Democrat Maggie Hassan said in a speech Wednesday that she’s not afraid to break with her party on issues of national security.
“I will always speak out, at odds or against my party, if I think it’s appropriate in order to protect the safety and security of the people of New Hampshire,” said Hassan, who is running for U.S. Senate against incumbent Republican Kelly Ayotte.
Hassan opposes President Obama’s plan to close the U.S. military prison at Guantanamo Bay and is against the administration’s Trans-Pacific Partnership trade deal.
Hassan has broken party ranks before. She was the only Democratic governor out of more than two dozen who called for the U.S. to stop accepting Syrian refugees in wake of the Paris terrorist attacks last year.
She stands by that position still. “I thought it was important after Paris to take a temporary pause. I still think that’s something the administration should have done,” she said.
Foreign policy is emerging as a leading issue in the competitive U.S. Senate race, which could decide party control of the chamber. Ayotte, who serves on Senate committees for armed services and homeland security, has sought to paint Hassan as inexperienced on national security.
Hassan pushed back Wednesday in her speech in Manchester, laying out her own agenda and taking jabs at Ayotte and Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump.
Hassan called for more airstrikes against the Islamic State and said she would support a 50 percent increase in federal funding to stop the terror group, which would bring total spending to $7.5 billion.
Hassan pushed for the U.S. to enforce an “imperfect” nuclear agreement with Iran, saying the deal is the best way to prevent the country from obtaining dangerous weapons.
She advocated for a ban on gun sales to people on the federal terror watch list, a proposal Ayotte voted against recently in the U.S. Senate.
Hassan pushed back on Obama’s plan to close Guantanamo Bay. The prison had 240 detainees in 2009, and the administration has transferred roughly 162 to other countries, according to the Associated Press.
“I don’t think the president’s plan laid out how we could protect our vital interests, and make sure for instance that released detainees won’t return to the battlefield,” Hassan said. Ayotte and most Republicans oppose closure of the U.S. military prison in Cuba, and have pushed to stop the detainee transfers.
In a veiled jab at Ayotte, Hassan said voters should “seriously question” the judgment of elected officials who continue to support Trump.
“This isn’t a Democratic or a Republican issue, it’s about doing what’s right to keep our country safe,” Hassan said.
Ayotte has criticized some of Trump’s statements, including his attacks on the parents of a fallen U.S. soldier, but continues to support the Republican businessman’s candidacy.
U.S. Sen. Susan Collins, a Maine Republican, said this week she will not vote for Trump because he would make “an already perilous world more so.”
Ayotte, for her part, questioned Hassan’s support for Democrat Hillary Clinton, whose use of a private email server while serving as secretary of state was called “extremely careless” by the FBI director.
“Governor Hassan is hardly in a position to launch these attacks given her repeated refusal to account for Hillary Clinton’s failed national security record or denounce her for mishandling classified information and lying to the public about it,” Ayotte campaign spokeswoman Liz Johnson said.
(Allie Morris can be reached at 369-3307 or amorris@cmonitor.com.)