He stated, "If it is part of church doctrine, we'd be better off with 5 percent less priests, but who conform to church doctrine, rather than a few more."[11]

Employment rights

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Corcoran voted to consider the introduction of right-to-work legislation, and voted against two bills that provided for increases to the minimum wage. Corcoran wrote in his 2024 CitizensCount Issue Survey response, "Minimum wages make it illegal to hire low-skill workers, who benefit most from gaining experience."[16]

Public health

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Corcoran voted against a bill banning PFAS in a range of consumer products.[16]

Taxation

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Corcoran has stated that he is opposed to the introduction of any new taxes and he supports cutting existing taxes and cutting government spending.[16]

Tenants' rights

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Corcoran voted against a bill requiring landlords to give tenants a notice period ranging from 30 days to six months before rent increases.[16]

Controversies

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In 2011, police in Corcoran's hometown of Arlington, Massachusetts revoked his firearms license and seized his firearms over a blog post he made after the 2011 Tucson shooting, writing, "1 down, 534 to go." and, "It is absolutely, absolutely unacceptable to shoot indiscriminately. Target only politicians and their staff and leave regular citizens alone." Corcoran was not arrested and did not face any criminal charges.[7]

In 2013, Corcoran posted on Twitter in support of activists in the Netherlands who were commemorating George Orwell's birthday by placing party hats on surveillance cameras, saying that "shooting statists who emplace surveillance cameras" was "best", in comparison to merely shooting or obstructing the cameras. As a result of this post, police raided his home, seized unsecured firearms registered to his girlfriend, and threatened them both with prosecution for felony improper storage of firearms. Corcoran sold his home and business and moved to New Hampshire after this incident, stating in a post on Twitter that Massachussets was a "police state".[19]

In 2020, Corcoran experienced harassment and threats on Twitter from Lyndon McLeod, perpetrator of the 2021 Denver and Lakewood shootings.[20]

Corcoran was criticized in NH Journal in 2023 after he encouraged people to use racial epithets as a matter of principle under his official Morlock Publishing Twitter account.[21]

References

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  1. ^ "NH House Hillsborough County District 44: Elected Officials". CitizensCount. Retrieved August 16, 2024.
  2. ^ a b "Representative Travis Corcoran (R)". The General Court of New Hampshire. Retrieved August 16, 2024.
  3. ^ a b c d "Travis J I Corcoran". Morlock Publishing. Retrieved October 6, 2024.
  4. ^ "Travis Corcoran". Ballotpedia. Retrieved November 6, 2024.
  5. ^ "Enhance Your Education with SmartFlix". MovieMaker. Retrieved November 9, 2024.
  6. ^ "Ask YC: how to do market research?". Hacker News. Retrieved November 6, 2024.
  7. ^ a b "Arlington Man Loses Gun License Due To Blog About Tucson Shooting". CBS News. Retrieved November 6, 2024.
  8. ^ "HeavyInk: Graphic Novels and Comics". Internet Archive: Wayback Machine. Retrieved November 6, 2024.
  9. ^ "HeavyInk is closed". Internet Archive: Wayback Machine. Retrieved November 6, 2024.
  10. ^ "SmartFlix is closed". Internet Archive: Wayback Machine. Retrieved November 9, 2024.
  11. ^ a b "U.S. Catholics Are Divided Over New Directive on Gays". The New York Times. Retrieved October 6, 2024.
  12. ^ "Libertarian Futurist Society: Awards". Libertarian Futurist Society. Retrieved November 6, 2024.
  13. ^ "Amazon.com: Travis J. I. Corcoran: books, biography, latest update". Amazon. Retrieved November 6, 2024.
  14. ^ "Escape the City". Morlock Publishing. Retrieved November 6, 2024.
  15. ^ "Escape the City volume 1 (Escape the City: A How-To Homesteading Guide)". Amazon. Retrieved November 6, 2024.
  16. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m "Travis Corcoran - current term in office". CitizensCount. Retrieved November 6, 2024.
  17. ^ "Travis Corcoran - Anti Slapp Law". Retrieved November 9, 2024.
  18. ^ "New Hampshire - Institute for Free Speech". Institute for Free Speech. Retrieved November 9, 2024.
  19. ^ "Arlington man's tweet leads to seizure of guns from his home". Arlington Advocate. Retrieved November 6, 2024.
  20. ^ "Lyndon McLeod aka Roman McClay: 5 Fast Facts You Need to Know". Heavy.com. Retrieved November 9, 2024.
  21. ^ "GOP Rep. Corcoran Called Out for Using N-Word, Urging Others to Join In". NH Journal. Retrieved October 6, 2024.
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