Tight Elections in New Hampshire!

Correction: NH freedom accounts have an income limit.  We implied that it was to subsidize rich people and this was misleading.

Let’s talk about New Hampshire. First, some positive things: It’s beautiful, especially during fall-4.7 million acres of forest land.  93 state parks.  Great skiing if you’re into that shit

It’s tax free (sales) 

North Conway-I used to go up there all the time. Beautiful trains, beautiful scenery. UNH -beautiful campus and I also hear it’s a big party school Also great farms-every time I’m up there I get some fresh food from farms. 

Also Ryan(my editor’s) home state

But there’s also a hot button gubernational election going on there.

NH has 2 year governor terms, one of only two states to have this (the other being Vermont).  2 year term is controversial. for one it makes elected officials more beholden to the people but on the other side every other year you have to campaign, which takes money and energy and some elected officials say that this gets in the way of long term planning. But most of the time after 2 years the incumbent wins anyway. 

Popular republican governor Chris sununu announced he wasn’t running for a 6th term leaving the door wide open for a new governor. 

The candidate for the democrats is Joyce Craig.  Former mayor of Manchester,   Partially get attacked for creating homeless encampments and “rising crime” in Manchester.  Dubbed by republicans as “craigville”. she’s raised about 2.3 million thus far as of this recording on August 28.  A lot of it from individuals and labor unions so that’s good.  

Kelly ayotte is the republican candidate and she even got an endorsement from Chris Sununu. Senator in 2016 before losing to Maggie Hassan.   She was also the New Hampshire attorney general and has Really emphasized her experience as attorney general especially in terms of getting rid of fentanyl crisis. 

Don’t mass it up”-a phrase she and other republicans use.  She made millions sitting on corporate boards at news corp and bar systems. “Her super pac has contributed 300,000 to her campaign.  And quick note about super pacs: Donors can use non profits to not disclose where money is through super pacs.  Also super pacs can spend money on her separately. Not even as part of her campaign. 

Polls look close right now.

But what are the hot button issues in New Hampshire. 

Abortion is a hot button issue.  After roe v wade was overturned, governor Chris Sununu signed abortion limits into law.   Current law in New Hampshire restricts abortion after 24 weeks, and they took away state funding for planned parenthood and other abortion groups.  So easy to say with overturn of roe v wade, abortion is a hot buttion issue in New Hampshire.  Republicans have signaled they wanna keep the law same and obviously democrats want to expand abortion access. 

Education is another hot button issue. In 2021 state created education freedom accounts allowing families to use public money to go to “school of their choice” including private schools and even including homeschooling. 

The results is that money is going to vouchers and public schools are getting gutted. Also vouchers only cover part of tutition so proponents say this increases differences between haves and have nots. 

Proponents say this keeps government out of education and empowers families to make the right choice. 

New Hampshire is getting sued for not providing adequate education (sending too little money to public schools) that it is constitutionally required to provide. 

Republicans wanna expand this credit democrats wanna direct more money to public schools. 

Also: Fetanyl-opioid issues. 463 opioid deaths in 2022. More than the rest of the country per Capita.  Issued shared with mass and rest of New England.   And according to a NIH study, a lot of these opoids are laced with fetanyl with an over 1000% increase from 2010-2017.   Republicans want a more law enforcement based approach while democrats want a more economic, mental health treatment approach. 

Also a housing crisis going on in New Hampshire.  According to 2023 New Hampshire housing assessment, New Hampshire falls 23,500 units short of current housing needs.  Median sales prices for homes increased 50% from June 2020 to June 2023.   Rent is also increasing. 

Republicans want to reduce wait times for building permits for developers and people looking to expand on housing.  Democrats want to convert office space into housing, similar to what they’re trying in Massachusetts, and also build more affordable housing. 

Also New Hampshire received nearly half of its trash from Massachusetts and Connecticut. (900,00 tons in 2022).   New Hampshire is advantageous for trash dumping as state law limits ability of local officials to reject landfills. A lot of these dumps are privately owned so these waste management companies lobby state officials to protect landfills and in some cases even allow their expansion. In 2019, mass produced 5.5 million tons of refuse and exported 2 million of it.  Potential solution is to make ban landfill expansion. Vermont and Maine limit this. 

Chris Pappas

He represents new Hampshire’s first congressional district.    Only held it since 2019 as district is competitive.  Openly gay. He’s raised 2.1 million dollars for this election.  Supporting Israel and even had protesters come to his office.  Even went as far to call “from the river to the sea” comments from Palestinian protesters antismertic.  3 republicans running against him.   So he’s veering slightly right to appeal to more moderate voters.  Chris pappas represents the establishment democrats. Prob won’t change much but perhaps it is slightly better to have them in office especially in a competitive district like this one.