There’s no denying that Democratic state Sen. Tom Sherman faces a huge uphill challenge as he tries to defeat three-term Republican Gov. Chris Sununu in November’s general election.
But the gastroenterologist from Rye and ranking member and former chair of the state Senate Health and Human Services Committee has one advantage that Sununu doesn’t enjoy: Sherman doesn’t have any rivals in September’s Democratic gubernatorial primary. Sununu – who’s running for a fourth two-year term steering the Granite State – is facing five longshot challengers in the GOP primary.
Sherman is the first Democratic gubernatorial candidate since Gov. Maggie Hassan not to face a rival in the primary when she ran for reelection in 2014.
“That’s huge,” Sherman said in an interview with the Monitor.
“It actually helps me have a chance to really focus on the people of New Hampshire and the issues that confront them. It allows me to go all over the state. I’m not worried about another Democrat running against me. All I’m focused on is Sununu and the people of New Hampshire and listening,” Sherman noted.
Sherman was interviewed minutes before he marched on Monday in the annual July 4th parade in Amherst. He said that voters are talking about “women’s reproductive rights” and the price of fuel, but that “housing is actually number one thing that I’ve heard about.”
He pointed to “rising property taxes over the last six years” and argued that “Republicans have not done anything to bring down those kinds of costs.”
While record inflation and gas prices still hovering near $5 per gallon have put President Joe Biden and the Democrats who control Congress on defense, in New Hampshire – where Republicans control the corner office, both houses of the state legislature and the Executive Council, Sherman claimed it’s the GOP who should be on their heels.
“With energy almost doubling in the state, that reflects on the party in power that has blocked every step we’ve tried to do along the way to help broaden our infrastructure base, allow lower energy costs, and now we’re paying the price,” Sherman said.
In the wake of moves by two of New Hampshire’s major utilities to hike rates by roughly 50% this fall, Sununu two weeks ago announced a plan to spend $60 million from the state’s surplus on one-time payments of $100 to people across the state to help tackle the soaring energy costs.
Sherman also took aim at the governor over the combustible issue of abortion. Following last month’s seismic move by the Supreme Court’s conservative majority to overturn the landmark half-century-old Roe v. Wade ruling and giving states the power to set limits on abortion, Sherman charged that “we have a governor that women can’t trust. They can’t trust him to actually do the right thing about making sure that in the Live Free or Die state they have a right to make their own health care decisions.”
“We want Roe versus Wade codified in state statute the way it has been the law of land for the last 50 years,” Sherman stressed.
Following the high court’s ruling last month, Sununu tried to quell fears about more restrictions on abortion in New Hampshire.
“I’m a pro-choice governor and as long as I am governor, we are going to remain a pro-choice state,” he said.
But last week the governor said he wouldn’t call a special legislative session – requested by Democratic state lawmakers – to enshrine abortion rights in New Hampshire law.
The governor said such a move wasn’t necessary because abortion rights are not in danger of changing in the state, but added that he would sign a bill codifying those rights if it reached his desk.
Sherman also jabbed at the governor over occasional speculation regarding a potential Sununu 2024 GOP presidential run. While the governor made national news last November by announcing he’d run for reelection this year rather than challenge Democratic Sen. Maggie Hassan, he hasn’t ruled out anything else when it comes to his political future.
Sherman, pointing to such speculation, argued that Sununu “is not focused on New Hampshire. He’s focused on a national race. My whole focus is on New Hampshire. I don’t need to be president…I just want to be governor to solve problems here in the state. And that I think is a winning message.”
If money equals votes, then U.S. Sen. Maggie Hassan has a huge advantage over the Republican candidates vying for her seat.
The senator’s campaign this week announced that Hassan hauled in a record $5 million in the April-June second quarter of 2022 fundraising. And Hassan’s team said they had more than $7 million in their campaign coffers as of the end of June.
Hassan – thanks to a very unfavorable political climate for incumbent Democrats – faces a potentially challenging reelection as she runs this year for a second six-year term representing New Hampshire in the U.S. Senate.
Hassan is a top target of national Republicans, who view her as vulnerable and aim to flip her seat in November’s midterm elections as part of their plan to win back the Senate majority.
However, the former governor is making sure she’s well prepared for whomever Republicans nominate in September to challenge her in the general election. The field includes retired Army Gen. Don Bolduc, New Hampshire Senate President Chuck Morse, former Londonderry town manager Kevin Smith, businessman and economist Vikram Mansharamani, and Libertarian-leaning cryptocurrency entrepreneur Bruce Fenton.
Thanks to her ferocious fundraising, Hassan will likely hold a large financial advantage over the eventual GOP nominee during the two-month sprint from the September primary to the November general election.