SO MUCH FOR ONE of the first rules in electoral politics:
In an initial political debate, it is always a good idea to spend your time introducing yourself to voters, not trying to run down your opponents.
Translation: Do no harm.
At this point, very few likely voters in the Sept. 13 Republican primary even know who the five major U.S. Senate candidates are, much less what they stand for.
The 90-minute debate sponsored by the New Hampshire Journal at the New Hampshire Institute of Politics offered plenty of fireworks a full week before Independence Day.
Bitcoin millionaire Bruce Fenton of Durham brought the most mud to the party, and his favorite target was Senate President Chuck Morse of Salem, who most observers have installed as the early frontrunner in this race.
When Morse declined to say precisely how he would have voted on the gun control law President Joe Biden recently signed, Fenton pounced.
“The answer is no. I would have voted no. And Chuck, you didn’t answer the question. And that’s exactly the problem of what’s going on in Washington. It’s folks like you go down there, you’re afraid to answer the question because you know (who) you are? You’re a rubber stamp,” Fenton said.
”You’d go down there and you’d vote the way they tell you to vote, because you don’t care about the gun rights. You don’t care about the New Hampshire citizens. You go. You care about going down there and being a dealmaker.”
While the format gave Morse the chance to respond, he chose not to answer any potshots directed at him throughout the event.
Londonderry Town Manager Kevin Smith got into the act, getting in a jab at retired Brig. Gen. Don Bolduc about U.S. policy in Ukraine.
“General, you did do a little bit of an about-face there because you were taken to task on Fox News for saying that we should have strategic military and CIA people on the ground in Ukraine. I think that is a bad strategy and I certainly wouldn’t support putting troops on the ground there,” Smith said.
Bolduc fired back, “I’d love to respond to that because he’s absolutely wrong. He doesn’t understand the operational environment and what’s going on there right now because he’s clueless. And yes, those were my words, but it didn’t include putting boots on the ground. He has no idea what he’s talking about.
“The town manager in Londonderry knows nothing about national security and strategy. I do. I lived it. I did it. I know what it takes to move stuff into a country. He does not.”
Later Smith said he told Bolduc he had “concerns about your temperament” and condemned him for making “disparaging remarks” about other GOP leaders, including Gov. Chris Sununu.
Bolduc belittled Smith because he was “polling at two points” and practicing “political theater.”
After the debate, Smith said he was surprised Bolduc refused to shake his hand.
“If you can’t take a little heat from me, how are going you going to handle attacks from Chuck Schumer?” Smith asked during a radio interview a few days later.
Fenton attacked Morse for “doing nothing” to stop mask requirements during the COVID-19 pandemic and demanded an apology for taking away freedoms from citizens.
“I don’t want to be there and I don’t want to go down to that swamp. You’re making me do it,” Fenton said.
At the end of last week, Fenton noted that TikTok had taken down a video of his attack against Morse for “bullying” and “harassment.”
Support for victims fund
One prominent lawyer representing alleged sexual and physical abuse victims at the Youth Detention Center thinks the new $100 million fund can work for his clients.
Chuck Douglas, the former congressman and Supreme Court justice, bought advertising space in The Sunday News and other publications, urging potential victims to contact him to resolve their complaints with this new, non-court process.
The legislation (HB 1677) Sununu signed would allow victims to try to negotiate a damages award with Attorney General John Formella’s office.
If unhappy with the state’s offer, the victim can appeal that finding to an independent administrator.
“I’m sure there are some claims where the harm is so significant that they should go to a judge and jury,” Douglas said. “I do believe that the matrix the state has set out for how the fund operates will provide justice for most victims.”
The lead lawyers representing the most clients, David Vicinanzo and Rus Riley, argued the Legislature set damages caps that were too low for many victims.
The two also took issue with victims being unable to go to court once their case goes before the administrator, saying they may not recommend this route for that reason.
Last week, the jurist assigned to handle these claims, Merrimack County Superior Court Judge Andrew Schulman, warned lawyers the courtroom justice in these cases will not be quick.
Schulman said if he conducted one trial a month on this issue, it would take “35 years” to get through them all.
NH leads in GDP growth
It’s not exactly a sign of a booming economy, but New Hampshire had the biggest growth in state domestic product during the first quarter of 2022, according to the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis.
New Hampshire’s 1.2% growth was nearly double that of second-best Vermont, with .7% growth.
The only other states in the plus column were Massachusetts (.2%) and Michigan (.1%).
According to the study, “government and government enterprises” was the leading contributor to growth in New Hampshire and Massachusetts.
Agriculture, fishing and hunting fueled Vermont’s small growth and utilities were the reason Michigan was in the plus column.
Upstart gets big boost
Thad Riley of Brentwood, a little-known Republican candidate for governor, has his work cut out for him trying to take down a popular Gov. Sununu in the GOP primary.
Last week, Riley got his first big endorsement, from retiring State Sen. Bob Giuda, R-Warren.
At times during the 2022 session, Giuda was at odds with Sununu on the COVID-19, parental rights and other issues.
