Heads up to voters in Hudson and Litchfield, you’ve got yourself a candidate with all the credentials Free Staters appear to embrace. Meet Mark Edgington, a 2006 transplant from Florida who came to New Hampshire with his buddy Ian Freeman.
A little background on Edgington: while living in Florida he pleaded “no contest” in 1989 to second-degree murder, claiming to have not participated in the murder of a man. The state of Florida thought otherwise. After serving less than 10 years of his sentence, he met Ian Freeman (Ian Bernard at the time) while at a community college in Florida. Freeman had launched a radio show called “Free Talk Live” with Edgington volunteering as a guest host. Two years later, in 2004, Edgington declared bankruptcy, with debts estimated between $100,000 to $500,000. Also included was nearly $60,000 in credit card debt.
In 2006, Edgington and Freeman took their radio show to NH where they also joined the “Free State Project,” the organization that distrusts government. In 2012, Freeman formed the Shire Free Church in Keene along with four others, including Edgington.
Edgington and his wife built a house in Westmoreland where they have lived and raised a son. Now he wants to run on a platform of parental rights, gun rights and “fiscal responsibility.” Let’s hope he learned something about fiscal responsibility from his previous bankruptcy.
About two months ago, Edgington had posted a request on a Hudson Facebook group page, “I am looking for a room to rent in Hudson or Litchfield. I am a 53 yo non drinker and non smoker.” He now has a “rental” in Hudson using the address of a UPS store. And now he’s running for a seat in the NH House to represent Hudson and Litchfield while residing back and forth in Hudson and Westmoreland.
Fellow Free Stater and Liberty Alliance member, Jason Osborne, House Majority Leader, has stated, “I’m going to do what I can to get him elected. I know there is one (candidate) I can count on for a vote every time. The other two, I’m not sure.” The other two candidates referenced are Kimberly Rice and incumbent Ralph Boehm, both Liberty Alliance members also.
It all comes back to doing some background research on any candidate who is looking to represent you and your interests in public office. These three will be on the primary ballot for Hudson and Litchfield on Sept. 10th.
As for Edgington’s pal Freeman? The Free State Project kicked him out in 2014 after he publicly championed lowering the age of consent for sexual relations. In Oct. 2023, Freeman was sentenced to eight years in prison for “conspiracy to commit money laundering and other felonies stemming from operating an unlicensed cryptocurrency business.”
Before his sentencing, a caller asked Freeman during one of his “Free Talk Live,” shows if he would have done anything different if he known he would be indicted. “Is there something I regret? I mean, of course not. This is my mission. I’ve been given this mission from God to get this alternative form of value into people’s hands.”
“Alternative form of value.” Is that like “alternative facts”?