Hampton and Exeter candidate endorsements for 2022 NH election: Letters

Abortion is essential health care

To the Editor:

Abortion is safe, lifesaving, common, necessary and an essential part of health care. I say this based on my 42 years of education, training and experience as a physician.

Who else says this? The American College of Obstetrics and Gynecology - the 60,000-member professional organization of OB/GYN doctors.

Who is saying it’s not part of health care? Janet Stevens (Republican candidate for N.H. Executive Council in District 3). She has repeatedly voted to defund critical family planning centers serving 16,000 citizens in New Hampshire even when they provide much-needed women’s health services such as contraception, treatment of sexually transmitted diseases, cancer screening and more.

Where should voters in New Hampshire turn to find a strong supporter of women’s health care and the right to choose? Voters should turn to Katherine Harake - Democratic candidate for New Hampshire Executive Council in District 3. Harake agrees that the attacks against women’s reproductive rights in this state are unprecedented and extremely dangerous. The New Hampshire Executive Council has a powerful role in state policy. Don't skip the chance to change the Republican-dominated Council to one that supports the majority of N.H. citizens' viewpoints on women's health. The choice is clear in November. Vote Democratic.

James L. Breeling

Exeter

Why I’m supporting Janet Stevens for Executive Council

To the Editor:

I am voting for Janet Stevens. I do not believe there’s another Executive Council person that works as hard.

I’m old school, my phone is open 24/7 and so is Janet's. What member do you know that will text or email you 2-3 a.m. in the morning trying to solve a problem that you are working on?

Being a Vietnam veteran, I love the way she takes time out of her busy schedule to help many Veterans in the state with a particular issue.

Right now, Janet is working on saving the lobster industry, a 41-million-dollar business, they’re trying to shut down.

In my 70 years of meeting people, there are the talkers and the doers.

Janet is a doer. She gets it done. Vote Janet Stevens, Executive Council District 3. ”Live Free or Die”   

Joe Kutt

North Hampton

Gov. Sununu is the great pretender

To the Editor:

On Sep 15 N.H. Republicans met to plan their campaign strategy for the November election. Gov. Chris Sununu implored candidates to talk only about inflation and utility bills. “Don’t get distracted by what the Democrats want to talk about,” he said.

Sununu pretends to be a moderate, but he is not. Seeing himself as skilled in misleading the public, he has “gov-splained” that his abortion bans are the same as Massachusetts (they aren’t) and that his school voucher program does not harm public education (it does).

When it comes to inflation and utility bills, Sununu says Democrats are at fault (they aren’t). In comparing New Hampshire to neighboring states, it becomes clear that Sununu is responsible for N.H. being at the mercy of fossil fuels. During his three terms as governor, Sununu has protected the oil and gas industry to the detriment of the environment and the economy. The Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative was intended to promote energy efficiency, but under Sununu RGGI funds were diverted to consumer rebates averaging $7.50 per household. Net metering is a way to reduce municipal energy costs, but over the objection of mayors of 12 of our 13 cities, Sununu vetoed Democrat-sponsored bills that would implement it. NHSaves, a program to cut energy costs, would be funded by a System Benefits Charge of $2.26 per month per household, but the Sununu-appointed Public Utility Commission (consisting of a climate change denier and others with no background in energy), has blocked it. Sununu’s PUC also slow-walked Community Power Aggregation rules that would let towns negotiate with energy suppliers. Solar power is now the cheapest source of electricity, its cost dropping over 90% in three decades, but Sununu has opposed it, as well as wind farms in the Gulf of Maine. Meanwhile, Maine is buying renewable energy costing a tenth of fossil fuel-generated energy costs. Under Sununu, our N.H. target to buy electricity from clean sources over the next decade (25%) is a third that of Maine and Vermont (75-80%). In 2019-2020 Sununu, who has received huge contributions from utility companies, vetoed more than 60 Democrat-sponsored bills, many of them designed to cut energy costs. And he bragged about it. Now, without alternatives, fossil energy rates are increasing and Sununu pretends he’s a hero for handing out $60 million of state funds to help consumers – using tax dollars to win votes while maximizing profits for the oil and gas industry. It’s time to oust the great pretender and elect Dr. Tom Sherman, whose legislative record shows his commitment to families, jobs, education, healthcare, reproductive freedom and the environment. As a senator, Sherman voted for energy bills that Sununu killed. Don Nolte

Exeter

Republicans are working for you

To the Editor:

39% of northeastern Democrats (and 47% of western Democrats) want to secede from the union and form their own country, according to a poll conducted by YouGov and Bright Line watch, as reported recently by Newsweek. While no one believes that secessionist Democrats would've gotten even 20%, I do believe that they had to right to make the case for this motion as they have in other states.

