By ZACH LAIRD, InDepthNH.org
After a late night Tuesday, Democrats gathered for a post-primary election breakfast at the Saint Anselm’s New Hampshire Institute of Politics in Manchester on Wednesday morning. The Republicans will hold a similar gathering next week.
Cinde Warmington, who was unopposed in the Democratic primary for Governor, said the candidates and every one of their supporters put their hearts, souls, and sweat into the races, adding: “but we all know that the only way that we ultimately reach the goal of being able to fight for the people of New Hampshire is by bringing this over the finish line in November, and every one of us needs to be in the boat, and pulling on the oars as hard as we can every single day.” She will face Republican Gov. Kelly Ayotte in the general election Nov. 3.
Stefany Shaheen, who won the District 1 Democratic primary for the U.S. House in a very close race with Maura Sullivan, started by telling the crowd: “We’ve got the team, and now it’s time to take it to (President) Donald Trump and John Sununu, and all of the rubber-stamp Republicans that have made life so much harder for New Hampshire families.” In November, she’ll face successful Seacoast businessman Anthony DiLorenzo, who won the GOP primary for the seat Tuesday.
“This team can stop Trump’s corruption, we can stop his endless war, and we’ve got to fight to fix healthcare once and for all. We have got to bring down the skyrocketing costs that are making life so much harder for New Hampshire families, and we know it’s not enough just to stop Trump’s damage; we have to do so much better than that. And we can, because we are New Hampshire Democrats,” Shaheen said.
Shaheen said she and her team can bring the real change that’s needed to bring down costs, fix healthcare, and to stop President Trump’s tariffs from “driving up the costs of everything.” She said across New Hampshire, both independent and Democratic voters showed up to make their voices heard and counted, noting “that’s going to be the coalition we need to win in November.”
She also told the crowd they would stop Trump from spending billions of dollars on ballrooms, bombs, and “payoffs to his billionaire buddies.”
“This is a moment when New Hampshire Democrats have to stand together. We have to fight together to take on Donald Trump and Republicans who would do his bidding,” Shaheen said.
Incumbent U.S. Rep. Maggie Goodlander, D-NH, won the Democratic primary for the U.S. House in District 2, and thanked all of the candidates who had their names on the ballot and explained that there is no freedom without choice. She said every name on the ballot yesterday was proof “that democracy is still plugging.” She’ll face Republican Lily Tang Williams in the general election.
Goodlander said the United States Congress is a tough workplace environment most days of the week, but what she loves about it is “who I work for: all of you.”
“I’m so proud to be fighting for you, to be representing you, and to be able to see in this job extraordinary people at literally every stage of their life. What I’ve seen and heard every day on this job — in literally every corner of this state — are people who are working harder than ever before, and getting squeezed more than ever before… What we’re up against is a very different vision of the United States of America,” Goodlander said.
U.S. Rep Chris Pappas, D-NH won the Democratic primary as the nominee for the U.S. Senate, and said there are eight weeks before the November election — or 1,320 hours according to his campaign team — and said that “we need every single one of those hours to defeat Donald Trump’s handpicked candidate for United States Senate John Sununu,” and to put the people of New Hampshire first (and) fighting for them in Washington, D.C. Pappas faces Republican primary winner John E. Sununu in the general election.
Karishma Manzur, who came in second to Chris Pappas with about 33 percent of the vote in the five person race to Pappas’ 65 percent, didn’t attend the breakfast and later released a statement indicating she wasn’t immediately throwing him her support.
“Thank you for standing with me as our movement continues,” she told her supporters in the statement. “I’ll be meeting with Rep. Pappas in the coming days to discuss how he can earn my support and help deliver for working families in New Hampshire.”
Pappas said he had received a call from Manzur the night before and said he knew she would be fighting for democracy.
Pappas encouraged the people in the room to continue to work hard to make sure that they’re bringing more people into the conversation, and that “we are growing the ranks of folks who are deeply concerned about what’s going on in our state (and) our country, but are finding the tools to be able to address it and get things put on a better path for the future.”
“I think voters sent a clear message last night in New Hampshire. They said they’re fed up with what’s happening in our politics and they are ready for change. They’re ready to challenge extreme politicians and corporate special interests (and) the billionaire class. They’re ready to confront the costs, the cruelty, the chaos, and corruption of Donald Trump’s Washington, and I am grateful beyond words to stand before you as your nominee for the United States Senate,” Pappas said.
State House Democratic Leader Alexis Simpson congratulated all the nominees who won on Tuesday night, and “to our colleagues in the House who prevailed over the Free Staters throughout this state.”
“The primary is behind us, and now we’re on to November 3rd with one basic question: Who does our government work for? Greedy corporations and the ultra-wealthy have spent years using their money and influence to write the rules for themselves. They expect working people to pay more and accept less while they demand more power and bigger profits: that is who we are up against. They have money; we have the people,” Simpson said.
Simpson continued that even the strongest campaign operations can’t replace conversations at a voter’s door, adding: “we’ve all been putting in the work, and now’s the time for all of us to ramp it up.”
She said one conversation can decide a vote, a handful of votes can decide a seat, and a handful of seats “will decide control of the House.”