Politics & Government

NH Voters Are Powerful, Study Says: NH Patch Political Roundup

Plus, major candidates avoid Union Leader/AARP roundtable, "condomsense" turns into prophylactic flap, endorsements, and dining with voters.

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While Granite Staters have always known that their votes matter there is now a study that proves it: According to WalletHub, New Hampshire voters are some of the most powerful in the nation this election cycle. The credit reporting service – which also puts together product reviews and studies – analyzed the weight of votes in some states based on the Electoral College as well as U.S. Senate races, based on previous elections and political registration demographics.

Editor’s Note: This is first in a series of occasional news roundup and analysis pieces about the Nov. 8, 2016, election in New Hampshire.

When it comes to electing a president in 2016, the study found that New Hampshire – a purple state that has swung to the Democrats in five of the last six presidential elections – had the seventh most powerful voters in the United States, slightly behind Nevada, which came in sixth. Arizona this year came in first followed by Iowa, Alaska, South Dakota, and Ohio. The least powerful voters in the presidential election? California, since it always votes for Democrats.

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When it comes to the makeup of the U.S. Senate, New Hampshire voters are considered the most powerful voters in the country, according to the study, due to the competitive race between U.S. Sen. Kelly Ayotte, R-NH, and Gov. Maggie Hassan, D-NH, as well as indie candidate Aaron Day and Libertarian Brian Chabot. Granite State voters are nearly twice as powerful as Nevada voters – who came in second – and more than four times as powerful as Missouri voters – who came in third, where there are also competitive Senate races.

Again, California came in last in the Senate analysis.

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Read the full study at WalletHub.com.

Voter First roundtables … not

Three candidates running for major offices in New Hampshire have, surprisingly, turned down invitations to participate in the New Hampshire Union Leader’s Voter First candidate interview series, co-sponsored by AARP NH.

Colin Van Ostern, the Democrat’s gubernatorial nominee, as well as U.S. Rep. Frank Guinta, R-NH, and former U.S. Rep. Carol Shea-Porter, D-NH, who is challenging Guinta again this year for the 1st Congressional District seat, have refused the invites, according to the paper.

While declining, Van Ostern reportedly “complained” that the newspaper wasn’t covering him enough. In an editorial, the newspaper chastised him for “dissing” voters – since some of the questions were being submitted by readers and would be serious in nature.

“Is Van Ostern afraid that we would make him cry?,” the editorial joked.

Back in late August, Guinta also blew off the roundtable after new allegations concerning his political finances were unveiled by the newspaper. The next day, the UL endorsed his primary opponent, Rich Ashooh, who lost by less than 700 votes.

Over the weekend, Shea-Porter’s campaign Twitter account shared the story that Guinta canceled the interview and UL staffers took the opportunity to note that she, too, wasn’t participating. Executive editor for the newspaper, Trent Spiner, replied to the Tweet, “LOL! Your staff just emailed two days ago refusing to do the very same interview,” and posted a screenshot of Shea-Porter spokesperson Naomi Andrews saying in an email that the campaign “will not be able to fit this in,” even though a specific date was not set. Editorial Board Editor Grant Bosse also jumped in: “Thanks for the reminder. When are you coming in?”

Meanwhile, Shawn O’Connor, a Democrat who was first convinced by party leaders not to run for Senate this year and then, claimed party leaders made his life difficult when he attempted to challenge Shea-Porter for the party’s nomination for Congress, is running as an independent. The New Hampshire Democratic Party twice attempted, and ultimately failed, to remove him from the ballot. O’Connor took advantage of the free press to answer the questions. Here’s his interview.

Can a UL endorsement be far behind for O'Connor?

Condomsense?

Who would believe that an offer of free condoms – the best way to prevent unwanted pregnancies and children, sexually transmitted diseases, and AIDS/HIV (beyond not having sexual relations at all) – would turn into a prophylactic flap. Welcome to politics in 2016.

At a college event recently, Ayotte’s re-election campaign offered free condoms to students saying that it was part of her commitment to making birth control available over the counter. A photo, posted on Twitter by Josh McElveen of WMUR-TV (below), was shared by the state’s politerati and then, Planned Parenthood New Hampshire Action Fund got involved.

The org put together a “condom crawl” and dropped off hundreds of “Protect Yourself from Trump” condoms at Ayotte’s office.

“Kelly Ayotte and Donald Trump both want to want to overturn Roe v. Wade, make birth control more expensive, defund Planned Parenthood, and repeal the Affordable Care Act which has provided nearly 300,000 New Hampshire women with access to no-copay preventative care like mammograms,” Victoria Bonney stated in an email.

Speaking of Planned Parenthood …

The org turned 100 yesterday and Van Ostern issued a statement congratulating the org for all its work.

"It's more important than ever that women in New Hampshire have a Governor who supports women's health 100 percent of the time without letting politics ever get in the way,” he said. “I'm proud to have helped lead the charge to restore funding for birth control, annual exams and cancer screenings at our New Hampshire Planned Parenthood health centers and as Governor, I'll work to ensure that funding for Planned Parenthood is never held back by politics."

Diner campaign

Earlier this month, U.S. Rep. Ann McLane Kuster, D-NH, kicked off her “30 Diners in 30 Days” campaign outreach effort talking to patrons of restaurants as well as owners and staffers, including a stop at Tucker’s in the South End of Concord.

“Granite Staters come to their favorite spots for great food, to catch-up, relax, and talk about the issues important to them and their families,” she said in a statement. “The voice of the people in New Hampshire’s Second District always informs my work in Congress, and this is just one more opportunity to hear directly from them. I look forward to trying delicious offerings from across the District and discussing the issues important to New Hampshire voters."

Kuster’s GOP opponent, former state Rep. Jim Lawrence, R-NH, the first African-American ever to be elected to a major party nomination in the state of New Hampshire, participated in a NHPR interview segment this morning.

Teachers back Roth

Last week, NEA-New Hampshire, the state’s largest public sector union, endorsed Beth Roth of Salem for the District 3 Executive Council seat against former state Sen. Russell Prescott for the open seat being vacated by Chris Sununu, the Republican nominee for governor. In a statement, the union said that Roth had a long history of supporting public education as an adjunct professor in the state’s public university system and a UNH grad.

“Her background gives her a unique perspective on the wide range of issues facing students and their families, and we know Beth will be a tireless advocate for educators in New Hampshire,” said Scott McGilvray, the union president, and a state Senate candidate in his own right.

Roth thank the union for its endorsement and added, “I understand how important accessible and quality public education is for working families and communities, and the integral role educators play. As an Executive Councilor, I will support NH teachers and students to make sure all Granite Staters have the opportunity to receive a good education."

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