Republican majorities in Concord were able to reduce spending and tax rates by almost $400 million and boost the Rainy Day Fund. We were also successful in expanding school choice options under Education Freedom Accounts and stopping public schools from telling children that they were racist because of their race (so much irony there I don't know where to begin). We stopped several bills that would've made hunting, renting, and self-defense almost impossible in most of the state. We enacted important bail reform legislation, though I didn't agree with some details of the bill, and were able to improve the state's response to the opioid crisis.

Finishing my third term as a legislator, I regret that we weren't able to enact my own Civil Rights Act of 2019, protecting police from orders to engage in racial profiling (as Mayor Bloomberg was caught doing). While we reduced business taxes, the state's share of the property tax, and the meals & rooms tax, we did not give voters enough additional control over their local town and school (now $28,000/year per student) budgets, lawsuits, no-bid contracts, and administrative overhead. Next session, we want to open up utilities and insurance to competition to create jobs and bring costs down. And we're asking for your vote to improve accountability and help get government out of every part of your life.

Rep. Max Abramson

Seabrook

Debra Altschiller for state Senate District 24

To the Editor:

Following the tragic school shooting in Uvalde, Texas, last May in which 19 students and 2 teachers were murdered at the Robb Elementary School by a lone gunman wielding an assault-style rifle, our U.S. Congress did something it has failed to do after the shootings in Sandy Hook, Parkland, Columbine and so many others, and in a bipartisan way passed a very limited piece of gun legislation that tightened regulations on gun purchases by those under the age of 21 and encouraged Red Flag legislation at the state level.  It wasn’t much–but it was the first gun safety legislation passed by Congress in decades.

Governor Sununu responded by signing HB 1178, a Republican bill that prohibits the state from enforcing any federal regulation on guns and from receiving help from ATF, DOJ and the FBI in the wake of tragedies. It went into effect on June 24, the one-month anniversary of the Uvalde massacre.

Immediately there were calls from county sheriffs’ departments, municipal and state police wanting guidance on how this new law is supposed to be enforced and what exactly can we do in an emergency like a school shooting.

Jim O’Shaughnessy, an attorney for school districts from Drummond Woodson, told the New Hampshire Bulletin: “There is no state law prohibiting guns on school grounds. Presumably, there’s no town ordinance preventing guns on school grounds, because (RSA) 159:26 prohibits that. If this law passes, we basically have to ignore the existence of the federal law, and they’re left with really nothing.”

Enough is enough! The Republican extremist views on guns are completely out of step with the views of New Hampshire residents who believe that we must do what we can to keep our schools and communities safe, while continuing to respect the true intent of the Second Amendment.

This is one of the reasons I’m voting for Debra Altschiller for State Senate District 24, representing Exeter, Greenland, Hampton, Hampton Falls, North Hampton, Rye and Stratham. She has been a leader in gun violence prevention in her six years as a N.H. legislator. She is repeatedly endorsed by Moms Demand Action, has the trust of survivors, and has consistently stood up to personal attacks by gun absolutists who fight tooth and nail against even the most obvious common-sense legislation.

We need someone who will stand up for the safety of our children and our schools. This is why I’m voting for Debra Altschiller for State Senate District 24. I urge you to join me.

Dolores M. Benevento

Stratham

Rep. Abrami is a valued member of the NH House Ways and Means Committee

To the Editor:

As chair of the N.H. House Ways and Means Committee or the Ranking Member when in the minority for most of my 26 years in the N.H. House of Representatives, I have worked with hundreds of state representatives.

Rep. Pat Abrami has been one of those members whom I have worked with closely for 12 years. He is smart, fair-minded, analytical, even-tempered, always works to find common ground, works well with Republicans and Democrats alike, likes to solve problems (the more difficult the better), hardworking, respected by all on our committee, true to his word, and is a great mentor to new staff from both parties showing them the ropes when it comes to legislating.

