Restoring Some Common Sense to Concord

For former New Hampshire State Senate Majority Leader Maggie Hassan and State Representative candidate Ryan Mahoney, the key to providing positive changes for New Hampshire is to bring what they feel is largely nonexistent in Concord currently: basic common sense.

Hassan and Mahoney each spoke at a Hampton Democrats neighborhood cookout hosted by Terri Teleen and Bruce Eaton on Saturday, July 16, and each said Republican legislators are leading the Granite State in the wrong direction.

“New Hampshire should be a place where middle class people can thrive,” said Hassan. “The current New Hampshire Legislature has enacted an agenda that is destructive and extreme, and it’s going to take a while to rebuild the state we love."  

Hassan said she is considering a gubernatorial run in 2012, provided that Gov. John Lynch does not seek reelection, in order to help point New Hampshire back in what she feels is the right direction.

Hassan said she would step aside and support Lynch if he decides to run for reelection. If he doesn't, though, Hassan said she'll bring a strong focus to a variety of issues, particularly the need for job creation.

“We need to come up with as many ways as possible to create new jobs, and we need to retrain people for jobs that currently don’t have the right kind of job force,” said Hassan, who said it's largest issue the state faces.

Mahoney, a South Hampton resident running in a special election on Sept. 6 in Seabrook, Hampton Falls, Kensington and South Hampton, also said he is "very concerned" with what is occurring in Concord.  

“The State House has passed legislation that would destroy our families, devastate the middle class, and make us less safe, so I am hoping to restore some common sense to Concord,” said Mahoney to roughly 40 people at Saturday's cookout.

Mahoney said these members of the Legislature have not kept their promises to create jobs and strengthen our economy, which has prevented New Hampshire from recovering as quickly as it could.

“They ran on [that] message... and they have completely ignored that," he said. "Instead, they have focused on giving everyone access to guns and preventing women from having the right to choose. They focus largely on social issues that don’t have any affect on our economy.”

Mahoney said his main concerns are about the state budget and the educational system -- two issues on which he said he would focus if elected in September.

“The budget the state house has passed will be devastating on a whole lot of fronts, and will force local communities to raise property taxes,” he said. “In addition, the backbone of our economy is a strong, educated work force, so I want to make sure that the current cuts to kindergarten/lower-level education as well as university and higher education are restored. Our economy will be directly affected if we do not.”

In order to actually accomplish this, Mahoney said it is "important for people to let their voices be heard in Concord and Washington," and he urged residents to reach out to their local politicians.

"They should contact their state and national legislators because it is the responsibility of the legislators to listen to and serve their constituents,” said Mahoney, who added that people will "usually listen to and respect their friends and neighbors more than those they hear on the radio or see on TV."

Hassan agreed, stating that "every election matters" and people can get involved simply by talking to others.

“Talk to each other and listen to each other so we can understand what’s concerning, and also so we can figure out how to compromise when we need to,” she said.