Plymouth, n.h.
But Molly Kelly and Steve Marchand mostly agreed on policy as they took part in Saturday’s forum, which was organized by the progressive group Rights and Democracy.
Marchand, the former Portsmouth mayor, is making his second straight bid for the Democratic nomination. He launched his gubernatorial campaign in April of last year. Kelly, a former five-term state senator from Harrisville, announced her candidacy less than three months ago.
The winner of the Sept. 11 primary will face off against Sununu in November’s election.
Both candidates slammed the president for separating children from their parents of families who illegally crossed the U.S.-Mexican border.
Kelly also criticized recent U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement checkpoints in the Granite State, saying, “As governor, I will stand up and say we do not need your deportation forces here in New Hampshire. They are not welcome.”
Marchand, the son of immigrants from Quebec, touted his new plan to make New Hampshire a “sanctuary state” and vowed that he’ll speak “up with incredible force in favor of the positive power of immigration.”
Both candidates also highlighted the importance protecting women’s reproductive rights, in the wake of this week’s retirement announced by Supreme Court justice Anthony Kennedy.
Kelly argued it’s now a “critical issue” in the gubernatorial campaign. “There is no one running in this office for governor who has fought harder, been an advocate, and worked every single day to make sure that women have access to safe and legal abortions,” she said.
Marchand promised “100 percent protection of a women’s right to make her own decisions.”
Sununu, New Hampshire’s first GOP governor in a dozen years, repeatedly came under fire.
Kelly said she was “appalled by Gov. Sununu’s push for his signature piece of legislation, a school voucher program. It is wrong for New Hampshire.”
Marchand targeted the governor for taking corporate contributions from Eversource Energy, the energy company behind the controversial Northern Pass transmission lines.
Marchand claimed that “Chris Sununu loves Northern Pass so much, it’s like he’s getting paid to love it. And it’s because he is. Tens of thousands of dollars.”
Marchand and Kelly vowed to tackle the state’s opioid epidemic. Both candidates also supported legalizing recreational marijuana, universal background checks for purchasing firearms, collective bargaining rights for unions, a $15 per hour minimum wage, and both opposed the work requirements in the new five year extension of the state’s Medicaid expansion program.
Marchand highlighted his plan for New Hampshire to generate “at least an additional $165 million a year of new revenue.”
While neither candidate took aim at each other, Kelly twice pointed out that “I am the only candidate in this race who has not taken one dollar in corporate contributions.”
Marchand announced this week that he had returned $14,000 in corporate contributions, after criticism by the Kelly campaign.