It is because of these traits that Pat has been my lieutenant for 10 years now and being my vice chair when our party is in control. Over the past 12 years, Pat has mastered the minutia of our state revenue streams in how they work, from the simple to the more complex such as apportionment of business profits taxes among the states.

I must say that Pat has made my job as chair much easier. I always know the committee is in good hands when he chairs in my absence. With my retirement, the people of Stratham should be aware that Pat is positioned to be the chair of the House Ways and Means Committee next term. Some say this is one of the top positions at the state House. I only request that the voters of Stratham return him to Concord next term, so his knowledge and skills are not lost.

Norman Major

Chair NH Ways and Means Committee

Gannon has let us down. Vote for Oldak

To the Editor:

N.H.’s Republican Legislature – including Senator Bill Gannon - has passed bills that will seriously increase your property taxes while shortchanging your community.

N.H. relies heavily on property taxes to fund our way of life. Communities support public schools, maintain roads and infrastructure, keep our towns solvent and safe, and assist neighbors in need. We are proudly self-sufficient and value the public good. 

We must keep property taxes affordable to help young families stay here, retirees hold onto their homes, local businesses find employees, and our high school, trade school, and college graduates start and grow their careers in N.H.

Unfortunately, Republican legislators have been saddling our cities and towns with large, new expenses. And they are shifting to municipalities' financial responsibilities, like funding for public employee pensions, that historically belong to the state. This impacts property taxes.

Fueled by special interest groups in 2021, the expensive school voucher program ends up diverting state funds from public schools to subsidize private, religious, or home school expenses. Grossly ill-conceived and far more costly than predicted, the voucher program incurs a massive financial obligation that will decrease state funding for public schools. Who will pay the price? The great majority of N.H. families who rely on quality public schools – and property owners.

You can thank Senator Bill Gannon for this fiasco. He voted for vouchers, and voted also to kill a bill that would have honestly disclosed the loss to your community of state funding, due to vouchers.

Brenda Oldak is a tireless advocate for keeping property taxes affordable. She will help get N.H. back on track by prioritizing you and your towns over special interests. In Senate District 23, I urge you to vote for Brenda Oldak to bring common sense, the public interest, and fiscal responsibility back to Concord.

Susan Varn

Kensington

Karoline Leavitt will cut spending, reduce inflation

To the Editor:

If inflation caused by Joe Biden and Chris Pappas' reckless spending is negatively affecting your family, then a vote for Karoline Leavitt for Congress in New Hampshire’s First Congressional District will help our economy along with your family budget. Karoline’s pro-growth, low-tax agenda will grow the middle class and reduce extreme and unrealistic spending by people like Chris Pappas.

The unpopular and dangerous policies of Joe Biden to eliminate the pipeline and compliant votes of Chris Pappas to fund programs that increase the size of government and reduce America’s ability to drill for oil have caused economic hardship for New Hampshire.  The results of Chris Pappas’ votes have led to record inflation, high grocery prices, and unsustainably high gasoline and fuel oil prices.

In New England over 81% of our heat comes from oil or gas. Families are facing historically high prices to heat their homes.  If you want to know why just look at the voting record of your current representative in Congress, Chris Pappas.

This election year we need to change the stranglehold Democrats like Chris Pappas have on their constituents.  A vote for Karoline Leavitt is a vote for sensible economic and energy policies that will help your family.

Karoline Leavitt believes in the importance of America’s energy independence, cutting out of control government spending, and reducing inflation caused by the policies of Joe Biden and votes of Chris Pappas.

A vote for Karoline Leavitt for Congress is a vote for your pocketbook, your family, and America.

Respectfully submitted,

Dolores Souto Messner

Hampton

Why I Support Katherine Harake for Executive Council

To the Editor:

On September 22nd, I was part of an educational forum held at the Portsmouth Public Library and sponsored by the League of Women Voters and South Church. The topic was the N.H. Executive Council and “Why you should Vote for that Office.”

It was a non-partisan event featuring UNH Political Science professor Dante Scala, former state Representative Rich DiPentima and both candidates for Ward 3 were invited, although only Katherine Harake was able to attend.

The forum was held because around 20% of voters skip voting for the Executive Council because they have no idea what they do. We learned that they are as influential and important as the governor! Most of the money N.H. has to spend comes not from taxes, but from the federal government and the Executive Council has power over whether that grant money is accepted. They also approve appointments like the Commissioner of Education.

