Bolduc, Burns and other GOP nominees draw crowd at Keene restaurant

Oct. 5—Hot on the heels of the N.H. Republican Primary last month, local candidates and Washington contenders spoke to voters and answered their questions at a dinner event Tuesday night in Keene.

More than 100 attendees — some sitting and others standing shoulder to shoulder — packed inside Tempesta's Restaurant on Winchester Street to welcome four Republican nominees ahead of November's midterm elections.

Robert Burns, a Pembroke resident running for Congress against incumbent Annie Kuster, a Democrat from Hopkinton, said he supports lower taxes, less government and energy independence. He added that another top issue for him is inflation. He won the nomination in September by defeating Keene Mayor George Hansel.

Burns, who worked on Donald Trump's 2016 presidential campaign, said he would support strengthening border security and building a wall on the country's border with Mexico.

One woman asked him to clarify his position on abortion, and if he would criminalize it.

"I have never said I would criminalize abortion," he said. "My stance has been abortion with restrictions."

The woman then asked if Burns wouldn't allow exceptions in the case of rape or incest.

"I never said that," he said, but did not specify further.

Burns told The Sentinel Wednesday that he would allow exceptions in the case of rape or abortion up to a certain point, which he did not specify.

"If you are raped or incested you can absolutely get an abortion," he said. "But I don't want everyone to just mark the box so that they can get one."

He added that he favors a 12-week cutoff for abortions, but he would be open to compromise.

New Hampshire currently bans most abortions after 24 weeks of pregnancy.

Burns was followed by U.S. Senate nominee Don Bolduc, who will square off against incumbent Maggie Hassan, a Democrat from Newfields, in November. Bolduc, a retired Army brigadier general who lives in Stratham, was also asked to clarify his stance on abortion, particularly with regard to an interview with WMUR in which he criticized Hassan's focus on the U.S. Supreme Court's decision in June to overturn Roe v. Wade.

"Get over it," he said in the Sept. 19 interview.

"The comment was, 'this is no longer a federal issue, this is now a state issue, so Maggie Hassan needs to get over it,' " the pro-life candidate said Tuesday, paraphrasing his comments.

Bolduc added that he agrees with the Supreme Court's decision to leave abortion up to state legislators.

"There are many things that the federal level does that only makes thing worse; the abortion issue is one," he said.

At a Sept. 26 news conference at the William B. Cashin Senior Activity Center in Manchester, Bolduc called for both Social Security and Medicare to be overhauled.

At Tempesta's on Tuesday, he reiterated this.

"Medicare is mismanaged right now, and it needs to be fixed ... I want to fix it," he said.

Bolduc also said Tuesday he does not intend to privatize Medicare — despite his comments at an Aug. 2 town hall event in Pembroke when asked about Medicare and Social Security.

"The privatization is hugely important," he told the crowd, as quoted in a Sept. 22 article by Politico. "Getting government out of it, getting government money with strings attached out of it."

Earlier Tuesday, Bolduc visited G.S. Precision in Keene and took a tour of the facility, per a news release from the company.

Though Bolduc and Burns were the only candidates asked questions from Tuesday's crowd, attendees also heard from a couple candidates for state and county-level offices.

First up was Richard Pratt of Winchester, running for Cheshire County sheriff against incumbent Eli Rivera of Keene. Pratt, who retired as Nelson's police chief last December, said law enforcement needs the backing of the public. He added that State Police is down 87 troopers, while some Cheshire County police departments, including Winchester's, are down to just a few.

"This is because we don't get the support. ... We can't worry about being politically correct when it's the law," he said, without elaborating.

In the past 10 years, Pratt said, the county sheriff's budget has doubled, from about $1.1 million in 2010 to a current budget of $2.4 million. And with that money coming from taxpayer pockets, he said it's important that all towns are given the services they pay for.

"You're going to get services, if I get elected, that you're paying for right now that's not going to cost you anything more," he said.

Following Pratt was Sly Karasinski of Swanzey, who is running for N.H. Senate District 10 against N.H. Rep. Donovan Fenton, D-Keene. The two are vying to succeed Jay Kahn, D-Keene, who opted not to seek a fourth term as senator.

Karasinski said he is a big proponent of New Hampshire's Education Freedom Accounts, which provide grants to be used to pay some of a child's expenses at a private school. They are billed as offering more choice to families who want their children out of public school but can't afford private school tuition.

As of Sept. 9, the one-year-old program was serving 3,025 students, a majority of whom were already attending private school, according to the N.H. Department of Education.

Senate District 10 includes Alstead, Chesterfield, Dublin, Harrisville, Keene, Marlborough, Nelson, Roxbury, Sullivan, Surry, Swanzey, Walpole, Westmoreland, Hancock and Peterborough.

Hunter Oberst can be reached at 355-8546 Ext. 1420, or hoberst@keenesentinel.com.