Meet Heather Deiner, a Clinical Trial Associate from Manchester, New Hampshire, running as a Democratic Socialist for the New Hampshire State House, District Hillsborough number 25. Deiner, who joined the Democratic Socialists of America in 2026, is campaigning on a platform of "publicly-built housing," a 32-hour work week with full pay, tuition-free public higher education, and a foreign policy that opposes "occupation, apartheid, and human rights abuses."
In July 2025, a year before launching her campaign, Deiner posted on Facebook accusing ICE agents of having "kidnapped a community member" outside the Manchester Courthouse, calling the federal enforcement action "a stain on our community and a hypocrisy of our own state motto, 'Live Free or Die.'" She was unanimously endorsed in July 2026 by the Southern New Hampshire DSA, a chapter that spent America's Independence Day quoting Vladimir Lenin, recommended in April that members read Lenin's "On Strikes" in preparation for a May Day general strike, organized a December 2025 boycott of a Manchester Jewish-owned bakery, and declares in its Instagram bio: "Abolish ICE! Free Palestine! No More Forever Wars!"
What Heather Deiner Believes
Heather Deiner is an active member of the Southern New Hampshire DSA, a Clinical Trial Associate, and a 2019 graduate of Elon University. She lives in Manchester with her husband and volunteers weekly with mutual-aid groups. In her Ballotpedia Candidate Connection questionnaire, Deiner wrote:
“I joined the DSA this year… I am proud to call myself a Democratic Socialist.”
On July 23, 2025 — a year before announcing her candidacy — Deiner posted on Facebook about the detention of Jose Davila, a Peruvian national, outside the Manchester Courthouse:
“To all of my new friends in the Manchester, NH area, what looks to be I.C.E. agents, unconfirmed right now, have kidnapped a community member as of yesterday, 21Jul2025. Jose Davila was taken outside the Manchester Courthouse, and thankfully, was able to identify himself to a community member before being taken away. Please stay safe and be vigilant.
This behavior is a stain on our community and a hypocrisy of our own state motto, ‘Live Free or Die’.”
Deiner tagged the ACLU of New Hampshire, Indivisible New Hampshire, the New Hampshire Secretary of State, the New Hampshire Union Leader, and the City of Manchester in the post. She did not describe the incident as an arrest or detention by federal immigration authorities — she called it a “kidnapping.”
Deiner’s campaign platform outlines a suite of democratic-socialist policy positions:
On foreign policy: “I support: A human rights oriented foreign policy that keeps public dollars away from occupation, apartheid, and human rights abuses.”
On criminal justice: “End cash bail, mandatory minimums, demilitarize our police, and treat addiction as a health issue, not a criminal one.”
On labor and the economy:
“32 hour work week with full pay and benefits“
“Universal childcare and Pre-K”
“Paid family and medical leave”
“Tuition-free public higher education and student debt relief”
On housing: “Publicly-built housing to meet the needs of working families”
Deiner does not mention ICE or immigration enforcement directly on her campaign website. Her endorsing chapter does.
The DSA Chapter Backing Deiner’s Campaign
On July 14, 2026, the Southern New Hampshire DSA announced its endorsement of Deiner:
“BREAKING: We have officially endorsed @heatherfornh - state rep candidate for Hillsborough 25. Join the movement. Organize with your neighbors. Fight for the working class of New Hampshire. A better world is possible! #socialismorbarbarism #redwave #dsa“
July 4th, 2026: Lenin on Independence Day
Ten days before endorsing Deiner, the Southern New Hampshire DSA marked America’s 250th Independence Day by quoting Vladimir Lenin and describing the American Revolution as a ruling-class victory that perpetuated slavery. The post, titled “250 YEARS OF WAR: True Emancipation and the Working Class,” featured a Lenin quote:
“On the whole, capitalism is growing far more rapidly than before; but this growth is not only becoming more and more uneven in general, its unevenness also manifests itself, in particular, in the decay of the countries which are richest in capital.”
