Elections have consequences. Supporters of losing candidates have an obligation to move on. Doing so is difficult when an election has rewarded someone as undeserving of a third term as Gov. Chris Sununu.
Over 20 veterans have died of COVID at the New Hampshire Veterans Home. Itโs heartbreaking and inexcusable. Our legislators, led by Dan Feltes, saw this coming and worked hard to prevent it. They passed an independent review and needs assessment for nursing homes, along with financial support to protect nursing homes, including specifically protecting the veterans at the New Hampshire Veterans Home.
Unfortunately, Gov. Sununu vetoed the bill that would have protected nursing home residents in July. Was the veto motivated by the fact that his opponent, Dan Feltes, had championed the legislation? Or maybe Gov. Sununu did not want the transparency of an independent review showing what went wrong on his watch?
At this point the answer does not matter. What matters now is providing immediate protection for our nursing home residents, and accountability for steps that could have been taken but were not.
Feltesโs track record getting real results on health care, for working families, and for veterans suggests he would have been much better equipped to deal with the COVID crisis than our current governor, but the people of New Hampshire have spoken.
Hopefully Gov. Sununu will do better in his next term. He could start by taking responsibility for his failure to protect our veterans; itโs urgently needed.
JONATHAN LAX
Concord