Personal appeal, not issues, decisive in GOP primary

Sep. 11—The crowded Republican primary for a U.S. Senate seat in New Hampshire won't be won over inflation at the grocery store, soaring prices at the gas pump, illegal immigration, abortion, affordable health care, gun control, the war in Ukraine, climate change, election integrity or any other issue.

The decisive factor will be who among these five has the resume, personal powers of persuasion and intestinal drive to beat a vulnerable first-term Democrat, Maggie Hassan, in one of the most targeted races in the country.

"On the issues, all these guys are singing from pretty much the same sheet of music," said Dante Scala, professor of politics at the University of New Hampshire.

"This is a popularity contest, and the stakes are a lot higher than a race for student body president. The winner could really be the next junior senator from the Granite State."

The candidates, Senate President Chuck Morse of Salem, retired Brig. Gen. Don Bolduc of Stratham, former Londonderry Town Manager Kevin Smith, bitcoin millionaire Bruce Fenton of Durham and entrepreneur Vikram Mansharamani of Lincoln have unique qualities they have been showing off for months to primary voters.

Let's review them:

Chuck Morse

For 20 years, Chuck Morse has been a leader of the power elite at the State House. He comes from the Salem area that since the Vietnam War has produced two governors, three senate presidents and the first female speaker of the New Hampshire House.

Chuck Morse

Chuck Morse

Personal: 61, Salem

Education: Plymouth State University

Career: Owner, Freshwater Farms and Garden Center, landscaping/nursery business

Elective office: State Senate, 16 years; State representative, 4 years; Salem selectman, 6 years; own moderator, 4 years

Morse, 61, earned a reputation as one of the experts on the state budget. His crowning achievement came in 2015 when in a showdown of wills, Morse got then-Gov. Hassan to sign a two-year spending plan very close to one she had vetoed only months earlier.

Hassan's Democratic allies in the Legislature abandoned Hassan, fearing the lack of a budget would lead to payless paydays for state workers and bankruptcy for nonprofit vendors relying on government contracts.

"I've beaten the Democrats at their own game in Concord, and I'll get it done in Washington," Morse said.

For public consumption in this campaign, Morse has muted his image as a seasoned political insider.

Instead, Morse's candidate brand is the hard-working owner of his Freshwater Farms landscaping business who with wife Susan built a three-acre startup with three employees into a two-location company that covers 13 acres with 50 employees.

"I know what hard work is about, which Joe Biden and Maggie Hassan don't understand," Morse said.

Don Bolduc

Bolduc served 10 tours of duty in Afghanistan during his Army career, leading the 1st Battalion, 3rd Special Forces Group during Operation Medusa in the southern section of the war-torn country.

Don Bolduc

Personal: 60, Born in Laconia, lives in Stratham

Education: Salem State University, Dean College; U.S. Army War College; Webster University

Career: U.S. Army, 33 years, rising to rank of brigadier general

He was commander of the Combined Joint Special Operations Task Force in 2010-11, suffered a hip injury from a friendly fire incident in 2001 and in 2005 was found to have had a traumatic brain injury and post-traumatic stress disorder.

"I was part of the original teams in Afghanistan that used horses, donkeys, Toyota pickup trucks and Toyota Corollas and jingle trucks. My comments are well documented here in New Hamphire," Bolduc said during his primary campaign for U.S. Senate in 2020, which he lost to Wolfeboro trial lawyer Corky Messner.

Bolduc, 60, said his three decades of military service taught him the importance of teamwork and achieving consensus by getting buy-in from the rank and file.

"I've never stopped running for this seat for three years, and that's why I'll hold 50 town halls by the end of this campaign, and my opponents haven't been able to do any," Bolduc said.

Kevin Smith

At 45, Smith is the youngest candidate but boasts he has the longest record as a "tested conservative."

Kevin Smith

Personal: 45, Londonderry

Education: University of New Hampshire

Career: Town manager, Londonderry

Elective office: State representative, 2 years

For seven years, Smith ran one of the largest, fastest growing towns in the state while also chairing the Pease Redevelopment Authority.

