Claremont
The Republican challengers are all newcomers to politics while the Democrats counter with three veteran lawmakers and a first-time candidate
In the district representing the city center and areas to the south, two political newcomers are seeking to replace incumbent Democrat Andy O’Hearne, a Claremont police officer who is running for Sullivan County sheriff.
Democrat Allison Zito, a 65-year-old artist and teacher who moved to Claremont 3½ years ago from Philadelphia to be closer to family, wants to make raising the minimum wage her priority if elected. Her opponent, Republican Frances Gauthier, 60, said his experience dealing with state agencies while he was a landlord has convinced him they exert too much control over local communities without accountability.
“We just don’t know what they are doing,” said Gauthier, who has been active politically on the local level. “We should create an agency to enforce and provide oversight. The way I see it, they overreach and that hurts the private citizen.”
Gauthier leans conservative in some of the issues that were debated in the last legislative session, including opposition to state funding for Planned Parenthood — primarily because it provides abortion services in addition to numerous health services. Though he agrees that abortion is just a piece of Planned Parenthood’s work, so long as it is part of the equation, no matter how small, he is against state funds going to the organization.
Supporters of the nonprofit have made clear that no state funds pay for abortions.
“I believe life starts at conception,” Gauthier said.
A supporter of state funding for Planned Parenthood, Zito said people who claim it is about abortion are simply wrong. “It is about reproductive health for men and women,” she said.
On the Medicaid expansion passed in the last legislative session, Gauthier is again an opponent while Zito said she believes it is necessary but wants to study the issue more when it comes to the possiblity of state money needed to cover some of the expense.
Gauthier worries that the federal government will not hold up its end of the funding agreement and the potential is there for an increase on the state’s taxpayer that would be “catastrophic,” once the current legislation expires.
“We need to find another way to insure them,” Gauthier said of the estimated 50,000 New Hampshire residents now covered by Medicaid expansion.
A supporter of Second Amendment rights, Gauthier would like to see a commission set up with law enforcement to discuss concealed carry permits and other gun issues.
If Zito makes her way to Concord in January, her priority will be raising the minimum wage.
“I could not believe you could pay people that badly,” Zito said about her experience seeking a job. “I see far too many working far too hard for far too little. No one should have to work two or three jobs at $7.25 an hour. I truly think $7.25 an hour is horrible.”
New Hampshire does not have a minimum wage so it defaults to the federal minimum.
The result of that low wage creates a host of problems including “stressed” parents who are not able to provide what they would like for their families and must rely on free lunches and the like, Zito said. “Why not give people the dignity of getting a wage that allows them to raise their children and give them what they need?”
Zito would eventually like to see it go to $15 an hour, but for now would settle for an $11 wage.
Retired New York City police officer John O’Connor, 54, has lived in Claremont for 20 years and made an unsuccessful bid for the City Council in 2009. A Republican, he is running against state Rep. Larry Converse, a Democrat, for the seat representing Ward 2, the city’s southwestern sector.
O’Connor promises what he terms a “common sense” approach in Concord and believes lawmakers must first recognize that a new source of revenue is needed to pay for Medicaid expansion and education without having to raise property taxes.
“Right now we just tax, tax and overtax the same thing and if we keep doing it, eventually we will end up with a sales or income tax,” said O’Connor, who opposes both.
He argues that the legalization of marijuana is an opportunity for the state to realize millions in new revenue to help pay for health insurance for the poor, education and roads and bridges.
“We need something and we need to be open-minded about it,” O’Connor said. “I put it in the same category as alcohol, a sin tax. The state would manage it and collect the revenue. If people don’t want to use it, they won’t. Let the state regulate it.”
O’Connor points to Washington state, where the state budget is expected to get as much as $1.1 billion in cannabis revenue through 2018.
Converse, 73, also believes lawmakers can no longer rely on the current revenue stream to meet its obligations for education and health insurance for low-income residents.
“I would like to see an income tax but it would have to be based on the fact it would only be for education and Medicaid,” said Converse, who is seeking his second consecutive term in the House. He also served one term in 1984 and two terms from 2004 to 2008.
Converse supported the Medicaid expansion and believes strongly in the state’s obligation to help the low-income have insurance. He also backs state funding for Planned Parenthood, which the Executive Council approved 3-2 in June, overturning an earlier vote to defund it.
“They do a lot of good and provide services many can’t afford,” Converse said.
O’Connor agrees Planned Parenthood provides necessary services but is concerned that abortion services end up being a form of birth control, which he thinks is wrong.
“But Roe v. Wade (the 1973 decision legalizing abortion) is the law of the land and we have to abide by laws that are there, not what we want them to be,” he said.
O’Connor also said he doesn’t oppose a concealed carry permit law for firearms in New Hampshire. As a gun owner, he obtained a concealed permit and was surprised at how quick and easy it was compared to the six-month wait with fingerprinting that he experienced in New York.
On the other hand, excessive gun control measures only serve to keep guns out of the hands of law-abiding citizens, he said.
Converse also supports concealed carry permit requirements because it does nothing more than put your name on a list.
Democratic state Rep. Ray Gagnon, 67, a former Claremont mayor and former U.S. marshal during President Bill Clinton’s administration, is seeking his sixth term in the House from the city’s Ward 3, which comprises the area north of the Sugar River.
If re-elected, Gagnon’s priority will be addressing the problem of student homelessness, which has been highlighted in recent months by the Claremont School District.
“I am really concerned about it,” Gagnon said. “The local SAU (6) has taken a lead and so has Nashua, but this is a statewide problem and there is a huge number of students who have no official address with a parent or guardian.”
