There is a lot at stake in both local and state elections this year in New Hampshire. Congratulations goes out to Joyce Craig who won the Mayoral Primary in New Hampshire’s largest city of Manchester. She won her election with 57% of the vote, the largest percentage for a candidate in over 20 years. She will run a great reelection campaign on her record of effectively combating the opioid crisis, improving the school system in Manchester and growing the city’s economy.
On October 8th, there is a special election for a State Representative seat in the town of Epping. Naomi Andrews is looking for your support and making sure you come out to vote.
Up in Concord NH, after Governor Sununu vetoes 24 of the 25 bills put on his desk last week, including gun background checks, increasing the minimum wage to $15 an hour, blocking clean energy opportunities and paid family leave, Democrats proposeda compromise budget to Governor Sununu which he quickly refused to look at. House Republicans voted to not even discuss the budget on the floor. New Hampshire has been working without a budget for a quarter of this fiscal year already. Without a vote soon it’s possible Sununu will shut down the government without any tax relief for NH citizens and give bigger breaks to corporations. Chairman Ray Buckley says it’s clear that Sununu does not want to negotiate with his Democrat Controlled Congress. Buckley is urging NH citizens to call the Governor’s Office at (603) 271-2121 and tell him to support the Legislature’s budget immediately.
Up in Washington DC, all four members of our Congress have been very busy in the Legislature last week. Senator Maggie Hassan introduced the Prevent Evictions Act that will help landlords and tenants reach fair agreements to keep NH families in their homes. Senator Hassen is working hard to address the rising rents in NH while also addressing the low vacancy rates in NH.
Senator Jeanne Shaheen, who is running to keep her seat in the Senate in 2020, has been the center of attack ads from dark money groups. She is fighting to end surprise medical bills that are financially hurting the people of NH. When a patient is in the hospital or the emergency room, doctors may call in a specialist that is not in the patient’s insurance network and without realizing it the patient ends up with a huge surprise bill for that hospital stay. Senator Shaheen states she will not be intimidated by these Wall Street firms that care more for profits than people. She will continue to fight to end surprise medical billing for families of NH. Shaheen has also introduced legislation pushing for PFAS protection for NH firefighters and passing an amendment for election security in the 2020 election.
In the House, Representative Chris Pappas was appointed to serve as a Conferee to negotiate the finalization of the National Defense Authorization Act which will help NH hold polluters of PFAS chemicals accountable while supporting the Portsmouth Naval Shipyard. Pappas is up for reelection in 2020 serving the Northern District.
Annie Kuster, representing the Southern District has a Bill that will help prevent deaths by carbon monoxide poisoning by granting funding for detectors for the elderly, low income individuals, schools and some public facilities. This grant would save lives by funding the carbon monoxide detectors to be placed the homes of the most vulnerable populations.
It’s been a busy week for NH Democrats, but Democratic Chair Ray Buckley says the fight isn’t over yet. He points out that citizens of NH must come together and support Democrats so we keep them in Washington and increase Democratic seats at the state level. Democrats currently hold 14 out of 24 seats in the State Senate and 233 out of 400 seats in the House. Buckley states that Democrats need to take a more active role in getting the word out about Democratic accomplishments by talking at community events, writing letters to the editor, using social media and by telling NH residents that Gov. Sununu is working for the special interests and corporations. He says that Democrats must make sure to vote Sununu and his partisan agenda out of Office in 2020 so Democrats can put people first.
