Ships, Pipelines And Trump Divide 1st Congressional District GOP Field In NH Journal Debate

By Leonard Robinson, NH Journal

If you had “the Jones Act” on your bingo card as a hot topic in the NHJournal NH-01 GOP primary debate—you win.

The union-backed restriction on foreign ships operating between U.S. ports was one of the few areas of disagreement among Manchester state Rep. Brian Cole, businessman Anthony DiLorenzo, and veteran and nurse Hollie Noveletsky at Wednesday night’s forum at the New Hampshire Institute of Politics.

The hour-long debate covered numerous topics, including the ongoing war with Iran, tariffs, housing, health care, the 2028 presidential campaign, and New Hampshire Democrats’ loss of the First-in-the-Nation presidential primary.

The candidates largely maintained the messages they have used throughout the campaign. Cole touted his experience as a state legislator and votes he has already cast on hot-button issues such as rejecting tax increases and banning boys from girls’ sports.

DiLorenzo invoked his experience as a businessman—“I’m the only candidate who has created thousands of jobs”—and Trump’s endorsement.

Noveletsky offered a mix of pro-America First ideology and her personal experiences as a businesswoman and caregiver.

The debate took place just an hour after the University of New Hampshire Survey Center released its latest findings on the race, showing Noveletsky edging ahead of DiLorenzo, 28 percent to 25 percent. Cole received 7 percent, while another 38 percent remained undecided.

In the Saint Anselm College poll released last week, DiLorenzo held a 30 percent to 17 percent advantage over Noveletsky.

“As Mark Twain said, the rumors of my demise or my campaign’s demise have been greatly exaggerated, and I am here,” Noveletsky quipped as she began her opening remarks.

Noveletsky has made restoring American manufacturing and jobs a top campaign priority, supporting Trump’s tariffs as a tool to accomplish that goal.

DiLorenzo invoked repealing the Jones Act in an answer about strategies to lower energy costs, arguing that it is “ridiculous” for federal law to prevent foreign-operated ships from transporting propane or natural gas between American ports.

The Jones Act is a 1920 law requiring goods transported by water between U.S. ports to travel on U.S.-built, U.S.-owned and U.S.-flagged ships with predominantly American crews.

“I disagree with Anthony. I don’t think the Jones Act is ridiculous. We need to protect our shipbuilding,” Noveletsky said. “There are certain industries that are national security aids. Shipbuilding is one, steel is another.”

“China has worked very hard as a steel fabricator and, as somebody who went to D.C. and fought China for their global overproduction, they have the long game,” Noveletsky added. “They want to undermine our industries, whether it’s shipbuilding, whether it’s steel, whether it’s farming, and we need to make sure that industries and national security items are protected.”

Cole said obtaining an exemption from the Jones Act would be far easier than persuading New York and Massachusetts to allow a natural gas pipeline into New England.

“I would ask for an exemption from the Jones Act rather than trying to enforce the pipeline down in Massachusetts. That’s increasing your natural gas prices here in New Hampshire by 50 percent,” Cole said. “I’d love to see a pipeline in Massachusetts, but it’s Massachusetts, and they’re going to want to tax it all the way up to New Hampshire, so what’s that going to do for us?”

DiLorenzo responded, “There are already ships bringing natural gas to Portsmouth, but what we need right now is propane. But the cost of using a ship opposed to a pipeline is significantly more. If we want lower energy costs, we need pipelines.”

There was also disagreement over a federal ban on sex-change procedures for minor children. Asked whether they would support it, Cole said, “Yes, and I’ve already voted for it here in New Hampshire.”

“Absolutely,” Noveletsky added.

DiLorenzo said, “My preference would be to have that legislation done at a state, not federal, level.”

Throughout the debate, all three candidates praised Trump, even as just 37 percent of Granite Staters approve of his performance.

Asked by NHJournal to provide their own approval ratings for Trump, Noveletsky gave him 75 percent, while Cole offered 70 percent.

Despite having Trump’s endorsement, DiLorenzo declined to provide an approval rating, although he said it was difficult to “argue with him on the issues.”

“When he’s done, I’ll give him a grade,” DiLorenzo added.

All three candidates used their closing remarks to discuss how they would work to lower costs if elected, while leaning on their individual professional and community service backgrounds.

Brandon Maly, Northeast manager for Turning Point Action, which has endorsed DiLorenzo, told NHJournal after watching the debate in person that Granite State Republicans have a strong set of options heading into November.

“The great news, regardless of who you’re backing, is that we have three remarkable choices to take on the Democrats in November,” Maly said.

This story was originally published by the NH Journal, an online news publication dedicated to providing fair, unbiased reporting on, and analysis of, political news of interest to New Hampshire. For more stories from the NH Journal, visit NHJournal.com.