On Sept. 10, four Democratic candidates won a no-contest primary election to become the Democratic candidates for the New Hampshire State House representing Grafton County District 12.
Institute for Writing and Rhetoric lecturer Ellen Rockmore and environmental activist Terry Spahr ran for the first time, while government professor Russell Muirhead and attorney Mary Hakken-Phillips ran as two-time incumbents. The general election, to be held on Nov. 5, will feature the four Democratic candidates for four seats and has no Republican challengers.
“The four Democratic candidates are a unified team,” Rockmore wrote in an email statement to The Dartmouth. “We have the same legislative priorities.”
Muirhead identified Grafton 12 as a district of “highly educated citizens” who want state representatives to consider the interests of the entire state, not just the Upper Valley.
According to Spahr, affordable healthcare, environmental crisis action, investment in public education and protection of bodily autonomy are “important” issues for New Hampshire voters. Rockmore and Muirhead also noted that voters care about the construction of affordable housing and the defense of voting rights.
The absence of Republican competition in the historically Democratic district has enabled candidates to run what Spahr calls a campaign of “listening tours.” Since the four Democratic candidates will be unchallenged in the general election, they have spent their time campaigning in support of Democratic gubernatorial nominee and former Manchester, N.H. mayor Joyce Craig and engaging with issues personal to Upper Valley residents.
“We are optimistic that we can accomplish a lot if New Hampshire voters choose Joyce Craig as their next governor,” Rockmore wrote.
Rockmore wrote that Craig differs from the Republican nominee for governor, former Sen. Kelly Ayotte, on several points. Rockmore praised Craig’s record on issues of carbon emission reduction, access to abortion care, affordable housing initiatives and public education funding. Meanwhile, she characterized Ayotte as a “Trump devotee” and a threat to abortion rights.
Muirhead also said the race for the governor’s seat “matters a lot,” especially for environmental policy, reproductive freedom and “defending people’s access to the ballot.” He referenced current Republican gov. Chris Sununu’s opposition to environmental policy initiatives and the interest of some Republican state legislators in banning abortion after six weeks.
“Sununu has been opposed to every kind of incentive that might cause utilities, businesses and individuals to increase their investments in renewable energy,” Muirhead said. “Joyce Craig is going to be much more sympathetic to creating those kinds of incentives.”
Craig has pledged to transition New Hampshire away from fossil fuels, invest in energy storage for extreme weather conditions and center local generation projects in power infrastructure, according to her campaign website.
On education policy, Muirhead said Ayotte seeks to “defund public schools and create an all-private system.” According to Ayotte’s campaign website, she plans to increase investment in New Hampshire’s Education Freedom Account system, which provides vouchers to parents of private and home-schooled students.
In regards to facing policy opposition, Muirhead said Spahr and Rockmore are individuals with “deep conviction” and that “they’ll have a fighting spirit” on the legislative floor in Concord, N.H.
Spahr said he aims to provide “a high quality of life” for New Hampshire families.
“[The New Hampshire] community is one that’s not over-developed,” Spahr said. “It’s not overcrowded, it’s not over-regulated, it’s not overpriced, it’s not over polluted. It’s a nice community to live and raise your family in and work.”
Muirhead said young members of the Dartmouth community should pay attention to politics with two minds: that of a personally engaged “activist” and that of a “political scientist,” “curious” and “dispassionate.”
On the national scale, Muirhead said he believes that such a mindset would result in a “better understanding” and improved “quality of our politics.”
Spahr — a University of Pennsylvania alumnus — reflected on his own college days and encouraged Dartmouth students to seek out “nonprofits and volunteer opportunities” as a way to cultivate civic “vitality” in the Upper Valley.
Rockmore also emphasized the significance of student involvement in local politics, noting that Dartmouth students can “really make a difference in what kind of state New Hampshire becomes.”
“We are lucky to live in a community with such politically engaged young adults,” Rockmore wrote.
