Democrat State Rep, Who Resigned After Child Grooming Probe, Runs Again ... With New Name

By Damien Fisher, NH Journal

While Democrat Andrew Kennedy is a new name in New Hampshire politics, the candidate running for state House in Lee, N.H. has a familiar face.

Andrew Kennedy — formerly “Andrew Gregoire” and until recently “Andrew Bouldin” — was elected a state representative under the latter name in 2018 to represent the Manchester.

Bouldin was set to run for a third term in 2022 when he suddenly resigned his House seat without explanation and moved out of the district. As he tries to get back into public life in a new town with a new name, the reasons for his disappearing act are now being revealed.

According to a Manchester Police Department report obtained by NHJournal, Bouldin (now Kennedy) was investigated for sexually grooming a teen girl by giving her alcohol and showing her pornographic material.

The investigation happened in 2023 when the girl came forward, and after Bouldin had seemingly removed himself from public life. The alleged grooming incidents happened prior to his surprise 2022 resignation, a source told NHJournal.

NHJournal is not identifying the girl or the adult who contacted police about the alleged grooming. The alleged incidents happened both in Manchester and out of state, according to the police report.

The girl told investigators Bouldin gave her alcohol, showed her pornography, asked her about her sexual preferences, and asked her if she masturbated. During one conversation, Bouldin reportedly told the girl he wanted to get a sex change to experience “being a female,” according to the report.

Bouldin was not charged when police concluded much of his inappropriate behavior fell outside the statute of limitations or occurred outside New Hampshire. Bouldin never asked the girl to engage in any sexual activity with him, and there are no witnesses to him serving her alcohol or talking to her about sex, according to the report.

Bouldin refused to speak to police when they reached out as part of their investigation. Contacted by phone Thursday night, Bouldin – now Andrew Kennedy – hung up.

Kennedy is one of four Democrats running in the Democratic primary for New Hampshire House of Representatives Strafford 11 on Sept. 10.

Walter King, chair of the Strafford County Democrats Committee, did not respond to a request for comment on Thursday. NHJournal has learned the committee’s leadership was aware of the accusations but felt powerless to stop Kennedy’s candidacy without any concrete proof to substantiate the claims.

Andrew Kennedy currently has a page on the Stafford County Democrats Committee website touting his candidacy, as do all the other Democratic candidates.

Bouldin was a reliably progressive vote during his previous service in the House. He voted against cutting the business profits tax, the parental bill of rights and displaying the national motto “In God We Trust” in schools. He also opposed a ban on late-term abortions.

It is not clear if Andrew Gregoire/Bouldin/Kennedy ever took legal steps to officially change his name. The Andrew Kennedy name was adopted after he attended a rally for independent presidential candidate Robert Kennedy Jr., according to a source familiar with the decision.

NHJournal initially sought copies of the police report from Manchester Police via a Right to Know request. That request was denied on Tuesday when Manchester Police Lieutenant Jared Yaris determined there is no public interest involved in Andrew Bouldin’s case.

“Utilizing the balancing test, it appears, based on your request, that an individual’s privacy interest outweighs the public interest. There does not appear to be any public interest at stake in your request, and it was not articulated that there is a health or safety concern in this matter,” Yaris wrote.

Yaris told NHJournal he was unaware that Bouldin had been a state representative and did not know about his new candidacy under the new Andrew Kennedy name.

His campaign website includes the fact that he previously served in the House. It does not mention, however, that his service was under a different name.

This story was originally published by the NH Journal, an online news publication dedicated to providing fair, unbiased reporting on, and analysis of, political news of interest to New Hampshire. For more stories from the NH Journal, visit NHJournal.com.