Sparks flew at Tuesday’s WMUR/Union Leader Republican gubernatorial candidates’ debate when state Sen. Jeanie Forrester suggested Manchester Mayor Ted Gatsas didn’t know what law enforcement was doing in his own city to stop the drug crisis.
For weeks, Forrester has been advocating for the use of the New Hampshire National Guard to assist local and state law enforcement to stop the flow of heroin and fentanyl coming into New Hampshire. On Tuesday, the Meredith state senator repeatedly insisted the Guard was already doing that.
“The National Guard is working in Manchester now with law enforcement to deal with the opioid and heroin crisis in your city,” Forrester told Gatsas.
Forrester was referring to the National Guard Counterdrug Program, which provides assistance to local law enforcement agencies across the country. Earlier this year, U.S. Sen. Jeanne Shaheen introduced legislation to extend the life of the program. A press release from her office said the federally funded program “provides military specific skill-sets” to local law enforcement agencies fighting against illicit drugs.
The mayor disputed Forrester’s claim, saying he’s never heard of the National Guard assisting the city’s police officers in the drug problem.
“I think I talk to the chief of police on a daily basis about the problems we have in this city and he’s never told me about the National Guard on the front lines fighting this battle,” Gatsas said.
Forrester continued to press her opponent on the issue.
“Okay. Wow. I think you need to talk to someone,” she said finally.
In an interview after the debate, Gatsas said Forrester was misrepresenting two national guardsmen who have worked for years in the police department as “statisticians, not martial law.”
“When somebody misleads the voters, that’s just wrong,” he said. “Have you seen anybody in the streets of Manchester that have National Guard uniforms? I haven’t.”
The state’s response to the drug crisis was one of many topics the four candidates for governor discussed in the WMUR/Union Leader debate. The debate was moderated by local reporters, including Monitor political reporter Allie Morris.
Just a week away from primary day, the four GOP candidates tried to distinguish themselves on issues ranging from immigration to climate change.
Executive Councilor Chris Sununu of Newfields reiterated his promise to “gut” the state board of education and get rid of Common Core in New Hampshire.
As a parent, Sununu said he’s frustrated with the current system.
“We’ve gotten to the point where we’re just testing to see who’s practiced the most,” he said. “The teachers are just as frustrated, they call them the invisible handcuffs.”
His three opponents said they would do the same. When Gatsas talked about Manchester refusing to adopt the educational standards, state Rep. Frank Edelblut of Wilton rebutted by saying the city still implemented 80 percent of the federal standards.
“In Manchester, he put in Common Core lite,” Edelblut said. “He changed the name so that parents wouldn’t notice but it’s still Common Core.”
Gatsas fired back, accusing Edelblut of standing by and not fighting against the standards at the local level.
“I didn’t see you standing there in Wilton trying to change the Common Core that was coming before that educational community,” he said.
On the issue of climate change, none of the four candidates said they believed the warming climate was man-made, instead attributing it to natural warming cycles or a combination of both.
All said they didn’t see the science as convincing enough to keep some environmental regulations in place.
“I would be very cautious to craft policy around what has become in many circles an ideology about climate change,” Edelblut said.
Gatsas said he believes the Earth’s warming and resulting weather patterns are “about what Mother Nature has sent on us” and joked that he’d like to see another warm winter to keep Manchester’s plowing costs low.
Forrester and Sununu were also vague when asked if climate change was man-made. Forrester said she was more worried about state policies putting restrictions on energy companies.
Sununu said that as a ski resort owner in the North Country, rising temperatures are bad for business. With a background in environmental engineering, Sununu touted his knowledge on the subject as beneficial for New Hampshire.
“Is it man-made or not? . . . Nobody knows for sure,” he said, adding he would mix environmentally conscious decisions without miring businesses and energy companies with regulation.
“We have to be smart. We have the opportunity to have a governor who understands these issues,” Sununu said.
(Ella Nilsen can be reached at 369-3322, enilsen@cmonitor.com or on Twitter @ella_nilsen.)