NH Libertarian Candidates For Governor, Senate File Signatures: Watch

CONCORD, NH — Two libertarian candidates for statewide office believe they have more than enough signatures to meet the 3,000 thresholds to gain ballot access this November in New Hampshire.

Gubernatorial candidate Karlyn Borysenko of Merrimack and Senate candidate Jeremy Kauffman of Manchester were at the Statehouse on Thursday with a box of more than 4,000 signatures. Justin O’Donnell, Kauffman’s campaign manager, who ran for Senate in 2020 and Congress in 2018, said the party’s candidates had another 1,900 or so signatures to be filed with the state. The number, he said, should be more than enough to gain ballot access.

Kelly Halldorson of Rye, another libertarian woman attempting to gain ballot access for governor, also believes her campaign has enough signatures.

Several down-ballot candidates like Ben Weir of Pittsfield, who is running for sheriff in Merrimack County, Nicholas Sarwark of Manchester, who is running for Hillsborough County Attorney, who also ran in 2020n, and Richard Manzo of Goffstown, running for Hillsborough County Treasurer as he did in 2020, are also seeking ballot access.

After submitting the petitions, Kauffman said he was running to get the federal government out of the lives of New Hampshire residents. He said opinions of the two major parties were at their lowest, and this was an opportune moment to run.

When asked about potentially shaving off votes from the GOP nominee, who might be more of a liberty Republican, in what is expected to be a tight race against U.S. Sen. Maggie Hassan, Kauffman said the frontrunners were “absolutely terrible.” He said Don Bolduc, who is currently in the lead according to polls and surveys, as well as Senate President Chuck Morse, who is trailing, supported troops on the ground in Ukraine and would raise taxes, too.

“There’s no good candidates out there,” he said. “(Libertarians are) the best on immigration, we’re the best on COVID, we’re the best on inflation, we’re the best on any subject that you look at.”

Kauffman was also critical of Hassan, saying she wants to build a wall along the southern border, something he did not support. He said those seeking freedom hold “more American values that live in Mexico than live in Massachusetts … hard work, individualism, private property … damn right we should be letting Mexicans up here who believe in the first and second amendment rather than letting progressives in Massachusetts run the whole country.” Kauffman said any law that was unjust, like migrants illegally crossing over the border, should be violated.

When asked about abortion, Kauffman said he was “pro-choice,” and disagreed with hiring more police forces to stop them, which is what, he believed, the laws will lead to. He also said the entire issue was a “fake controversy” and was used by the two major parties to get their bases activated. Kauffman said as a father, he thought abortion was “a moral wrong” but not something the government should be involved with.

“It’s a complete culture war issue on both sides,” he said. “It’s not about the reality of how many children are actually being harmed and being aborted.”

Kauffman was also asked about the 2020 election and whether he believed it was stolen. He said, “Every election is stolen,” adding the democratic process was “largely illegitimate.” There was nothing particularly different about 2020 when compared to other elections, he added. Kauffman said there was some “really crazy stuff” that went on voters should be concerned about — including the Federal Bureau of Investigations activities suggesting Facebook censor the Hunter Biden laptop story due to it potentially being Russian disinformation, something that was proven to be untrue, and potentially affected the outcome of a presidential election decided by about 43,000 votes in a few states.

Borysenko was also asked about abortion and said she was “pro-choice” but did not agree with “late-term abortion.” She said she would support a bill that banned abortions after 15 weeks as a humane option. Late-term abortions, Borysenko said, were “barbaric” and “inhumane.” Currently, the state allows abortions up to 24 weeks.

When questioned about the libertarians not wanting government involved in personal decisions, she said she would only support the stricter provision if approved by the Legislature.

When asked about her tenor online and some of the silly fights she engaged in on Twitter, and how that would reflect on her if she were elected, Borysenko balked at the question. She called Twitter a “ridiculous platform” and said journalists perceive it as real life when it was not.

“I’m not the one picking the fights,” she said. “I’m the one responding to the fights.”

Borysenko said, if elected, she would be a governor who would fight to “abolish public education,” would lobby for a stronger critical race theory law — not the “watered down” version signed by Gov. Chris Sununu, and promote parental rights.

“I will fight every single day for the parents of New Hampshire, going up against the public schools, who are indoctrinating their kids, every single day, exposing the public school indoctrination,” she said. “I will do that every single day … I will be the greatest ally the parents in New Hampshire ever had.”

She reconfirmed, “I want to destroy public education in New Hampshire.”

Borysenko said she was banned from Twitter permanently due to sharing the addresses of Exeter school officials, which are publicly online. The banishment, she said, was a form of rigging the election since she was a candidate.

When asked about what her alternative would be if she were able to destroy public education, Borysenko said it would be a mix of private schools, charter schools, and homeschooling, with parents in control of the funds, too. She suggested “a public school-light” option with parents coming together to form a structure while not being required to pay property taxes. Borysenko said she would form a commission of the brightest minds to discuss the matter, “encourage entrepreneurship,” and come up with solutions to make New Hampshire the homeschool capital of the United States.

Borysenko said the fight was to defund the “corrupt government schools that are taking between $20,000 and $45,000 per year, per student, in the state of New Hampshire, absolutely wasting that money, when they are not teaching students how to read, they are not teaching students how to write, they are not teaching students how to do math; all they are teaching social activism and racial justice and all of these things that are turning students into activists before they know how to read.”

When it was pointed out that the average per pupil expenditure in New Hampshire was much lower, around $18,000, with some schools spending as little as $12,000, according to the New Hampshire Department of Education, she said the data was a lie. She also said she would close the department if elected.

When pressed about how she would abolish public education when it would take many votes in the Legislature, including the rescinding of Ed. Rules and other actions, Borysenko refused to answer the question. She said she would sign an executive order to have cameras installed in all classrooms and would revisit bills that were watered down or vetoed. Borysenko also became theatrical and claimed the media was lying to parents about the data.

“Corrupt people like you are lying to people, journalist,” she said. “Interview over, f--- you, goodbye.”

Later, on a second Twitter account, a promotional tool for her book, someone from the account posted a screenshot of per pupil figures from 2019 from School Digger showing some schools spending between $25,820 (Woodsville High School) and $31,844 (Moultonborough Academy), and used it as a basis for the point she was making.

However, the most up-to-date education department financial information shows Borysenko was off with her data.

The average per pupil expenditure in New Hampshire is $18,434.21, based on the 2020-2021 school year.

While many individual schools and districts spend more than $18,000 per pupil — Errol’s elementary school is the most expensive, at $38,461.85, none are $45,000. Most, and many, are much lower, hence the $18,000 average.

The Manchester School District spends the least per pupil in New Hampshire, according to the data, at $13,764.91.

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