Jonah Wheeler’s politics don’t necessarily align with those of Education Commissioner Frank Edelblut.

Like the rest of his party, the Democratic state representative from Peterborough opposes the expansion of Edelblut’s school voucher program.

But as Wheeler sat in a Concord coffee shop across from the State House during an interview with the Monitor, Edelblut approached Wheeler.

“Very composed,” Edelblut said.

“Thank you very much, sir,” Wheeler responded. “Thank you.”

The interaction threw Wheeler off for a moment: “Things like that are strange.”

Such exchanges are growing rarer in a world of political division and polarization that has seeped from the national parties down to the state and local levels. At the same time, they’re becoming more common for Wheeler, who made a speech in March that strayed from his party’s opposition to Republican legislation that would allow the separation of bathrooms by biological sex instead of gender.

The 22-year-old lawmaker serving his second term in the House of Representatives is no stranger to breaking ranks with Democrats. Yet, the same votes that won him compliments from conservatives have alienated Wheeler from his own party.

Rather than toe the party line, Wheeler said he does his research and votes his conscience. But in the New Hampshire House, that can come with political consequences.

Wheeler is not alone. On the opposite side of the fence, multiple Republicans have said party leadership removed them from their committees this spring because they refused to vote a certain way on select issues. Wheeler speculates his reassignment was spurred by the same motivations.