Lou D'Allesandro

{{Short description|American politician (born 1938)}}

{{Multiple issues|

{{BLP sources|date=December 2020}}

{{BLP primary sources|date=December 2020}}

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{{Use mdy dates|date=July 2024}}

{{Infobox officeholder

| image = Lou D'Allesandro SNHU 2016 closeup (1).jpg

| name = Lou D'Allesandro

| image name =

| caption = D'Allesandro in 2016

| state_senate = New Hampshire

| state = New Hampshire

| district = 20th

| term_start = December 2, 1998

| term_end = December 4, 2024

| predecessor = Richard Danais

| successor = Patrick Long

| state_house1 = New Hampshire

| state1 = New Hampshire

| alongside1 = Irene M. Messier, Frank J. Reidy

| district1 = 46th Hillsborough

| term_start1 = December 4, 1996

| term_end1 = December 2, 1998

| predecessor1 = John M. White

| successor1 = John M. White

| office2 = Member of the
New Hampshire Executive Council
from the 4th district

| term_start2 = 1975

| term_end2 = 1981

| predecessor2 = John F. Bridges

| successor2 = Louis J. Georgopoulos

| state_house3 = New Hampshire

| state3 = New Hampshire

| alongside3 = James A. Sweeney, Doris T. Lynch, Robert H. Gillmore

| district3 = 34th Hillsborough

| term_start3 = 1972

| term_end3 = 1974

| predecessor3 = Multi-member district

| successor3 = Gerard H. Belanger

| birth_date = {{birth date and age|1938|07|30}}

| birth_place = Boston, Massachusetts, U.S.

| death_date =

| death_place =

| spouse = Patricia

| profession = Retired college administrator and basketball coach

| party = Democratic

| alma_mater = University of New Hampshire

|}}

File:Governor-healey-addresses-new-england-council 52817296828 o.jpg at a breakfast hosted by the New England Council in 2023]]

Lou D'Allesandro (born July 30, 1938) is a former Democratic member of the New Hampshire Senate, representing the 20th district from 1998 - 2024. D'Allesandro 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{{cite web|title=Former Councilors |url=http://www.nh.gov/council/former_councilors.html |publisher=State of New Hampshire Executive Council |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20100329221415/http://www.nh.gov/council/former_councilors.html |archivedate=2010-03-29 }} and the New Hampshire House of Representatives from 1996 through 1998 and from 1972 to 1974.{{Cite web|url=http://gencourt.state.nh.us/Senate/members/webpages/district20.aspx|title = The New Hampshire State Senate}} 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.{{Cite web |author=Staff Writer |title=University of N.H. to honor state Sen. D'Allesandro |url=https://www.seacoastonline.com/story/news/local/portsmouth-herald/2010/07/26/university-n-h-to-honor/51527218007/ |access-date=2023-10-31 |website=Portsmouth Herald |language=en-US}}

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.{{cite web| url=http://www.snhupenmen.com/information/HallOfFame/bios/D-AllesandroLou| title=Lou D'Allesandro| accessdate=June 30, 2017| publisher=SNHU Penmen}}

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.{{cite book| title=Lou D'Allesandro: Lion of the New Hampshire Senate and Thoughts for Presidential Hopefuls| author=Mark C. Bodanza| publisher=North Hill Press |date=April 1, 2018| isbn=978-0997014426}}

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.{{cite web| url=https://www.seacoastonline.com/story/news/state/2024/09/13/nh-law-columbus-day-indigenous-peoples-day/75182176007/| title=NH law forces Columbus Day to be recognized by cities, towns that replaced it}}