What impressed me about Katherine Harake was her commitment to viewing the job not from a party viewpoint, but as a businessperson and parent considering what will benefit the citizens of New Hampshire. I'm completely fed up with elected officials who only want to hang on to power without caring what they can do for us. Harake wants to serve the public and to be as available and open as possible. She has my vote!

Robin Schnell

Portsmouth

Abortion is on the ballot this November

To the Editor:

This upcoming election is all about power and control, therefore it is very important who you vote for in November.

If Republicans get the power they will vote for a national ban on abortion...no exceptions for rape, incest or life/health of the mother. Full stop, guaranteed.

Republicans have been trying for over 40 years to outlaw abortion. The Republican party has become a party of misogynists, racists, election deniers and hypocrites. Don't be fooled by Senator Lindsey Graham's introducing a national ban on abortion after 15 weeks, under the deeply misleading excuse of ending "late-term" abortions, the vast majority of which are only performed to save the life of the mother or to end a nonviable pregnancy.

If you want the government and politicians to be making decisions about your body and future then vote for a Republican and go back 100 years. If you want to make your own decisions about your reproductive health and future with your family and doctor then vote for a Democrat. This is your decision to make.

Sylvia R. Kennedy

Exeter

Cathy Stacey for Rockingham County Register of Deeds

To the Editor:

I am happy to endorse the candidacy of Cathy Stacey for Rockingham County Register of Deeds.

I have been involved in the county affairs in all the 28 years that Cathy has been the Register of Deeds. She has had to cope with many challenges as the building where she works has had a series of plumbing problems, mainly in her office suite. She has had to deal with these leaks while recording a record number of deeds and documents.

She is responsible for recording all the deeds in the county, even back to the 1600s, so that they are now available online. She has coped with a complicated budget with minimum staff.

The fees she collects, not only pay for her office, but also, she is a collector for all the recording fees. This has resulted in her collecting for the state 70 million dollars, and for our county almost 6 million dollars.

The latest service Cathy is now offering county residents, is the Property Fraud Alert System. Similar to TitleLock, this is designed to alert us if someone is trying to illegally use our property for a financial gain. The service is being offered free.

Cathy is the longest serving county officer, and is the best informed. We are well served by Cathy Stacey as our Register of Deeds. Please vote to reelect her.

Rep. Kenneth L. Weyler

Kingston

Brenda Oldak for Senate District 23

To the Editor:

I want to serve as your senator for District 23: Brentwood, Chester, Danville, East Kingston, Epping, Fremont, Kensington, Kingston, Newton, Sandown, Seabrook, and South Hampton.

I am a neighbor, parent, retired registered nurse, and local business owner. I’ve lived in South Hampton with my husband for 40 years and raised a family here. I have been fortunate to experience the opportunities and rewards our state has to offer. As your senator, I will work hard to make New Hampshire a place where everyone can thrive and succeed.

We face some tough challenges. N.H. has had a dramatic decrease of people aged 35-45. Young people aren’t moving to N.H., and our grown children don’t stay because they can’t afford to rent or buy a home in large part due to high property taxes. As a result, our businesses can’t fill jobs, which hurts our economy. We must reverse this trend.

I will advocate for legislation that reduces property taxes. That will help young people settle here, retirees hold onto their homes, local businesses find employees, and families better afford childcare, rent, or mortgage expenses. More affordable housing will enable our high school, trade school, and college graduates to start and grow their careers in N.H. It will help keep businesses here, provide more jobs, retain more employees, and fuel the economy. N.H. does best when we all do well.

I will also advocate for legislation that will reduce our energy costs. N.H. needs to accelerate the shift to renewable resources, so we won’t be as vulnerable to volatile fossil fuel costs as we are today. We must also rein in the surging cost of the school voucher program. Initially estimated to cost $129,000 for 28 students last year, it actually cost $8.1 million for 1,800 students. This year, the cost is expected to surge to $14.7 million for 3,025 students.

I pledge to preserve New Hampshire’s advantage: no sales tax and no state income tax. I also will oppose government interference with family planning, medical privacy, and reproductive health care.

Senate District 23 should have a senator who will place needs of our communities over a political party’s agenda. As a senator, I will work for you, not for political contributions from businesses or other monied special interest groups.

To share with me what is important to you and your community, please visit https://www.oldaknh.com.