Gagnon does not have a specific solution, though foster families or group homes that would serve as a place of residence — but not in a punitive sense — might be one option to look at, he suggested.
“I just think collectively we can work together to help towns and schools solve this problem,” Gagnon said.
Gagnon is also troubled by what he sees as the Legislature’s inability to look beyond the next two-year cycle when debating solutions to some of the state’s problems.
“I think we need long-term planning and student homelessness is just one an example. But whether it is transportation, infrastructure, aid to education, across the board we need long-term solutions. Now we just patch and Band-Aid to get us through the next two years.”
Republican David Numme, 43, is an associate dean of faculty at Southern New Hampshire University, where he manages online instructors.
Numme has lived in Claremont 10 years and is making his first run for public office. If elected, addressing the opioid crisis in the state would lead his priority list.
“The central theme of my campaign is my concern about the growing drug epidemic, not only in our own community and our state,” said Numme. “My No. 1 priority would be to increase treatment options and improve access for the community members who suffer from this problem of drug abuse.”
Numme would bring a conservative view to issues such as Medicaid expansion and funding for Planned Parenthood, which he staunchly opposes.
“I appreciate the good they try to do, but abortion is my concern,” said Numme, adding that he deplores the vandalism that took place last year at the Planned Parenthood office in Claremont.
Numme also would have opposed Medicaid expansion, and even though the law that passed last year does not require state money to cover any decrease in federal funding the next two years, he has concerns beyond that with the “downshifting” of costs from the federal government to the state’s taxpayers.
“Many people are already struggling to make ends meet and I am very concerned about the possible increase in the tax load when the federal government does not pay its (promised) share, ” Numme said.
“I fear future unfunded mandates. The federal government has a way of making things look attractive then pulls the financial rug out from under us.”
For Gagnon, finding a way to pay any additional expenses the state could incur under Medicaid expansion is a must because the alternative to him is unacceptable.
“I am not going to take insurance away from 50,000 people,” Gagnon said.
The Affordable Care Act needs some work but it has plenty of worthy aspects, including coverage for those with pre-existing medical conditions, Gagnon said. He further sees Medicaid expansion as a way to reduce “uncompensated care” costs for hospitals.
The concealed permit law should remain in New Hampshire, both Gagnon and Numme agree.
On providing state aid for education, Numme takes the view that the students would be better served by being allowed to take advantage of the variety of educational opportunities outside the public school system.
“Teachers in our school districts work hard and do a good job with limited resources but I believe competition is healthy,” Numme said. “I believe you should do what is best for the child. If that is the public schools that is fine, but the money should follow the child, not the child follow the money.”
State Rep. John Cloutier is the current chairman of the Sullivan County delegation of state representatives and by far the most veteran lawmaker in the county, having served 12 House terms since his election in 1992.
His opponent Nov. 8, Republican Walt Stapleton, 70, owns a railroad consulting and insurance business but is close to retirement.
“I will have some extra time and I have been involved with legislators, sending letters and emails on issues,” Stapleton said. “This is my turn to step up to the plate.”
Had he been a member of the House in the last session, Stapleton would have supported Medicaid expansion.
“People are struggling so I think this is a positive,” Stapleton said. But he is quick to add that “Obamacare is collapsing” so this is merely a “stopgap” that will need a new approach.
Stapleton is most vocal in his opposition to state funding of Planning Parenthood as long as the organization provides abortion services.
“I am prolife and proud of it,” he said. “The state should have no interest in allowing the death of a child inside the womb. We should do more for women and families (after the child is born)”
The 58-year-old Cloutier, a Democrat, takes an opposite view and supports Planned Parenthood funding.
“They provide health care options for low-income and provide birth control,” Cloutier said.
A small percentage of the group’s work is abortion related, he said, and “they do a lot to prevent abortions and unintended pregnancies.”
The Medicaid expansion had Cloutier’s support in the last session. “It is health care for the working poor and helps health care facilities like Valley Regional Hospital.”
If re-elected, he wants to push for the expansion to be made permanent and said he is open to other ideas for funding the state’s share.
Education funding is another related issue because, in Cloutier’s view, lawmakers have to get serious about reforming the state’s tax structure.
“Education funding is a constant battle and I think we need more aid. The money now is inadequate. How we are going to do that, I don’t know until we change the tax structure. I get so frustrated because no one seems to want to do anything, such as expanded gambling.”
Stapleton is opposed to a broad-based tax and believes the state can raise money in other ways, such as taxing lottery winnings or increasing user fees. Slapping on a broad-based tax such as a sales tax burdens a business and creates another bureaucracy.
“Broad-based taxes are a lazy man’s way of thinking and leads to larger government. We don’t need that. There are a lot ways we could save money,” Stapleton said.
If elected, Stapleton said, addressing the state’s opioid problem would be a priority of his.
“I really think we need to focus on that and it will take more than money,” he said. “I want to work with neighboring states to interdict the movement of drugs into our state. It is only going to get worse unless we do something.”
Cloutier wants to continue his push for funding a public bus route from Claremont to Lebanon along Route 120, raising the minimum wage on an incremental basis and developing an energy policy to help lower electric rates.
Both candidates back the concealed carry permit required for firearms and see the permit process as a sound measure.
“I think it works well,” said Cloutier, who voted to sustain a veto by Gov. Maggie Hassan of a bill to end the permit requirement.
Stapleton said he has a concealed carry permit and thinks it is a good approach.
“I don’t have a problem with it (the law). I think it works pretty well,” he said.
Patrick O’Grady can be reached at pogclmt@gmail.com.
