Listening to Maggie Hassan and Kelly Ayotte and consulting their campaign websites, one might almost think that the sole issue before voters next Tuesday is which of them is better qualified to protect and promote the well-being of New Hampshire residents.

And that indeed would be the case if they were running for governor, the job Hassan currently holds. But they are instead seeking the U.S. Senate seat now held by Ayotte. And the Constitution assigns to the Senate key functions in securing the national — rather than an exclusively parochial — interest. It vests in the Senate the power to approve treaties, try impeachments, approve judicial nominations and, with the House, to declare war. In short, the Senate deliberates on the great questions of the day and its decisions have enormous ramifications for the whole country. On these grounds alone, Hassan, a Democrat, is the better choice than Ayotte, a Republican.

Since the race pits arguably the two most popular politicians in the Granite State, it stands to reason that the election will be a close one, perhaps decided by independents. And since it is one of a handful of contests around the country that could decide which party controls the Senate under a new president, Democrats, Republicans and special interest groups are keenly interested in the outcome — as evidenced by the flood of campaign cash that is washing over the state, perhaps as much as $102 million.

The importance assigned to the race by these groups is not misplaced. If Hillary Clinton wins the presidency, a Republican majority in the Senate would be a prescription for continued gridlock. Having raised obstruction to an art form during the Obama years, the GOP can be expected to add to it the spectacle of endless investigations of Clinton leading nowhere. And make no mistake, Ayotte has been a loyal foot soldier in Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell’s obstructionist army. She is an enemy of the Affordable Care Act and Planned Parenthood; opposes raising the minimum wage but is open to raising the Social Security retirement age; has joined in the purely partisan decision to block consideration of President Obama’s nomination to the Supreme Court of Merrick Garland, an extremely well-qualified and moderate choice; did her best (or worst) to derail the Iran nuclear deal; and even the slaughter of schoolchildren at Sandy Hook elementary school did not move her sufficiently to support extending background checks for firearms sales to online and gun-show purchases. These are all positions at odds with the ones Hassan has adopted, and progress on any of these issues is far more likely with her as a member of a Democratic majority in the Senate than with the incumbent.

And in the worst-case scenario, a Donald Trump presidency, Hassan can be relied on as a member of the Senate to stand up to his wretched excesses, unlike Ayotte, who has displayed for many months what only can be termed moral cowardice in trying to finesse a “support-but-not-endorse” stance toward his repellent and dangerous candidacy. Despite the depredations Trump visited on Mexicans, Muslims, women, the disabled, the news media and the family of a Muslim American soldier killed in Iraq, Ayotte was able to conclude, at least briefly, that he was a suitable role model for children. And she was moved to finally cut him loose only when a recording surfaced of the role model boasting about sexually assaulting women. In one thing, at least, Trump is correct. He called Ayotte “weak.” 

Apart from all that, Hassan has solid credentials for the job, including a strong record of bipartisan accomplishment as governor and before that as a state senator. As majority leader in the state Senate, she was credited with playing a key role in enacting gay marriage. As governor, she has presided over the expansion of Medicaid so that 50,000 more New Hampshire residents now have health insurance coverage. She succeeded in restoring some aid to higher education while freezing tuition at the state’s community colleges. She also signed a settlement of a class-action lawsuit backed by the U.S. Department of Justice that promises eventually to make sorely needed community-based mental-health care more widely available in New Hampshire.

She also isn’t an ideologue. For example, Hassan departs from liberal orthodoxy in supporting a rise in the federal minimum wage to $12 per hour instead of $15. And she has opposed Obama’s plan to close the prison at Guantanamo Bay.

In sum, Hassan is a pragmatic moderate in the Jeanne Shaheen mold who believes in politics as a way to make people’s lives better. She would serve New Hampshire — and the nation — well if voters send her to Washington. We urge them to do so.