#nh01

 North Conway, NH— Tonight, Carol Shea-Porter continued her dominant debate performances, holding Guinta accountable for his constant deception of New Hampshire voters. On issue after issue, Frank desperately tried to inflate his record, but Carol wouldn’t let him. She held him responsible for voting against funding for opioid treatment and prevention and for failing to provide adequate funding for the new programs passed last summer. He wasn’t able to defend his irresponsible votes to take drug treatment away from 6,000 people.

“This is important work that needs to be done, but if you’re going to vote against the ACA than you’re voting to take away treatment. There’s no other way to explain that. You actually voted against the bill, the Omnibus, last December which had money for treatment for opioid and heroin addiction,” Shea-Porter said. “Now you’re on the Budget Committee. You didn’t get your budget passed.  But you voted for things in the Budget Committee, and one of them, you had an opportunity to vote for more money for the opioid crisis, and you said no. So you can’t stand here and say that you know that we need these resources and then go to Washington and vote against it,” added Shea-Porter. 

Shea-Porter laid out her plans for the future, “There’s no statute of limitations on caring for people,” she said. She called for affordable higher education for Americans and highlighted her record expanding Pell Grants and lowering student loan interest rates by having students apply directly for a federal school loan. The subsidies that banks used to collect were plowed back into increasing Pell Grant funding. 

On funding for education for children with disabilities, Shea-Porter said, “It’s really shameful, it’s a commitment [Congress] made, and they should honor it.” She showed the audience her compassion and commitment for fighting for all Americans, not just those at the very top. “We have to keep working at this because it’s an obligation we have to every child no matter where that child is no matter what the zip code is, no matter what the difficulties that their family faces or the child faces, the challenges. Every child deserves an opportunity to be fully engaged and part of what I call a piece of the American Dream,” concluded Shea-Porter. 

Political newcomer Shawn O’Connor is taking advantage of Congressman Frank Guinta’s self-inflicted woes with a direct mail piece introducing himself to voters as “the right candidate to send Frank Guinta home -- for good.”

O’Connor, the test prep entrepreneur who is financing his campaign with $500,000 in personal funds, is the only announced Democratic candidate for Guinta’s first district seat. In an email to Miscellany Blue, campaign spokesperson Joshua Bruner noted the mailer has been in the works for over a month. The “timing was completely unrelated to the FEC's conciliation agreement with Congressman Guinta,” he wrote.

Whether or not Guinta’s name will even be on the ballot for the next congressional election is, of course, an open question -- as is the timing of that election.

Guinta has thus far resisted calls for his resignation from many of the state’s Republican elected officials. U.S. Sen. Kelly Ayotte, the state’s highest ranking Republican, was the first to urge the congressman to step down after an FEC investigation determined Guinta funded his 2010 campaign with an illegal $355,000 contribution from his parents.

Image: linkedin.com

1st District congressional candidate Shawn O'Connor described his initial fundraising results as “record-breaking.” He could have been referring to the $500,000 in personal funds he loaned to the campaign.

In his first quarterly report filed with the Federal Election Commission, O’Connor reported total receipts of $591,645 and disbursements of $16,611, leaving the campaign with $575,034 in cash on hand at the end of March.

In addition to the half-million dollar personal loan, O'Connor raised $91,645 in donations. The source of his contributions will do nothing to dispel the carpetbagger complaint against O'Connor. Just four of the itemized donations came from Granite State residents: $5,400 from O'Connor’s partner Joshua Bruner and a total of $1,200 from three other individuals.

The $91,645 total includes $7,996 in unitemized donations (contributions from individuals who have contributed less than $200 during the election cycle) and a $3,000 PAC contribution from a D.C. law firm and lobbying group.

The Draft Shawn For New Hampshire committee, which could have raised money on O'Connor’s behalf but could not coordinate efforts, did not file a report. O'Connor officially entered the race less than two weeks after the draft committee was formed. In this report, O'Connor listed $39,362 in out-of-pocket costs incurred during the exploratory phase, which the campaign intends to reimburse.

Prior to a 5-4 Supreme Court ruling striking down the provision of the 2002 McCain-Feingold campaign finance law, the use of $500,000 in personal funds for a House campaign would have triggered special rules prescribed by the law’s “millionaire’s amendment.” The sanctions, which were declared unconstitutional in 2008, required self-funding candidates to disclose more information and allowed their opponents to accept larger donations.

Image: Marc Nozell / CC BY 2.0

Links to up-to-the-minute vote totals from Associated Press:

U.S. Congress:  Total  |  Detail

N.H. Governor and U.S. Senate:  Totals  |  Detail

N.H. House and Senate:  Totals  |  Detail

N.H. Executive Council:  Totals  |  Detail

Miscellany Blue PVI data and maps:

Executive Council Districts:  Map

N.H. Senate Districts:  Map

N.H. House Districts:  Map1  Map2

N.H. Towns:  Map

Image: nh1.com

During an August debate with the Republican candidates for Congress in New Hampshire's 1st Congressional District, Frank Guinta was asked a direct question and he gave a direct answer. "Do you believe that the IRS should be abolished, Mr. Guinta? asked the moderator. "Yes," replied Guinta.

Audio: nh01RawFootage

In last night's televised NH1 debate with Congresswoman Carol Shea-Porter, Guinta was asked the same question. He danced, and he danced and he danced:

SHEA-PORTER: Do you still think we should abolish the IRS?

GUINTA: ...I don't think many people like the IRS. People are frustrated with the IRS and I think one of the fundamental challenges with the IRS is that they take advantage of people, of taxpayers. They're going after individuals and groups and what's frustrating is that on your disclosure you have both benefiting from a pension and a salary. You also took $10,000 from the IRS PAC and then you voted in favor of IRS subsidies. That is something that the American people are frustrated with and it's something that we have to change.

SHEA-PORTER: ...let me ask you one more time, please. Do you still want to abolish the IRS? I want to reform it, you want to abolish it.

GUINTA: ...you voted to support Lois Lerner and you voted against eliminating the lavish parties and the lavish money that the IRS has been spending. I think you did that you because took $10,000 from the IRS Union PAC and you're benefiting, according to your disclosure, from a salary and a pension at the same time. That's the kind of frustration that people have in this country that ought to be eliminated.

SHEA-PORTER: Can I get an answer to that? You've been saying that you want to abolish the IRS. Do you still want to abolish the IRS or do you want to reform it like I do?

GUINTA: I've answered the question.

Audio: nhpr.org

"Letting Frank Guinta take us back to the '50s is the wrong direction. Fantastic new ad from Carol Shea Porter.

Image: Why Tuesday? / CC BY-NC-ND 2.0

On the Porcupines Facebook page, the Free Staters were lamenting the quality of the Republican congressional candidates. "Garcia doesn't have an impressive voting record in the NH House, and Lambert, well, looks as if he's an interventionist," complained FSP founder Jason Sorens.