Brenda Oldak

Candidate for Senate District 23

November 8 is coming soon

To the Editor:

Lawrence Messner’s recent letter makes clear that he and his favored candidate Don Bolduc are extremist Big Lie Republicans. Messner seeks to excuse Donald Trump’s gross mishandling of highly classified documents by equating it to Hillary Clinton’s emails (which contained no Top Secret information), and while calling me “ignorant” and “fuzzy-headed,” Messner defends the Jan 6 insurrection and seems to suggest that constitutional provisions allowing state legislatures to set the time, place and manner of elections somehow empower them to determine the outcome.

As the election approaches, voters must consider what is at stake. Here in New Hampshire, Republican control of the Legislature enables Free Staters to pursue extreme goals. And even as Republicans try to hide their true intent, it is clear they seek to deny women the right to make reproductive health decisions, they want to undermine health care and public education, they oppose clean energy, and they will give tax breaks to the wealthy.

And now, even as an extension of government funding through Dec 16 is approved, Republicans (who raised the debt ceiling several times under Trump) have threatened that if they take control of Congress, they will throw the government into default unless Biden and the Democrats reverse all their policies. Defaulting on our debt would jeopardize the value of the dollar and trigger a recession, causing the loss of millions of jobs and trillions in household wealth.

Governor Chris Sununu, seeking a fourth term, urges Republican candidates to “not get distracted by what Democrats want to talk about.” While he wants to appear moderate, his abortion ban imperils life and liberty - the life of the hemorrhaging woman whose doctor weighs her chances, and the liberty of the doctor if later found to have erred. His voucher program hands tax funds to homeschoolers, and his throttling of wind and solar has enabled the fossil fuel industry to make huge profits while gouging consumers.

Sununu has protected oil and gas to the detriment of the environment and the economy, appointing climate-change denying PUC commissioners and bragging about his vetoes of Democrat-sponsored energy bills. He or his PUC diverted Greenhouse Gas Initiative funds, blocked Net Metering (over the objection of mayors of 12 of 13 cities), blocked the NHSaves program and slowballed Community Power Aggregation rules that would let towns negotiate with energy suppliers.

Under Sununu, our target to buy electricity from clean sources (25%) is a third that of Maine and Vermont (75-80%). Although the cost of solar has dropped over 95%, Sununu has opposed it, as well as Gulf of Maine wind farm projects. (At a conference last week, Sununu’s team gave lip service to “studying” wind energy for New Hampshire). Now, with energy rates increasing, Sununu plays the hero handing out state funds to consumers, thereby enriching the fossil fuel industry.

It’s time to end the Sununu dynasty and elect Tom Sherman, whose legislative record shows his commitment to families, jobs, education, healthcare, reproductive freedom and the environment. As a New Hampshire state senator, Sherman voted for energy bills that Sununu killed.

Don Nolte

Exeter

Vote Peggy Balboni for state representative

To the Editor:

The mid-term elections are weeks away and still many voters don’t feel this election is important enough to make the time to go and vote. Elections matter; especially when we are voting for our local officials who will be representing us in Concord.

This election cycle, I am pleased to personally know the qualifications of the candidate running for District 38: Rye, Greenland, and North Hampton.

Peggy Balboni, from Rye, has stepped forward and is willing to take on these responsibilities. I have known Peggy as a friend and colleague for over 15 years. In our school community, we worked together to address areas in our schools that had been identified as needing improvement. Peggy is tireless in researching ways to solve issues. She understands solutions can be complex, but she has the skills for inquiry and fact-finding not just talking points. Studying an issue may result in additional resources, doing more with less, or working collaboratively with the stakeholders; but she is always building consensus and working toward the goal. Additionally, her considerable knowledge and experience with budgeting, for both municipal and multiple school districts, will be invaluable at the state level.

We are extremely fortunate that someone of Peggy’s intelligence, honesty, integrity and commitment is willing to devote the time and energy necessary to make a difference in Concord. If you are part of the “Exhausted Majority,“ join us in voting for some pragmatic solutions to the issues we face locally. I urge all of you to vote. Vote on Tuesday, Nov. 8. Vote for Peggy Balboni as your local state representative for Greenland, Rye, and North Hampton.

