MANCHESTER, N.H. – A day after several of his supporters held a Millyard press conference on abortion rights, the campaign of U.S. Representative Chris Pappas (D-NH-01) returned to the Millyard to attack Republican challenger Karoline Leavitt on her healthcare and social security stances.
Pappas was joined by Manchester Mayor Joyce Craig, U.S. Senator Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH) and Ward 9 Alderman Jim Burkish as well as local residents Brenda Thomas and Janice Kelble.
While there were statements in support of Pappas, the majority of the press conference focused on Leavitt’s statements and why they were out-of-touch with New Hampshire voters.
“Either she’s telling us that it doesn’t matter that we have to struggle to meet the cost of prescriptions, or she’s so privileged and out of touch that she doesn’t know what people are going through or she simple doesn’t care or she cares more about the profits of pharmaceutical companies than the people she says she wants to represent,” said Kelble.
“She’s run a whole campaign saying she wants to do something about (healthcare) costs for families and everything she supports would increase costs for families,” said Shaheen.
Pappas referred to the difference between himself and Leavitt as a contrast between a problem solver that works across the aisle and a partisan bomb thrower that relies on talking points. However, Pappas also believes that the election will be tight given New Hampshire’s history as a “purple state” and the fact that many voters don’t make decisions until Election Day has almost arrived.
He also said that many voters have been impacted by millions of dollars from unaffiliated political groups paying for political advertisements, but the ultimate deciding factor will come from whichever campaign talks to more voters, something he believes he has done on the campaign trail and in an official capacity as a member of Congress.
“Folks are busy and we have a lot of independent voters that aren’t affiliated with one party or the other and they want to look closely at the issues and make a decision as we approach the vote,” he said. “We feel good about the campaign we’ve built about the record we’re running on and about the choice in this election. It’s about making sure that voters know what’s at stake and know what’s on the ballot.”