Democratic candidate Urrutia is a leader who shows up
Christian Urrutia, a Democratic congressional candidate for New Hampshire 1st Congressional District, is highly qualified. He’s an attorney with an MA in International Relations, a former special counsel at the Department of Defense, and current New Hampshire Army National Guard officer. Excellent qualifications are necessary but not sufficient — we also need the candidate to be a leader.
How do we identify a leader among the several candidates running? We look at their actions, in this time of crisis, more than their words. How do they react to ICE brutality? ICE has been rampaging across the country, acting outside the law, terrorizing our communities, killing too many of us. This lawless violence has come ever closer to us, with the recent killing of a Biddeford man and the attempt to place an ICE detention center in Merrimack.
Last August, the Pease Development Authority allowed people to testify against the use of Pease airport for ICE flights. The NH 1 candidates from the Seacoast didn’t show up, but Christian Urrutia drove from Moultonborough, and along with many others, spoke against ICE. Urrutia assailed ICE’s violations of our constitutional rights. Then, when Merrimack was fighting against a detention center, Rep. Wendy Thomas said Urrutia was the NH 1 candidate who offered help, asking, “What do you need? How can I help? Put me to work.” That’s the kind of leadership we need — someone who takes the initiative, who is bold not timid, who will defend us in today’s crisis.
I’ll be voting for Christian Urrutia on Sept. 8.