Ann F. Mayer

Greenland

Don Bolduc is a strong leader our country needs

To the Editor:

I just finished reading Mr. Nolte’s misleading letter of September 23 and all I can say is “Mr. Nolte, there you go again.” He attempts to smear General, and now candidate, Don Bolduc by accusing him of changing his mind about the election of 2020, as if adapting and adjusting to new information on any given topic is wrong. But that is exactly what a strong leader, such as Don Bolduc, does as research makes a new position proper.

Apparently, Mr. Nolte is completely ignorant of how a capable leader reacts to a changing world. Instead he, like our current president, clings to the misguided concept that doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results is anything but insanity.

President Biden still believes his faulty Afghanistan withdrawal was correct even though he promised not to leave until all Americans were evacuated. He still continues his war on fossil fuels even in the face of rising gas prices, high inflation and exorbitant food costs.

Calling half of America terrorists because we are MAGA’s is deplorable. What part of making America great again is a bad idea?  It sure beats what our current president is doing in making America weak again.

Again, Mr. Nolte makes a disparaging remark regarding Trump’s avoiding military service even though a cursory research shows President Biden got more student deferments than Trump (five vs. four) and both received medical deferments (1-Y), Trump for bone spurs and Biden for asthma as a teenager. And the difference is?Mr. Nolte also wonders how Gen. Bolduc feels about Jan 6. While I can’t speak for the war hero, I can guess that he is cognizant of the Capitol Police waving the protesters into the building while holding the door open for them. And the only violence I witnessed was a Capitol policeman shooting and killing an unarmed and non-threatening citizen, Ashley Babbitt.

You " …wonder whether General Bolduc views the blatant mishandling of Top Secret SCI documents as merely a document storage error.” Again, while not speaking for Don Bolduc, I can assure you he has handled far more classified documents than you ever have and his take on this issue is far more knowledgeable than yours. You did not mention Hillary Clinton who deliberately and illegally actually destroyed over 30,000 emails that were under subpoena, many of which were classified. Why did you leave that fact out?

You say “Trumpists will presumably show up in force as they are wont to do…and will rally around Bolduc in the general election.” Really? So now by voting legally on election day for our excellent candidate, Gen Don Bolduc, is somehow, in your opinion, wrong? What is wrong with your fuzzy-headed thinking? Voting for one’s candidate is partly what America is all about, Mr. Nolte. Shame on you.

You conclude by suggesting that we will all work to control the administration of elections. And you call yourself a lawyer? Don’t you understand the Constitution? It clearly states in “Article I, Section 4, Clause 1: The Times, Places and Manner of holding Elections for Senators and Representatives, shall be prescribed in each State by the Legislature thereof.” Consequently, we citizens control our election laws through our representatives.

You make other accusations such as building a wall on our southern border. That is exactly what is needed to stem the tsunami of illegal immigrants and fentanyl flooding into our country by a president who simply doesn’t care.

But Gen Don Bolduc does care. He cares a great deal as his distinguished service to our country during his ten tours in Afghanistan clearly indicates. This is the strong leader our country so desperately now needs to lead us back to our greatness. I urge all citizens to vote for Don Bolduc for U.S. senator on November 8.

Sincerely,

Laurence F. Messner

Hampton

Voting for democracy

To the Editor:

The deciders in this fall's elections- the group of voters who will make the difference- may be the people who have previously voted Republican but have been alienated by the violence and gross dishonesty embraced by the national party (the Republican National Committee and many of the Republicans in Congress, including the leadership).

In primaries in other states (Michigan, Ohio) many tens of thousands of voters supported Republican candidates who either voted to impeach then-president Trump or explicitly repudiated the Trumpist claim that the 2020 election was stolen. Many Trump-endorsed candidates around the country did win their primaries, but with less than 50% of the votes cast.

For the moment anti-Trump Republicans in those states, like many in New Hampshire, don't have a satisfying candidate to vote for. They have to choose (a) not to vote at all, or (b) to stick with a party that has disgraced itself in many states, or (c) to support Democratic candidates many of whose policies they still disapprove of.

Here are some things that I hope these voters will remember in this election:

1.) When Al Gore won the popular vote (2000) but lost in the Supreme Court (5-4), he conceded, and proceeded with the peaceful transfer of power.

2.) When Hillary Clinton won the popular vote (2016) but lost in the Electoral College, she proceeded with the peaceful transfer of power.

