BNH's 25 Leaders for the FUTURE: Robert Blaisdell

Robert Blaisdell

Vice President of Government Affairs, The Demers Group in Concord

Politics course through the veins of lobbyist Robert Blaisdell, who learned early on the value of being honorable and ethical. The grandson of former NH Senate President Clesson "Junie" Blaisdell, Robert Blaisdell, 34, never forgot his late grandfather's advice: You certainly know everyone is not going to agree with you, but you always treat them with respect since they may not agree with you today, but they might be with you on another issue tomorrow.

That advice guided Blaisdell in his 10-year career with The Demers Group, where he is now vice president. As influence peddlers, the firm is known for getting things done, no matter which party runs the State House. In 2007, with the state under budgetary constraints, he earned the NH Independent Case Managers its first rate increase in 18 years.

Blaisdell most enjoys issues where the odds are against him, and he always believes in clients' causes. In 2004, he successfully lobbied for an insurance mandate covering the cost of prosthetic limbs for the NH Coalition for Prosthetics, which insurance companies opposed. This session, he will work with clients to put casinos in NH, an issue long fought and lost.

Outside the State House, Blaisdell and his boss, James Demers, have held an annual holiday fundraiser for the Children's Hospital at Dartmouth for five years that has raised tens of thousands of dollars. "We try to let them still feel like a kid," he says, adding it makes him appreciate his healthy kids, ages three and one. Last year he led the Legislative Golf Tournament previously run by Statehouse employees and turned it into a charity event. It benefitted the American Heart Association in honor of his grandfather and longtime Senate Clerk Bill White, both of whom died of heart disease.

Moving forward, Blaisdell will influence budget and public policy. This session, he is representing Millennium Gaming, which owns shares in Rockingham Park in Salem, putting him in the center of the debate over whether quality-of-life issues outweigh the millions gambling would reportedly bring in. He will also be working to protect the pensions of two unions, the NH Troopers Association and the Professional Firefighters of NH. That issue always grabs headlines as state retirement system funding comes in part from employer contributions, and that affects state and local budgets.