Substantive, savvy and relevant
Four words govern electoral folklore: “It’s the economy, stupid.” So, when I managed Democratic challenger Stu Green’s campaign in Senate District 7 last cycle, voters’ stories of deep financial pain suggested an anti-incumbent reckoning was imminent. Residents’ adult children lived at home or had left town looking for housing. A Vietnam vet was inching toward losing his mobile home due to exorbitant property taxes. Public schools weren’t improving. Such conditions would normally doom current officeholders in Concord. But instead, 2024 voters punished Democrats with a well-deserved shellacking.
Rather than confront kitchen-table realities, our party self-righteously emphasized social flashpoints that voters couldn’t afford to consider. After those even willing to speak to a Democrat decried a system ignoring their tax burdens and housing struggles, we slighted their hardships with an out-of-touch mailer promising to remove chemicals from drinking water. With 2026’s economic plights now even worse, Granite Staters need us to do better this time and provide a substantive, savvy and relevant alternative.
Instead of proclamations supporting public education, we need specific proposals like a district-by-district sliding scale formula indexing state base per-pupil funding to median income and taxable property wealth. This communicates a targeted, fiscally efficient strategy for easing tax burdens. Instead of forced housing mandates, we should collaborate with communities to identify culturally appropriate opportunities, aligning resources to realize locally-developed visions.