Grantham
Grantham residents Brian Sullivan and Cody Dziegelewski will face off in the Sept. 19 Democratic primary in the District 1 House race. The seat represents the towns of Grantham Cornish, Plainfield and Springfield. The winner of that race will then take part in a November special election against the lone Republican candidate, Margaret Drye, of Plainfield.
The seat became vacant in June after Democratic Rep. Andy Schmidt moved to New London.
Sullivan recently retired after 25 years as a teacher advocate for the NH-NEA. Before that, he spent 10 years as a science teacher in Berlin, N.H.
He said in an interview last week that he’ll advocate for job growth in New Hampshire and improvement to the state’s education system. Sullivan, who has solar panels on the roof of his home, wants to help create more renewable energy options for consumers.
“I never intended to retire into a rocking chair,” he said. “I see this as a nice way to do something helpful for the community.”
Meanwhile, Dziegelewski graduated from the University of Vermont in 2015 and characterizes himself as a progressive, advocating for a $15 minimum wage, the legalization of marijuana, higher taxes on the wealthy and universal health care.
“My priorities are lowering the wealth inequality and preserving the civil liberties of New Hampshire residents,” he said. “My policies would favor the poor and middle class, and would greatly help working families make ends meet.”
Drye previously worked home schooling her nine children. She also works as an EMT on the Cornish Rescue Squad and served for 13 years on the Hanover Consumer Cooperative Society’s Board of Directors.
Drye said she hopes to tackle the opioid epidemic with legislation that treats addiction as a societal, political and medical problem. She also hopes to bring her experience on Plainfield’s town Finance Committee to the Legislature, evaluating how well proposals work and whether they align with long-term planning.
“That is the approach I plan to take to legislation, if elected,” Drye said.
Both Democrats agree on several fronts, including continuing the state’s Medicaid expansion, which covers roughly 48,000 low-income Granite Staters. The 2016 law that allows for the expansion will expire in 2018, and the Legislature will have to decided whether it’s renewed.
“It meets the needs of thousands of New Hampshire citizens, and I wouldn’t like to see any of those folks lose their coverage,” Sullivan said, adding he hopes a bill will make the expansion permanent.
Dziegelewski said he would vote to expand Medicaid, but wants to see the state adopt a universal health care system, which could be paid for by implementing new taxes on New Hampshire’s wealthiest 10 percent.
Drye said she is waiting to see whether the federal government will continue its financial contributions to the Medicaid expansion before making a decision. Federal funding to the program is expected to fall from 100 percent in 2016 to 90 percent by 2020.
“We need to proceed with extreme caution because of the uncertainty of future funding for the program, looking for waivers that can tailor a New Hampshire solution,” she said.
The candidates are also split by party on the education funding. The two Democrats support strengthening the state’s public school system, while Drye advocates for expanded charter, private and home schools.
“After schooling my children K-12, I’ve just come to the realization that one size doesn’t fit all in schooling,” Drye said.
New Hampshire, she said, should encourage parents to seek out other schooling options to balance “the landscape of choices.” That includes support of the new state law that allows small school districts to use tax dollars to send students to private schools, Drye said.
The legislation, which was signed into law this year, applies to districts, such as Croydon, that don’t have an in-town public option for middle and high school, and it only allows students to attend nonsectarian schools.
If elected, Dziegelewski said he would fight efforts to privatize education and wants to see New Hampshire maintain a strong public school system. He also supports efforts to provide free college to Granite Staters, including tuition to both four-year and community colleges.
Funding for schools also needs to be strengthened, said Sullivan, adding that the state Legislature has struggled to meet its obligation to students. He said the current system of funding education through a property tax “never really worked out,” and there needs to be a renewed effort to find a fix.
The three candidates also have different views of voting rights legislation passed this year.
Senate Bill 3, which takes effect this month, allows people to register to vote without a license or identification, but requires them to later provide evidence that they’re domiciled in New Hampshire. If they don’t, authorities could investigate them, or they could be removed from the voter rolls.
The New Hampshire Democratic Party and League of Women Voters of New Hampshire have both filed suit to stop the law, saying it presents confusing and intimidating hurdles to voting.
“From what I understand, it’s restricting voting rights,” said Dziegelewski, who is in favor of creating an automatic voter registration law.
Sullivan said he would also support automatic voter registration through the Department of Motor Vehicles and called SB3 “designed to intimidate people away from voting.”
Drye countered that only those who call the state home should vote here.
“I believe it is a good start and that we need to watch and see if there are any unintended consequences or problems that arise that will need to be fixed next legislative session,” she said.
Voting for the Democratic primary will take place on Tuesday, Sept. 19. The general special election is scheduled for Tuesday, Nov. 7.
Tim Camerato can be reached at tcamerato@vnews.com or 603-727-3223.