3.) When in 2020 Donald Trump lost the popular vote and lost in the Electoral College and lost in the courts even when the judges had been appointed by him, he used lies to try to remain in power. When he was impeached after January 6, he lost the vote in the Senate, 43-57. (This is called an "acquittal" because a super-majority is required for removal from office.)

4.) When Justice Scalia died in February 2016, about a year before the end of President Obama's second term, and the president appointed a prospective successor, Senator McConnell used Senate rules, his power, and the collaboration of other Republican senators, to prevent the carrying out of the Senate's Constitutional role. They not only refused to vote on the president's nominee; they did not even hold hearings. McConnell insisted that there would be no hearings even before the nominee was announced. McConnell said the next elections were happening too soon and that the people should speak first. (The people had re-elected Barack Obama in 2012, for four years, not three.) But when Ruth Bader Ginsburg died in September 2020, much closer to the incumbent's end of term, McConnell and his Republican collaborators (then in the majority) speedily confirmed Amy Coney Barrett, just as they had confirmed Trump's nominee Neil Gorsuch. None of these cynical violations of democracy's norms carried any political price, except possibly in Kelly Ayotte's narrow 2016 loss to Maggie Hassan. In general, the thefts and lies have been almost normalized.

The point here is the pattern: Democrats follow the law and the rules even when the Republicans will win that way. But Republicans consistently violate or pervert the rules if they see a way to maximize their power by doing so. That is why disaffected Republicans who reject Trump's and McConnell's and McCarthy's (and others') betrayal of a democratic (or even a republican) political culture have no satisfying options this time. The national Republicans have taken the option of legitimacy away. The rest of us- and the country as a whole- depend on the non-Trumpist Republicans' being able to act on this painful truth.

In other times New Hampshire Republicans might well have supported in good conscience candidates who respect the rules and follow the norms, as Liz Cheney has. But this time isn't about particular Republican nominees. It's about the kind of politics we have all depended on and are now at risk of losing.

To vote for any Republican national candidate in 2022 is to vote that cheating is now normal. It's to vote for everything-goes politics and against a public-interest politics where everyone respects laws, rules, and norms and perhaps learns something from the best arguments of the other side. Many Republicans know this. It's their turn now to pay the price that only the Democrats have been paying.

A vote for Senator Hassan and Representative Pappas is a vote not primarily for specific policies but essentially for a threatened system of government. The national Republicans' wholesale violations of foundational political values have earned defeat. If New Hampshire voters instead reward them with their votes, we can kiss a lot of precious things goodbye.

David Weber  

Exeter

Rep. Pat Abrami has my vote for re-election on Nov. 8

To the Editor:

When I moved to Stratham from the Boston area in 2015, I didn’t know what to expect from local representatives over the border. I had been disillusioned by the selfish and corrupt policies exhibited by the politicians in Massachusetts. When I met Pat in 2016, I was amazed at his honesty and candor, something rare with most politicians I had known over my 46 years as a registered voter. He is a diligent, experienced, and effective legislator in Concord, running for his 7th term in office.

As a valued member of the Ways and Means Committee, he is now poised to become the next chair. Pat has always been against any and all attempts to change the New Hampshire way of low taxes and fighting any attempts to enact broad-based tax increases. He puts the economy first and look how that philosophy has made us the top state in the country regarding economic vitality.

Rep. Abrami engages both Democrats and Republicans alike to arrive at solutions to problems in Stratham and the state of N.H. In fact, over 50% of the bills he has filed in his career have co-sponsors from both sides of the aisle. I call that extreme fairmindedness.

The main reason that I support Pat though, is because of his dedication to solving the problems of his local constituents. I have heard and read of many instances where a resident had an issue that needed expert guidance and assistance. Pat took the lead in getting satisfaction for the individuals needing help. He has built a strong reputation in Stratham as the legislator to call to resolve issues pertaining to the state.

He is also obviously a very hard worker, focused on his job, because he doesn’t miss any committee meetings or House sessions. He takes his responsibilities very seriously! His life background as an engineer by training and profession has certainly groomed him for the office of state representative. Additionally, Pat has a wonderful smile and sense of humor making him a pleasant conversationalist.

Please join me, and thousands of other Stratham voters, in casting your ballot for Pat Abrami for state representative on Nov. 8th!

Robert V. Valeri

Stratham

This article originally appeared on Portsmouth Herald: Candidate endorsements for 2022 NH election: Letters