State House Dome: Voter confidence report likely after election

Oct. 30—ALL SIGNS POINT to the state's Special Committee on Voter Confidence completing its final report after the Nov. 8 election.

After taking testimony at public hearings across the state, the bipartisan panel has held four public work sessions and reportedly "is getting close" to consensus on the report and recommendations for reforms.

Their fifth session meeting is Tuesday at 9 a.m. in the New Hampshire State Archives and Records Management building in Concord.

The committee's members realize that releasing a report just before an election could be a "distraction" and seen as trying to color the political process.

It's also a fact that releasing such a report as New Hampshire voters prepare to go to the polls would mean far less public and media attention for their conclusions.

Queen City temple forum

A 50-year election tradition continues Sunday with a candidate forum at the Temple Adath Yeshurun, 152 Prospect St., in Manchester.

Among top candidates for congressional and statewide offices, Gov. Chris Sununu and U.S. Rep. Annie Kuster, D-N.H., are the only ones unlikely to attend.

Sununu had a scheduling conflict and passed on his regrets, his spokesperson confirmed.

Each candidate is invited to give uninterrupted remarks and take questions from the audience.

Rabbi Beth Davidson will open the program with a welcoming prayer, and Democratic nominee for governor Tom Sherman will be the first candidate to speak, at 9:15 a.m.

Former U.S. Ambassador to Belize George Bruno will be the moderator. Attendees will be required to wear masks.

Local candidates for county and legislative office are welcome to be there to meet and greet the crowd.

New poll turns heads

New Hampshire Journal had many partisans on both sides doing a double take about a poll it released Friday.

The survey found the only Republican candidate leading for federal office in New Hampshire is little-known 2nd Congressional District nominee Bob Burns of Pembroke, 44% to 43%, against five-term incumbent U.S. Rep. Annie Kuster, D-N.H.

Burns has run his campaign on a shoestring since narrowly winning his Sept. 13 primary.

He's been virtually ignored by national GOP fundraising groups, which have concluded he can't possibly win against Kuster, who has a multi-million dollar war chest.

Moderate, pro-abortion rights ex-Congressman Charlie Bass is the only Republican whom voters have elected to this seat in the past three decades.

Former President Donald Trump became one of only a few national Republicans to weigh in on Burns' behalf, endorsing him last week.

Burns was a loyal backer when Trump was first a GOP presidential primary candidate in 2015.

We have reported that Burns could pull this one out if this turns out to be a wave election that sweeps many Republicans into office.

Nonetheless, it's hard to find any Republican strategists in this state or nationally who think Kuster is the most endangered New Hampshire Democrat on the ballot Nov. 8.

The same poll had 1st Congressional District GOP nominee Karoline Leavitt trailing two-term Rep. Chris Pappas, D-N.H., 48% to 44%.

This contrast too would be some kind of shock to the Beltway GOP crowd.

Since mid-October, leadership PACs from both parties have spent more money on only three other congressional races across the country. Why? Independent polls have for weeks concluded this race is too close to call.

GOP Senate nominee Don Bolduc got a headline to brag about since it had him tied, 45% to 45%, with Democratic Sen. Maggie Hassan.

The survey also showed a growing lead for Gov. Sununu, 52% to 34% for Democratic nominee Sherman.

Business win for Sununu

The National Federation of Independent Businesses in Holderness will announce Monday that it's backing Sununu's bid for a third term.

"Governor Sununu has worked tirelessly these last six years creating a positive economic environment for businesses to grow and prosper," said NFIB State Director Bruce Berke, speaking for the 1,500-member group.

"The governor has been a consistent, steady leader at the helm of state government through some very challenging times and yet, he and his administration were able to reduce business taxes; eliminate old and unnecessary regulations; and push back on crippling mandates that would tell businesses how to operate."

Wheeler aims at Kelly

Executive Councilor David Wheeler, R-Milford, charged that Democratic nominee Shoshanna Kelly missed about 30% of the Nashua Board of Aldermen's meetings in 2020-2021.

He first made the statement at a candidate forum in Troy on Thursday night.

Wheeler also said Kelly received a stipend for three meetings she missed in the first quarter of 2021 despite a city requirement that board members only get reimbursed when they are at meetings in person.

"Kelly should take the high-road and refund to the taxpayers of Nashua this money that she did not earn. I hope that she will do this. Otherwise, this really smacks of Washington-style corruption," Wheeler said in a statement.

In response, Kelly said her attendance at meetings fell off significantly during the pandemic. She called this charge a "thinly veiled" insinuation that Wheeler doesn't think a mother can publicly serve and work full-time if they have small children.

"As a working mother of two, there is always the risk that the fever, cough, or runny nose for either of my kids could have been COVID, that meant they could not go to school or daycare," Kelly said.