“The pandemic highlighted the collision between individual rights and executive branch authority. Sununu completely negated the legislature’s constitutional role as a check and balance on the executive branch,” Giuda said.
“Worse, he promised House Republicans that he would support legislation to curb such executive excesses in the future, then reneged and vetoed the very legislation he had promised to sign.”
Sununu had said he would work with lawmakers on the issue but had not committed to the bill he ended up vetoing last month.
Prediction: Sununu is a shoo-in
FiveThirtyEight, a website that specializes in predictions, maintains Sununu has a 99-1 chance of beating Democratic nominee Tom Sherman this fall.
“Who are we to dispute their projections?” shrugged Paul Collins, Sununu’s campaign manager.
The Sherman campaign did not respond to a request for comment.
The New Hampshire forecast wasn’t all good news for the GOP.
Alhough Sen. Maggie Hassan was “slightly favored” to keep her U.S. Senate seat, the survey found she had a 70-30 chance of beating the best-known GOP rival picked for this poll, retired Gen. Bolduc.
Likewise, Rep. Chris Pappas, D-N.H. was the slight favorite, but he had a 59-41 chance of winning if 2020 nominee Matt Mowers of Gilford is the GOP candidate.
Finally, FiveThirtyEight said Rep. Annie Kuster, D-N.H. was clearly “favored” to win, with a 78-22 chance against former Hillsborough County Treasurer Bob Burns of Pembroke.Study bills piling upThe most polite way to sideline legislation is to send it off to study rather than kill it.
When this move happens in the even-numbered year, it means the bill is all but dead and has to start over again as new legislation in the following year.
Despite that reality, policy committees will spend the summer and fall working over at least some of these issues, which can help frame future legislation.
All told, 137 bills were sent to interim study for House committees to deal with.
The House Commerce Committee has the not-enviable honor of having the most such bills (23), followed by House Education (15), House Resources and Development (11), House Transportation (9) and the House Judiciary Committee (8).
Sununu takes shot at DeSantis
It’s a not-well-kept secret that among GOP governors, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis has far bigger cheerleaders than Sununu. Sununu was asked by the Punchbowl News podcast about DeSantis after a University of New Hampshire poll had the Florida governor pulling even with former President Donald Trump among likely New Hampshire voters.
“He raised taxes like a billion dollars or something... I know him. A lot of us get together at conventions and the (Republican Governors Association) and we trade ideas. He doesn’t participate as much as others, but that’s OK,” Sununu said.
Last week, Trump curiously said if he runs for president in 2024, he wouldn’t rule out naming DeSantis as his running mate.Abortion rights advocate featuredJosie Pinto, executive director of the Reproductive Freedom Fund of New Hampshire, was among a group of grass roots activists featured in the latest issue of Cosmopolitan magazine.
She spoke about the effort to convince the GOP-led Legislature to exempt fatal fetal anomalies from the state’s ban on late-term abortions.
“Being able to break through to Republican legislators and get them to support this exception to the ban was an important bipartisan success,” Pinto said.
“Abortion stories have incredible power.”
Sununu prevails on family leave
The Executive Council without debate finally gave Sununu one of his signature achievements, a voluntary paid family leave plan for all state workers and companies that wish to offer the benefit.
Only one firm, MetLife of New York, offered a qualified bid to provide the benefit, which amounts to six weeks of leave equal to 60% of a worker’s average weekly wage.
The contract calls for the firm to manage the program through December 2027 at a cost to the state of $6.1 million.
MetLife agreed to give the state a 10% discount on premiums to cover state workers, a savings of about $680,000.
Private companies that offer the benefit can receive a credit from their Business Enterprise Tax payments for up to 50% of what they have paid out in premiums.Ed group backs lawsuitThe New Hampshire School Funding Fairness Project supports the latest lawsuit from taxpayers in Plymouth and Penacook, which challenged the constitutionality of the inconsistency of local tax rates that support schools across the state.
Zack Sheehan, project director, said 78.6% of students live in cities and towns that have below average property value per pupil.
“I hope this new lawsuit helps shine a light on these deep inequities, and ultimately result in the state assuming responsibility for funding our public education system,” Sheehan said.
Cryptocurrency bill signed
Sununu went to Berlin to highlight signing legislation to encourage the use of American steel with state construction projects.
Receiving less fanfare was the major bill that the steel piece was attached to (HB 1503), which puts New Hampshire at the forefront of states in encouraging the development of cryptocurrency businesses.
Bitcoin financially has been taking a big hit of late, but State. Rep. Keith Ammon, R-New Boston said job postings in the industry last year grew by nearly 400%.
“As lawmakers, we need to ensure that the government does not interfere with the rapid innovation in digital assets and cryptocurrency,” said Ammon, the bill’s chief author.
Sununu named Ammon to a commission to study the issue.
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Kevin Landrigan is State House Bureau Chief for the New Hampshire Union Leader and Sunday News. Reach him at klandrigan@unionleader.com.