Smith helped grow Cornerstone Policy Research into the state's biggest socially conservative interest group and worked for former U.S. Sen. Bob Smith, former Gov. Craig Benson and the state's juvenile justice agency.

"Nobody can match my conservative credentials, and I've gotten results for taxpayers, for businesses, for families," Smith said.

Bruce Fenton

Fenton parlayed his love for bitcoin into a financial empire that made him a frequent speaker at national conferences on cryptocurrency.

Bruce Fenton

Personal: 50, Durham

Education: Bentley University

Career: CEO Chainstone Labs; former executive director of Bitcoin Foundation; co-founder of Bitcoin Association; founder of Atlantic Financial

A first-time candidate for any office, Fenton, 50, was moved to run after concluding the Biden White House and Democratic Congress would spend the nation into financial ruin. He has called paper money a "melting ice cube."

Fenton, who refers to himself as the "leave me alone" candidate, is a Libertarian Party fan who concedes running as a Republican is his only avenue to win statewide.

"I am going down to Washington, D.C., not because I want power, but because I want to keep those people from having power over you," Fenton said.

Vikram Mansharamani

The son of Indian immigrants, Mansharamani, 48, said he's lived the American dream as an Ivy-educated financial expert who commands up to $50,000 to speak to business leaders about financial trends.

Vikram Mansharamani

Personal: 48, Lincoln

Education: Yale University, Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Career: Entrepreneur and businessman; lecturer at Harvard University

If elected, Mansharamani said he would bring "common sense" conservative principles to the job and wean the federal budget off deficit spending while supporting taxpayer research that can help America better compete on the global stage with China.

"The career politicians have ruined this economy, and it's time to send a businessman down to fix it," Mansharamani said.

He has vowed to fight the "woke cultural revolution" that led to him being "canceled" as a 14-year college professor at Yale and Harvard because he was a Republican seeking federal office.

"This is an example of elites trying to tell people that they know better than they do," Mansharamani said.

Differences on the margins

While the issues are not moving GOP primary voters, the candidates differ somewhat on the margins.

Bolduc is the most election-denying candidate: He was one of 124 retired generals and admirals who signed an open letter in 2021 promoting the lie that the 2020 presidential election was rigged in Biden's favor.

Fenton stands out as the only candidate to oppose all federal spending on foreign wars, having called Ukranianian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy a "scammer" who can't be trusted.

"Not one boot on the ground, not $1, not one American life," Fenton said. "I don't understand how we can be having this discussion as Republicans. When are we going to learn? When are we going to learn? How many lives do we have to lose?

Smith said he stands out as the champion against illegal immigration, winning support of the Border Patrol Council as the only candidate to propose requiring companies to join the E-Verify program, which is now voluntary, and to pay fines or face jail terms if they don't.

Attacks on personal integrity

With the race coming down to voter appeal, it's no surprise the candidates have attacked each other's integrity during several debates.

Mansharamani came up with a pledge to renounce negative campaigning, and none of his opponents would sign it.

Smith claims Bolduc is unhinged, repeatedly making outlandish statements he has amended or walked back.

"Your MO (modus operandi) seems to be fire, ready, aim and speaking before you think about these things," Smith said.

Bolduc says Smith "acts like a Democrat" and "should watch his own flank."

Smith said while both were in the State House, Morse was an apologist for Hassan.

"Chuck, you know, Bill Parcells says you are what your record says you are. And the reality is, when you were Senate president and she was governor, you voted for 99% of the bills that Maggie Hassan signed into law," Smith said during a televised debate last month.

Morse said Smith was a no-show as a state legislator.

"I mean, you served in the Legislature, and you probably don't understand it because you missed 61% of the votes, but there's a reality here," Morse said. "Republicans are the ones that pass legislation and put it on Maggie Hassan's desk."

Fenton said Morse was a lapdog for Gov. Chris Sununu's "unconstitutional" lockdowns during COVID-19.