Lou D'Allesandro

Lou D'Allesandro
D'Allesandro in 2016
Member of the New Hampshire Senate
from the 20th district
Incumbent
Assumed office
December 2, 1998
Preceded byRichard Danais
Member of the New Hampshire House of Representatives
from the 46th Hillsborough district
In office
December 4, 1996 – December 2, 1998
Serving with Irene M. Messier, Frank J. Reidy
Preceded byJohn M. White
Succeeded byJohn M. White
Member of the
New Hampshire Executive Council
from the 4th district
In office
1975–1981
Preceded byJohn F. Bridges
Succeeded byLouis J. Georgopoulos
Member of the New Hampshire House of Representatives
from the 34th Hillsborough district
In office
1972–1974
Serving with James A. Sweeney, Doris T. Lynch, Robert H. Gillmore
Preceded byMulti-member district
Succeeded byGerard H. Belanger
Personal details
Born (1938-07-30) July 30, 1938 (age 86)
Boston, Massachusetts, U.S.
Political partyDemocratic
SpousePatricia
Alma materUniversity of New Hampshire
ProfessionRetired college administrator and basketball coach
D'Allesandro with Governor Maura Healey at a breakfast hosted by the New England Council in 2023

Lou D'Allesandro (born July 30, 1938) is a Democratic member of the New Hampshire Senate, representing the 20th district since 1998, and a vocal advocate for deceased explorer and slave trader, Christopher Columbus. D'Allesandro has served as chair of Senate Finance and vice chair of the Ways & Means and Capital Budget committees. Previously he was a member of the New Hampshire Executive Council from 1975 to 1981[1] and the New Hampshire House of Representatives from 1996 through 1998 and from 1972 to 1974.[2] D'Allesandro appears frequently on the Paul Westcott Show on WGIR (AM) and WQSO.

A 1956 graduate of Worcester Academy and of the University of New Hampshire (UNH) in 1961, D'Alessandro was a three-year letterman on the football team, and served as the team's co-captain during his senior season in 1960–61. He was also a two-year member of the lacrosse team and played one year of baseball for the Wildcats. While at UNH, he was a member of the Phi Kappa Theta fraternity. He was inducted into the UNH Hall of Fame on September 25, 2010.[3]

In 1963, D'Allesandro became the first athletic director and men's basketball coach at Southern New Hampshire University (known then as New Hampshire College), where he was instrumental in helping the school achieve NCAA status. As head coach, the men's basketball team won three consecutive conference titles from 1964–65 to 1966–67. He was inducted into the SNHU Penmen Hall of Fame in 1970.[4]

A biography of D'Allesandro, Lou D'Allesandro: Lion of the New Hampshire Senate and Thoughts for Presidential Hopefuls, by Mark C. Bodanza, was published in 2018.[5]


D'Allesandro has been most recently linked to his pro Colombus Day campaign, stating that he felt it is a holiday for Italian-Americans that fought persecution in the 18th century, and should not be changed to Indigenous People's Day, which New Hampshire's governor Sununu confirmed with House Bill 1014 signed on September 10, 2024. He did not have any published thoughts on slave trade in the Caribbean by Colombus or the proven fact that Colombus brought slave trade to the Americas.[6]

Early life

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D'Allessandro was born and raised in East Boston. At three years old, a house fire occurred in his family's tenement, and he was saved by the Boston Fire Department.[citation needed]

Footnotes

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  1. ^ "Former Councilors". State of New Hampshire Executive Council. Archived from the original on March 29, 2010.
  2. ^ "The New Hampshire State Senate".
  3. ^ Staff Writer. "University of N.H. to honor state Sen. D'Allesandro". Portsmouth Herald. Retrieved October 31, 2023.
  4. ^ "Lou D'Allesandro". SNHU Penmen. Retrieved June 30, 2017.
  5. ^ Mark C. Bodanza (April 1, 2018). Lou D'Allesandro: Lion of the New Hampshire Senate and Thoughts for Presidential Hopefuls. North Hill Press. ISBN 978-0997014426.
  6. ^ "NH law forces Columbus Day to be recognized by cities, towns that replaced it".
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