1st CD GOP hopefuls gang up on Mowers
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Aug. 24—CONCORD — Three of his four Republican primary foes repeatedly attacked 1st Congressional District frontrunner Matt Mowers of Gilford during a feisty two-hour debate Tuesday.
Former Donald Trump press aide Karoline Leavitt of Hampton, ex-TV news anchor Gail Huff Brown of Rye and state Rep. Timothy Baxter, R-Seabrook, all harangued Mowers over voter integrity and COVID lockdowns on the "Good Morning New Hampshire" program with Jack Heath.
Mowers, a former Trump administration State Department staffer, fired back that Baxter and Leavitt each "lied" about his views. Mowers called Huff Brown a "liberal" who can't win the Sept. 13 GOP primary.
Former Executive Councilor and state Sen. Russ Prescott of Kensington was the only candidate who refused to get into the back-and-forth.
"I think we have a lot to get done as long as we are kind to each other," Prescott said at one point.
In 2020, Mowers won the GOP nomination to this seat before losing by 5% to two-term U.S. Rep. Chris Pappas.
Pre-primary polls in this race put Mowers out in front, though some surveys have Leavitt close behind.
Huff Brown and Baxter, who are well behind in those polls, started the assault on Mowers.
Huff Brown said Mowers "disqualified" himself by voting twice for president in 2016, first during the New Hampshire primary while working for White House candidate Chris Christie and then months later working for Trump in New Jersey.
"You cannot vote twice Matt, it's wrong, it's wrong. You are a father, you want to teach your child what is right and what is wrong," Huff Brown told Mowers. "You are disqualified. You are disqualified in the race."
Mowers returned fire. "Gail, I know you are running as a liberal in our primary, and that's a challenge for you. You know what you are saying is not true. The AG looked at this, it is two separate elections."
Birx praise a flashpoint
Baxter and Leavitt criticized Mowers for having promoted Dr. Deborah Birx as a "national treasure" while serving as her chief of staff. Birx became national coordinator of the COVID-19 response.
"Dr. Birx was the queen of lockdowns. She brought Chinese-style lockdowns to America. It was despicable, and political hacks like Matt Mowers lobbied to get her into political power," Baxter said.
"During his first congressional campaign, Matt supported trillions in new COVID spending, the same spending that gave us the inflation we have now."
Mowers said he was back in New Hampshire during much of the pandemic and had publicly criticized the lockdowns and mandates, including some Gov. Chris Sununu had sponsored.
"We should never have been shut down for a single day," Mowers said. "We will never go back to that again."
Mowers criticized Leavitt for praising Dr. Anthony Fauci on Twitter at the height of the pandemic.
"All of us in the West Wing were believing in Dr. Fauci and Dr. Birx's lies," Leavitt answered. "We were fooled. Now we know the truth about Dr. Fauci's lies."
In her closing statement, Leavitt took a final shot at Mowers.
"You are the hand-picked candidate of the establishment, and frankly it is one of the reasons I decided to get into this race," Leavitt said.
Mowers channels Trump
Mowers said the attacks on him were akin to those made against Donald Trump in 2016 by all his GOP presidential foes.
"They knew the moment he got to D.C. he was going to disrupt the system and shake up the status quo, and that's exactly what I am going to do," Mowers said.
Baxter called Mowers and Leavitt "weak RINO (Republicans In Name Only) politicians" who had praised Sununu's actions on the pandemic.
"Does she (Leavitt) support the mask mandates on kids, vaccine mandates or the unconstitutional lockdowns?" Baxter said after the debate. "She didn't answer the question. She's a complete and total fraud."
Democratic Party Chairman Raymond Buckley said Mowers received more shots than he gave.
"This was a very bad morning for Matt Mowers," Buckley said in a statement.
"The D.C. shadow lobbyist and New Jersey double voter just couldn't catch a break from his Republican opponents, who all lined up to take their shot and underscored just how flawed a candidate he remains."
Prescott said that with a decade in the Legislature and four years on the Executive Council, he's more experienced than Pappas.
And he boasted of a better record on achieving policy successes, including repealing the permit to carry a concealed weapon and passing a state voter ID law.
"We need a positive message. Stop the spending and get our economy back on track," Prescott said.