"I think this is an experience that many parents can relate to. The pandemic was an incredibly disruptive experience. I certainly wish I had been able to attend more meetings because I absolutely love serving my city," she said.

"My attendance this year is at 89% of meetings without an absence since April."

Kelly said Wheeler's own record amounted to a "no-show" performance. He opposed $27 million in federal grants to deliver the COVID-19 vaccines to children, and family planning grants for providers that provide abortion clinics.

"I have delivered much more in my tenure for my constituents than my opponent ever has," Kelly said. "Mr. Wheeler is a consistent no vote on issues that affect all Granite Staters — that's not showing up in my book."

First Lady fundraises

First Lady Jill Biden made time not only to pump up the troops but help raise money for Hassan's Senate bid.

After joining Sherman and Hassan meeting with party activists in Manchester on Saturday afternoon, she spoke at a private Hassan fundraiser with donors at a single-family home in the North End of the city.

Later she attended a Democratic organizing event with Pappas and Sens. Jeanne Shaheen and Hassan in Portsmouth.

Scanlan praised on tech

The state of New Hampshire is getting notice after Scanlan and top election officials agreed to a 2023 pilot test of the next generation of electronic voting machines, which have "open source software."

Brent Turner said that after working 20 years in the election security field, he has become convinced this innovation would give voters more confidence that elections are fair and open.

"With a lot of the machines states use you can't see the software that runs the tabulations if someone wants to object to an election," Turner said.

"New Hampshire is leading the country, and this could cause many states to follow."

Turner said major voting vendors with intellectual property concerns have resisted creating systems that make their software transparent.

"We must stand up for our country and cut through corporate influence if we want to protect our democracy," Turner said.

GOP resumes tax attack

The New Hampshire Republican State Committee and its state Senate and House GOP political action committees revived what was a winning message in 2020, that Democrats backed an income tax to pay for a mandatory paid family and medical leave program.

The bill Democrats sponsored and Sununu twice vetoed would have required businesses without their own insurance plan to deduct wages to help pay for the benefit, designed as a payroll tax rather than an income tax.

At any rate, the GOP Senate PAC gladly shared how Democratic state Rep. Edith Tucker of Randolph, a candidate for state Senate, denied the charge during a candidate forum.

"It is not an income tax. It is a tax that is taken for a particular purpose from your paycheck," Tucker said.

Democratic Party Chairman Raymond Buckley came to the rescue on social media.

He pointed out the voluntary medical leave program that Sununu signed into law and starts in January will be mandatory for all state employees, with a deduction from worker wages to finance their benefit.

"They're both not an income tax," Buckley declared.

Ground game in full swing

With all these races tightening, attention turned to the parties' ground games this weekend.

The Republican National Committee and the state GOP claimed they have made more than a million voter contacts, the most for a midterm in the Granite State.

"The best way for volunteers to make a difference is through direct voter contact, and making one million of those underscores just how fired up Republicans are to show up for our nominees up and down the ballot," said Andrew Mahaleris, RNC communications director in New Hampshire and Maine.

State Democratic leaders said they hired staffs and opened district offices earlier than ever before.

They declined to share specific totals when it comes to campaign contacts, but Buckley has said its GOTV operation will beat the GOP by any metric.

Bolduc unconventional

Retired Brig. Gen. Bolduc continues to be a candidate who defies all political norms.

This is why no one should be surprised at the TV ad he debuted at week's end, "The Deal."

The ad has the candidate speaking to camera and repeating Hassan campaign talking points, namely that if elected Bolduc would support a national abortion ban and vote to get rid of Social Security.

"Maggie Hassan is lying like all Washington politicians do," Bolduc said.

One of the first axioms in the rough and tumble of political campaigns is, "Never complain, never explain," because that more often exposes the candidate as being on the defensive.

To amend the Tom Hanks' punchline from "A League of Their Own": "There's no crying in baseball or politics."

No doubt Bolduc believes he's coming across as an outsider speaking honestly to voters rather than through a consultant's filter.

"I've spent my whole life fighting for America, and I'm not going to stop now," Bolduc concludes.

Laws protect voters

The nonpartisan Brennan Center for Justice responded to surveys that have found many voters fear the prospect of harassment at the polls.

The group released a report on federal and state laws that protect voters and election workers in 10 targeted states across the country, including New Hampshire.

Prime time debates set

It's the week before a state election, which can only mean prime time debates on WMUR-TV.

All four events will be at the New Hampshire Institute of Politics without a studio audience, from 8 p.m. to 9 p.m.

Sherman and Sununu start it off Tuesday night.

Bolduc and Hassan will share the stage Wednesday.

Pappas and Leavitt will tangle Thursday.

Burns and Kuster close the program Friday night.

Kevin Landrigan is State House Bureau Chief for the New Hampshire Union Leader and Sunday News. Reach him at klandrigan@unionleader.com.