Democratic Senator Maggie Hassan of New Hampshire seen on October 11, and Don Bolduc, the Republican candidate for the US Senate in New Hampshire seen on October 5.
Charles Krupa and Mary Schwalm / AP
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Charles Krupa and Mary Schwalm / AP
Democratic Senator Maggie Hassan of New Hampshire seen on October 11, and Don Bolduc, the Republican candidate for the US Senate in New Hampshire seen on October 5.
Charles Krupa and Mary Schwalm / AP
New Hampshire is a must-win state for Democrats in their campaign to retain control of the Senate. Senator Maggie Hassan narrowly won the final race in 2016 with 1,017 votes. Recent polls show her at the top of the competition against the GOP-nominated candidate, Don Bolduc, a retired army brigade commander. However, Hassan and her allies expect a tight race in the final two weeks.
Hassan, who also served as governor before becoming a senator in 2017, hopes the campaign will go down the wire in this purple state, where the current governor is a Republican but the congressional delegation of it includes Democrats.
Many voters across the political spectrum say rising costs – in terms of home heating, groceries, gas and housing – are a top issue. But access to abortion is revitalizing the Democratic base and large numbers of independents, more than 40% of the state’s voterswho warned that flipping the blue seat in the red midterm could lead to the Republican-controlled Senate deciding to introduce legislation to establish a federal abortion ban.
Voters will be able to hear from candidates this week in a debate hosted by local news outlets, including New Hampshire Public Radio.
Republicans are linking Hassan to Biden
Bolduc in motion was an outsider, arguing that if he had been sent to Washington, he would not have become a career politician. At a recent rally with supporters in Rochester, he forged a message that this race is a fight against President Joe Biden as much as against Hassan. He talked about what he’s hearing from small businesses still recovering from the pandemic, saying, “they’re coming back and then, boom, due to the hammer from the Biden-Hassan agenda , causing inflation to skyrocket”.
Bolduc won the primary in September after former President Donald Trump falsely claimed that the 2020 election had been rigged. The day after that first win, he reverse yourself and said Biden won. But since then, he has made mixed comments of the public.
Trying to veer away from statements he made in a podcast regarding QAnon conspiracies, like reported by New York Times, Bolduc told reporters in Rochester, NH, “I don’t believe the election was stolen.”
He added of the reversal, “the simple thing is that I changed my mind and I have the freedom to do so.”
Bolduc’s recent rejections of his previous hardline views, like the proposed massive cuts to Social Security and Medicare, haven’t prompted mainstream GOP figures to back him. Former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, a 2024 presidential candidate, endorsed Bolduc last week. Nikki Haley, a former UN ambassador and another potential candidate for the 2024 GOP nomination, joined Bolduc for a rally in Rochester, her second time campaigning for him.
Haley also tied Hassan to Biden on issues such as heating costs in the home and the withdrawal of American forces from Afghanistan, which Haley deemed a failure.
“When you look at our foreign policy and the fact that America is weakening, you can thank Maggie Hassan,” Haley said.
In the minds of voters: abortion and inflation
Another issue Bolduc turned to was abortion. He is speak he will “always default to an end-to-end life protection system.” But on the campaign trail, he emphasized that the matter should be decided by the states. When asked if that means he would vote no on a federal abortion ban, Bolduc expressed frustration on the subject, telling NPR, “Yes, I said that. I didn’t. I know how many times I need to say it. I can put together a skit for you.”
Bolduc spoke briefly with NPR after a campaign event, but declined many requests for longer interviews.
Meanwhile, Hassan was quick to point to Bolduc’s earlier claims about abortion, saying it was an area that earned him the label of “radical”. She said her supporters believe the abortion issue is no less important than inflation. “You know, when I started talking to women about inflation, they all turned the subject to abortion.” She added, “for some people, you know, concerns about whether they can pay the rent and put food on the table. But they also told me, but what if the basic rights My copy is no longer available, which is much harder to get back.”
Women are on both sides of the abortion issue and its eventual impact on the November election. Barbara Dunnington, a Bolduc supporter, said the economy was a bigger factor for her. compared to abortion.
“I think it’s obvious that some people will put that at the top of their list, but if you can’t pay your bills, if you can’t buy food, if you can’t keep up with the stock market, Stocks go up and down and we’re going into a recession where, in my opinion, abortion isn’t that important.”
But Kimberly Valcin, a first-time New Hampshire voter and Democrat who greeted Hassan at a campaign stop in Hanover, told NPR, “The top concerns for me are the things like women’s rights.”
Hassan’s campaigns are noted, Bolduc overcomes the inflationary disaster
Democratic Senator Maggie Hassan, left, talks with Jarrett Berke, owner of Lou Restaurant in Hanover, NH.
Deirdre Walsh / NPR
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Deirdre Walsh / NPR
During her voter pitch and in an interview with NPR, Hassan pointed to her accomplishments – and the fact that many of the bills she passed were bipartisan. “I have a delivery record on some issues, do it on party lines and do it the way of my Granite Staters expect.”
She talked about the infrastructure bill that will fund road and rail projects, as well as legislation promoting US semiconductor manufacturing that would help small businesses in the state and solve supply chain problems. The response many complain is still hurting their bottom line. Hassan also advertised legislation that Democrats passed without GOP support, including tax cuts to improve energy efficiency and lower prescription drug prices.
Hassan made a point to distance herself from President Biden on the economy, saying, “The administration has been too slow to recognize the long-term reality of inflation. And they’ve taken too long. to react to it.” She noted that she was among those urging the White House to extract more oil from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve, a step announced last week.
Bolduc spent most of his time campaigning constantly arguing that Hassan had lost touch with the reality of rising costs. At a steel company in Greenland, Bolduc labeled Hassan with “career politicians” and repeatedly described his opponent’s Senate tenure in one word.
GOP candidate Don Bolduc campaigned with former UN Ambassador Nikki Haley last week in Rochester, NH.
Deirdre Walsh / NPR
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Deirdre Walsh / NPR
“She failed. Six years of failure. Failure, failure, failure, failure, failure.”
He said he would turn the tide.
“I’m going to Washington, DC, to be your U.S. Senator and address the real problems that Americans and Granite Theaters are facing right now.”
He said he wanted to “reverse some of the things they [Democrats] Bolduc also criticized Democrats’ track record on border security, crime and education policies. as a senator would be the state’s other Democrat, Jeanne Shaheen, to try to solve economic problems and secure borders.
A steel company employee, Shelley Hanson, identifies herself as a Democrat, but says she’s still deciding which candidate to support. She voted for Biden in 2020 but is not a fan of the system in Washington. “I think it needs to change direction. I think the whole thing needs to be fixed,” she said.
Both candidates and their allies are flooding the waves, fighting for the state’s independent voters.
In recent days, the Senate Leadership Foundation, Super PAC has ties to Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, resources withdrawn it was given to Bolduc in the final stages of the campaign, a signal they believed Hassan was in a position to prevail.
However, Bolduc spokeswoman Kate Constantini said in a statement that the Republican candidate “challed the opponents from the start and that’s how he’s going to get through.” finish line to win.”
Hassan warned that Bolduc was radical on a wide range of issues and said that the resources that were spent in the state “could be hiding an extremist from voters.”
One Hassan supporter, Jenn Alford-Teaster, says one thing is that the purple state remains constant. “I don’t think there will be a race in the history of New Hampshire that will never end.”
Republicans need just one seat to regain a majority on Nov. 8. A lot of attention is focused on the contests in Georgia and Nevada, but the political fate of the Senate could well be decided. located in New Hampshire.