~ VLADIMIR LENIN ~
April 2026: Recommending Lenin for May Day
In April 2026, the Southern New Hampshire DSA, Deiner’s local DSA branch, recommended that its members read Lenin’s “On Strikes” in preparation for International Workers’ Day and a planned general strike:
“Since International Workers’ Day is almost here, we wanted to encourage our community to read On Strikes by Lenin to help emphasize the importance of participating in the General Strike planned for May 1st. This May Day isn’t a normal Friday - it’s a call to action - and any serious socialist organization should prioritize using the occasion to lift up our fellow workers! Take the May Day pledge!”
December 2025: The Dishon Bakery Boycott
In December 2025, the Southern New Hampshire DSA organized a boycott of Dishon Bakery in Manchester after learning that owner Evan Lang had served as a non-commissioned officer in the Israeli Defense Forces’ New Media Branch from 2013 to 2015. The DSA demanded that Lang and his family “publicly denounce the genocide in Gaza” or face a continued boycott.
The boycott backfired. On the day of the planned protest, roughly ten DSA activists showed up, while bakery supporters outnumbered them ten-to-one, emptying the store of all pre-made goods within 90 minutes. Lang thanked the community, police, mayor’s office, Chamber of Commerce, and Economic Development Department for the support.
Abolish ICE Organizing
The Southern New Hampshire DSA organized an “Abolish ICE Rally,” announcing:
“Join SNHDSA this Saturday to demand an end to ICE terror! We will not stand idly by while our neighbors are kidnapped and innocent people lose their lives.”
After the rally, the chapter posted:
“Last Saturday, Manchester showed up to stand in solidarity with our immigrant neighbors and demand the abolition of ICE.”
Cross Currents found no public statement from Deiner distancing herself from those chapter positions or actions.
Southern New Hampshire DSA’s Alliance With ANSWER Coalition
The Southern New Hampshire DSA, which endorsed Heather Deiner, publicly partnered with the ANSWER Coalition — an anti-war group founded by the International Action Center, a project of the Workers World Party, and now led by the Party for Socialism and Liberation (PSL), a self-declared Marxist-Leninist communist organization.
On January 4, 2026, the Southern New Hampshire DSA co-organized an “EMERGENCY ACTION: No war on Venezuela! Stop the bombings!” rally in Manchester with ANSWER Coalition and PSL. The announcement read: his violence is not in our names. We must refuse another endless war for profits!”
The post directed participants to “answercoalition.org/venezuela to learn more.”
ANSWER Coalition was founded in 2001 by the International Action Center, a project of the Workers World Party, a Marxist-Leninist organization that has historically defended the governments of North Korea, Syria under Bashar al-Assad, and Serbia under Slobodan Milošević. ANSWER has longstanding organizational ties to the Party for Socialism and Liberation, a Marxist-Leninist organization: “We are communists.” ANSWER has actively defended the government of Nicolás Maduro in Venezuela.
Who Is Backing the Campaign
In addition to the Southern New Hampshire DSA and the national DSA, Deiner has been endorsed by:
Progressive Voters Network — a left-wing voter-mobilization group
Rights & Democracy (RAD-NH) — a Bernie Sanders-aligned grassroots organization that has endorsed Sanders and other democratic-socialist candidates
American Federation of Teachers New Hampshire (AFT-NH) — the state teachers’ union
Run for Something — a national progressive PAC that recruits young candidates; Deiner was featured in its August 2026 endorsement class
Deiner’s campaign has trained 12 new canvassers and conducted door-to-door outreach throughout Manchester Ward 5. She has not reported campaign finance data to OpenSecrets or the FEC; donations are processed through ActBlue.
What a Win Would Mean
A Deiner victory would put a Southern New Hampshire DSA-backed candidate in the State House and seat in Concord a candidate who has accused federal immigration agents of “kidnapping,” endorsed by a chapter that spent Independence Day quoting Vladimir Lenin, organized a boycott of a Jewish-owned bakery, and campaigns under the slogan “Abolish ICE! Free Palestine!” It would advance a platform of publicly-built housing, a 32-hour work week with full pay, tuition-free public higher education, and opposition to what Deiner describes as “occupation, apartheid, and human rights abuses.” And it would validate the same organizing model — DSA canvass infrastructure that produced Zohran Mamdani in New York and is now being tested in New Hampshire.
The Democratic primary is September 8, 2026. The general election is November 3, 2026.