Republican Congressional Candidates Jeb Bradley and John Stephen have been battling each other over veterans benefits, tax cuts, and finding a way to lower gas prices.
But one of the battles the First District candidates have consistently had this summer involves Stephen’s record as Commissioner of Health and Human Services.
That issue was a major part of the latest debate Monday in Ossipee.
New Hampshire Public Radio’s David Darman has more.
Former Congressman Jeb Bradley has been accusing John Stephen of stiffing the state’s counties when Stephen was Health and Human Services Commissioner.
During the debate, Bradley accused Stephen of shortchanging county nursing homes.
In order to keep their doors open what happened is property tax payers had to pick up the bill.
Bradley reprised the accusations of a few dozen state lawmakers and 8 county officials who are supporting him.
In an earlier press conference, they claimed Stephen’s department should have paid millions more to the counties, to meet a state spending threshold for county nursing homes that had been in place for years.
Bradley says Stephen has claimed he saved taxpayers money, when what he really did was push state spending obligations onto local taxpayers.
And that’s not a savings, that’s a cost shift. And I would contend that that’s not the kind of leadership that we need in Washington.
John Stephen responds that Bradley mischaracterizes his record.
The former Commissioner argues payments to counties actually went up during his term heading Health and Human Services.
When I took over in 2003 the total county nursing homes payment was 69.9 million. When I left it was 83.8 million. That’s what you call a cost shift? 20 percent increase.
Stephen also criticized Bradley for dwelling on his alleged shortcomings as commissioner.
Stephen said he’d rather discuss what he sees as Bradley’s shortcomings which were apparent when the Wolfeboro Republican was in Congress.
I want to talk about getting this district back to fiscal conservative values…you lost this race jeb not just because of the war only but because you left those values behind.
Bradley lost his seat in 2006 to Democrat Carol Shea Porter.
Its not clear how many Republicans in the District are focusing on what John Stephen did while he was HHS commissioner.
Lobbyist Jim Monahan used to represent the counties until about 2 years ago.
He says the Bradley campaign’s efforts to define Stephen as a cost shifter are fair since the issue has been in play for a few years.
I think there’s a terrific vulnerability on Commissioner Stephen’s part because it was certainly part of the very active debate when he was commissioner that reductions in his department were being shifted to county taxpayers. This isn’t new it was part of the ongoing dialogue. So I think it’s a fair critique by the Bradley campaign.
The primary is about a month away, and both candidates have so far spent about the same amount of money.
The latest University of New Hampshire poll gives Bradley an edge over Stephen.
But pollsters are also predicting a light turnout on September 9th.
That could benefit either candidate, since getting a just few more voters to the polls might be enough to secure victory.
Delicious
Digg
Reddit
Facebook
Google
Yahoo