A little background. Belknap County has long been considered a wasteland for Democrats. It is full of; “old school” Republicans (fiscally conservative, socially responsible, protectors of the environment, party of Lincoln), transplants escaping from “the burden” of taxes (states who believe in funding their government with something other than property taxes, State Liquor Stores and Lottery proceeds) and little pockets of “Free Stater’s” masquerading as Republicans. We have elected the occasional Democrat but it’s always a challenge. The State is divided into two Congressional Districts and Belknap County is part of District 1 which is currently represented in DC by the amazing Carol Shea Porter. I remember meeting Carol for the first time during her first run for the House. It was winter and the Belknap County Dems were meeting at the Gilford Library. There were 6 or 7 of us and still she came and gave her pitch. On election night when the early returns came in from the more urban areas (nothing here is all that urban) it looked like she was going to lose – but she didn’t because she gathered enough votes from turning over all the rocks in all the unlikely places, Belknap County being one of the most unlikely.
Well, Carol has decided not to run again and there are currently 7 announced contenders for the Democratic nomination. Wednesday night they were all invited to a “Meet the Candidate’s Night” in Meredith. The plan was to set up 7 tables where voters would sit. Following a 2 minute introduction speech by each candidate they each joined the voters at a table for questions. After 10 minutes the whistle blew and the candidates switched tables. Everyone had a chance to question all of the contenders. Each table had a moderator whose job it was to keep things moving along and get as many questions asked and answered as possible. I agreed to be a moderator although I was quite worried that my table would be empty. Not that I didn’t have plenty of questions to ask but, I know a lot of work goes into these events and I hate to waste the time and talent of the candidates. I was so wrong to worry. We were at standing room only! All the tables were filled!
My take on the 7 Candidates in alphabetical order:
Mark MacKenazie – Retired Fire Captain from Manchester, President of the NH AFL-CIO for 25 years, current member of the NH House (serving on the labor committee) UNH graduate with a Master’s in Public Administration. He gave a very good introductory speak (I’m a sucker for the Union Guy’s) and is both articulate and knowledgeable. He had a very good grasp of transportation issues and when asked where the money would come from to fund it quoted someone (I can’t remember who) “We’ll get the money from where the money went” then went into detail about income inequality and tax policy which perpetuated it. He is a top tier contender.
Daglean McCracken – There wasn’t any information on him in the program because he is apparently a recently announced candidate. Not sure where he came from but his intro speech was quite nice. The highlight was that he believes that government matters and we need people in government who understand that. He also emphasized the need to bring younger people (like himself) into the process. At the table he was stumped by the first question which was what committee would you want to be on when elected. He also danced around the gun issue and did not seem very conversant on the details of many of the issues we were discussing. Nice guy, lots of energy but not ready for prime time.
Mindi Messmer – Environmental Consultant and scientist. She is currently a NH House Rep and is very active protecting drinking water, whistle blower on a toxic site which created a cancer cluster of sick and dying kids. She is very passionate on the topic of environmental safety, science and clean water. Her introductory speech was excellent. I had signed up with most of the campaigns and hers was the first and so far only to send me a thank you e-mail for signing up and participating. She is organized! However, during the questioning she was prepared to talk about the work she was doing in the state but not particularly fluent in the national issues we asked about. Lots of talent here and it will be interesting to see how she grows over the campaign.
Terence O’Rourke – Captain in the Army, served in Iraq, prosecutor at both the State and Federal level, lives in Belknap County. His intro speech was very good. He talked about being a Radical Democrat because things were so skewed at the federal level right now that normal appears radical. He handled the gun issue very well and overall was fast on his feet with the different questions we threw at him. Not sure why I’m not more enthusiastic about him but will watch him closely because even if this doesn’t work out for him he has much to offer.
Chris Pappas – Restaurant owner from Manchester started politics as a State Rep and is now on the Executive Council. His introductory speech was good. Since he already had numerous endorsements and is a “favored son” of the Dems, I was inclined to judge him a little more harshly than is entirely fair. He did a good job at the table particularly on the issues of a living wage and health care. Clearly his restaurant is a wonderful employer. Although quite young, he’s likable, energetic and will be interesting to follow through this process.
Lincoln Soldati – Retired business owner, County Attorney who pioneered Victims Assistance programs and criminal justice reform recognized for his considerable effort on behalf of Sexual Assault survivors, and a former Mayor. His opening speech was cut off because it went overlong. He was one of the later attendants at our table and started to launch into a long winded “chat”. Our table was pretty strictly managed so I interrupted him so we could get our questions asked. He knows his subject, is passionate and has lots of energy. However, he came off as a little “old school” which might be just what the district wants. He can certainly do the job if nominated.
Maura Sullivan – Retired Captain in the Marines, Assistant Secretary of the VA under Obama, Senior Advisor to the Secretary of the Navy & Secretary of Defense. Focus on rebuilding veterans’ access to quality medical care, on gender integration in the Navy & Marine Corps and family mental health & LGBT policy reforms in the Defense Department. Her introductory speech was beyond excellent. She was in a different category from the rest with her confidence, competence and ability to capture the room. My note to myself said Amazing! She answered the first question which was on gun control with a full throat-ed call to ban “so called” assault weapons. She knows guns and has complete confidence in her grasp of that issue. Her answer to committee assignment was interesting because in addition to naming Veteran’s Affairs she went on to explain what other rolls she would take on and demonstrating a clear detailed knowledge of the workings of Congress. She stumbled on a question about the militarization of police forces and was not up to speed on criminal justice reform. She made a huge impression on me and I look forward to watching her grow through this process.
Most of our questions were on Health Care, Income Inequality, Guns, Religion in politics with a few additional on the prison industrial complex and criminal justice reform. This venue wasn’t really conducive to in depth conversations on any topic. This event was very encouraging because so many people turned out and really any of the candidates will do a good job. We have a very impressive “bench”. Final note: I started writing this on Thursday morning and it is now Friday afternoon. I have received 2 more e-mails from Mindi. The titles are :Call to Action: Healthcare for All and Big Money in Politics. I’m impressed.