MANCHESTER, NH – As Election Day approaches, U.S. Senator Maggie Hassan (D-NH) joined fellow U.S. Senator Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH) in downtown Manchester on Friday to talk directly with potential voters.
The two senators talked to voters at the Bridge Café on Elm Street and the Red Arrow Diner on Lowell Street, receiving cordial responses and what appeared to be either support or appreciation from a majority of people they talked with during the stops.
Hassan provided information to voters on legislation she has introduced on mortgage insurance tax breaks and affordable housing grants among other topics. Hassan also appreciated the support of her fellow senator during the brief downtown tour.
“It was really nice to be with my colleague Jeanne Shaheen, such a great fighter for New Hampshire families, and it was good to talk to people about what’s on their mind,” she said. “We heard about everything from the cost of living to reproductive freedoms, so not surprising issues, just reinforcing that people have a lot on their minds right now and it was a really nice opportunity to talk with folks.”
One key strategy during Hassan’s campaign has been toward emphasizing her bipartisan bonafides in Washington while aiming to characterize her opponent, Republican nominee Don Bolduc, as an extreme contrast to that collaborative approach.
Those efforts may have paid dividends with several individuals she talked with on the tour who said they were splitting their ticket, voting for her but also possibly incumbent Republican Governor Chris Sununu as well.
Manchester resident Dan Hebert was one of those people.
Although he’s likely to vote primarily for Democrats, Hebert said he was on the fence between Sununu, who he thinks has done a good job so far, and Democratic Gubernatorial Nominee Tom Sherman, who he said he needs to research further. However, he was already firmly committed for Hassan prior to the encounter at the Bridge Café, with the brief discussion only cementing his support for her.
“I feel like you see (Hassan) all the time on TV, but she’s a little different in person,” he said. “She’s just like regular people and I liked what she said about (Republicans and Democrats) and how we have a lot more in common than people realize.”
With less than two weeks to go, Hassan believes that there are more people like Hebert who might be undecided voters in certain races on the ballot this year and says that none of those people’s votes can be taken for granted this November.
“This is a famously independent state. You have to talk with people and earn their vote every time and that’s what I enjoy doing,” she said. “Just being out and about and contrasting my record, which is really a record of delivering bipartisan results on the priorities that matter to the people of New Hampshire.”
