By ZACH LAIRD, InDepthNH.org
ROCHESTER — Several Democratic candidates in various races drew a crowd of hundreds at Rochester Opera Hall on Friday night, and encouraged a charged audience to vote with five short weeks until the November election.
The event was hosted by Win The era, a Political Action Committee (PAC) started by Former Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg, per its website. In attendance was also Cinde Warmington, who was unopposed in the Democratic primary for Governor, Stefany Shaheen, who won the District 1 Democratic primary for the U.S. House, and U.S. Rep Chris Pappas, D-NH — who won the Democratic primary as the nominee for the U.S. Senate.
Warmington spoke first and said she’s here to tell people that “if you think you’re getting screwed, you’re right; (Governor) Kelly Ayotte and Donald Trump are holding the screwdriver.”
“We can turn the State House blue, and yes, we can make Kelly Ayotte a one-term Governor… When we all come together, we can get anything done, and that’s what needs to happen over the next 32 days. We need every one of us to do something, every single day, to bring this over the finish line. Make another phone call, plant another sign, knock on another door. Let’s not leave any stone unturned,” Warmington said.
Warmington said when everyone comes together that they can build a Granite State where everyone can afford to put a roof over their heads, feed their kids, and “give them a great education, and retire with dignity. It’s not too much to ask; it’s not too much to fight for.”
Shaheen noted that winning on Nov. 3rd means putting an end to Trump’s tariffs, endless wars, out-of-control gas prices, and overall corruption.
Shaheen said Trump has personally profited $2 billion while the American people in New Hampshire can’t afford healthcare, housing, groceries, gas prices, and sometimes homes.
“When we move beyond the chaos, and the corruption, and the cruelty, frankly, of this administration, we can get back to focusing on what matters to New Hampshire families. It means families get the healthcare they need; families deserve healthcare that works and doesn’t break the bank, and childcare, too… That’s what this fight is about. We’re going to take on the corruption, we’re going to take on the cruelty,” Shaheen said.
Pappas told the crowd that “we want the people who represent us in Washington and in Concord to be accountable to the people of New Hampshire.” Though he added there’s a “whole lot of money being spent on television right now by Donald Trump (and) corporate special interests who want to avoid accountability.”
He said they know if they win here in New Hampshire that they’re going to maintain Republican control of the United States Senate.
“If you think this is the moment to bring back a failed candidate with failed ideas from the past, then John Sununu (his Republican opponent) might be your candidate. And if you want to maintain the rigged system that we have in favor of corporate special interests who hijack our economy and our political system, then John Sununu is probably for you…. I’m running to challenge the status quo; to take on corruption in corporate power, and stand up to this incompetent president every chance we get,” Pappas said.
Buttigieg said the reality of the situation is that when President Trump and his Republicans in the House and Senate came in, they promised to make life better and make costs go down, though that hasn’t happened yet.
“Right now it is day 621: gas is up, groceries are up, diesel is up, mortgage rates are up, rent is up (and) not by accident, but directly because of the tariffs… A lot of people believed them (Trump administration) when they said they were going to ‘drain the swamp.’ Remember that? Only to see the swamp getting to be the swampiest it’s ever been,” Buttigieg said. He then added the only thing they’ve managed to drain was the reflecting pool outside the Lincoln Memorial in D.C.
Buttigieg continued that promises are being broken (and) things are getting worse but the people in charge right now are fine with it, and that it “really is a golden age for them.”
He also said, “When the President of the United States can fly around on a secondhand jumbo jet from a foreign prince, when members of congress can line their pockets, then of course they’re perfectly okay with this. They could keep this going on forever, except there’s an election coming up; and that means we get to decide what happens next.”