Chris Sununu, the first Republican elected to serve as governor in 12 years, said all the right things at his post-election press conference last week. He called for unity and struck a positive, bipartisan tone. His said his top priority, from the start, will be to listen.
Sununu, 42, a father, businessman and son of a former governor, has a chance to live up to all of those promises. He will be the country’s youngest governor. He has no legislative track record; he is a moderate whose only political experience is three terms on the Governor’s Executive Council, reviewing contracts and appointments. Smart and congenial, he is in position to cut his own path. We encourage him to seize the opportunity and set a standard for a new generation of state leaders dedicated to openness, transparency, cooperation and getting things done.
The new governor will be backed up by his party’s full control of the House, Senate and Executive Council. Shell-shocked Democrats are cautiously optimistic that Sununu is someone they can work with. We hope so too, because like everyone else, we are exhausted by political division and blockades. But like the Democrats, we will wait and see.
The opioid crisis, energy needs and education, including school choice, are at the top of Sununu’s agenda. He wants a 90-day moratorium on new regulations and a business tax credit for job training. Faced with a rapidly aging population, we want him to pursue his proposal for tuition help for students who stay here to work, especially in health care. Democrats will push him on full funding for all-day kindergarten, a proposal for workers to earn paid family and medical leave, and his promise to invest in fixing bridges and roads.
The details in Sununu’s budget proposal in February will be the proof of the direction he plans to take. So will the appointments he will make during his term, including two new members of the Supreme Court, attorney general and the commissioners of Education, Environmental Services and Labor.
Meanwhile, our sitting governor, Democrat Maggie Hassan, prepares to go to Washington, as the newly elected U.S. senator. We believe Hassan, who defeated the Republican incumbent Kelly Ayotte, will better represent New Hampshire on important social issues, including a woman’s right to choose and reasonable gun control measures – which are sure to come under attack under a Trump administration.
A lawyer and a skilled debater, Hassan should take a strong, and fair, position on Trump’s nominees to the U.S. Supreme Court, which will affect generations to come. And she needs to be loud and clear in Washington, as she was on the campaign trail, about the dangerous influence of big corporate interests, and big spending, in politics.
The Hassan/Ayotte duel is Exhibit A for campaign finance reform. Spending mostly by outside sources exceeded a whopping $100 million. We have serious doubts that a Trump administration, or a Supreme Court with Trump appointees, will do much to stem the egregious flow of money into politics. But we urge Senator-elect Hassan to be a high visibility advocate for reform, with our senior U.S. Sen. Jeanne Shaheen and their Democratic colleague from Massachusetts, U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Warren.
In the wake of the national GOP tidal wave, much has been made of the fact that New Hampshire will send an all-Democratic, all-female delegation to Congress. Hassan and Shaheen will be joined by U.S. Rep. Annie Kuster of Hopkinton, who won a third term from the 2nd Congressional District, and the ever-resilient Carol Shea-Porter of Rochester won back a seat in the 1st Congressional District.
We expect both Kuster and Shea-Porter will continue what we see as the core duty of House members – constituent service – which Kuster has mastered.
For now, in Concord and Washington, we just welcome some much needed calm.