North Country State Senate Race Tight

December 31st, 2007 was Mike Cloutier’s last day at the Wausau Paper Mill in Groveton.

The mill closed, putting some 300 people out of work.

Cloutier had worked there over three decades.

His last year, he says he earned about $45,000, that’s not including health benefits and six weeks vacation.

Now, apart from some temporary federal help, he’s earning less than $18,000 at a chain discount store.

TAPE: as bad as I hated factory work, it always put food on my table. It had insurance, it had all of that. And now it’s gone. How do you call it? the good times are gone. So now you survive. How are we going to survive, and the bottom line for me, I believe we are going to have it rough, for 20 different reasons.

The Cloutier’s are relatively lucky.

Compared to some neighbors, they say at least they’ve got health insurance.

But Mike and his wife Tahnya still worry about fuel oil, groceries and medical expenses.

Tahnya’s employer- an agency that helps people with disabilities- had layoffs this summer.

So the Cloutier’s says they’re doing little things to save money- like keeping the heat off as long as they can.

Tahnya compares their financial situation to someone who just got hit by a truck.

TAPE: when you first start going into shock your blood loss, your heart starts pumping blood faster. But then after you start losing blood, if the wound is bad enough...

TAPE: your brain is saying, let’s take care of what is important here. We can live without arms, we can live without legs....but I need to protect what your life sustains. Your heart and your brain...we’ll do what it takes...whatever needs to be cutback will be cutback.

To Senator John Gallus and Representative Martha McLeod, the Cloutier’s story is one of hundreds like it across the region.

But the two have drastically different approaches to help the North Country recover.

Gallus supports bringing prisons to the area, leasing Canon Mountain and building a casino.

TAPE: I am not a gaming guy. I think I have told people that one million times. But if we could have two thousand jobs up here, guess what? Our economy is back on its feet. We need jobs. We have been waiting. As much as Concord tells us, ‘we love the North Country.’ Take a look around at the deterioration around you.

TAPE: it sounds like an easy fix. It’s sort of like suggesting we have another prison in Berlin...

That’s Representative Martha McLeod, who vehemently opposes leasing Canon or expanded gambling.

TAPE: when you start to talk about something that concerns a large segment of the population, like a casino, and what it might bring, what it might do to the social structure of the area, what it might do to the crime rate, to the quality of life....I don’t see my role as a state senator of making people more anxious in their life about the quality of life, or the safety for their families. I think there are other alternatives.

McLeod says if elected, she would push for a wood-fiber research and development center, more broadband, and more training for healthcare jobs.

Senator Gallus doesn’t oppose any of that.

But as he says, he’s been waiting for Dell, IBM and GM to show up for years.

Jeff Woodburn, who ran the state Democratic Party in the 90’s, says the candidates’ philosophies on job creation reflect a larger cultural divide.

TAPE: one is the old industrial, ethnic part of the city of Berlin and surrounding communities. The other is the more up and coming, AMC, Volvo-driving, more escaping urban and suburban lifestyles.

Woodburn says both groups have very different priorities.

TAPE: people who moved here, purchased property, and feel like they are good contributors to their community don’t want to see the communities become prisons, landfills and casinos. Yet, the people who are struggling to make ends meet, want a job.

As McLeod campaigns across the state’s largest senate district- Waterville Valley to Pittsburgh-she echoes top Democrats.

She says the proof that it’s time for a change can be found in local statistics.

1600 North Country jobs lost in the last three years.

Median family income is 30% lower compared to the rest of the state.

Gallus agrees life hasn’t gotten much better over the six years he’s been a Senator.

TAPE: But you have to look at the total picture. We have been collapsing for 100 years...it wasn’t John Gallus’s watch all the way along. When you are in an area like our it’s tough to get stuff accomplished in Concord. One senator, 57 communities. Three in Manchester, two in Nashua. It’s the votes to some degree.

At the same time, Gallus defends the work he’s done.

He ticks off what he sees as his accomplishments: a new train line into Whitefield Industrial Park, improved roads, a water precinct in Bartlett, the ATV Park in Berlin.

Republican attorney Brien Ward doesn’t buy the argument that Gallus is in for a close race.

Ward- who lost to Gallus in the 2002 primary- says political demographics favor the incumbent.

In the western part of the district- McLeod’s home turf- the biggest town is Littleton, historically a Republican stronghold.

To the east is Berlin.

TAPE: John Gallus is going to run very strong in Berlin.

In Berlin/Gorham- the district’s largest population center- Democrats have a more than 2:1 advantage.

But Gallus is a so-called ‘Berlin Boy’ and attorney Ward warns not to under-estimate how provincial voters can be.

TAPE: the idea that someone in Berlin is going to say you know, somebody down in Franconia is going to do more for my interests, rather than somebody there. it’s a hard district to connect to...there’s no continuity of interests between somebody who lives in Franconia which is an upscale community...blah, blah, blah, and the Berlin/Gorham interests. So it’s a very tough market to go into.

Despite the challenges, McLeod’s camp is optimistic.

One of Berlin’s most prominent Republicans- a previous Gallus supporter- is her campaign co-chair.

Former Berlin Mayor Bob Danderson, a close Gallus ally failed to win reelection last year.

And since 2004, Democrats have added almost 900 votes in the district, while Republicans have lost 800.

But what Democrats really are counting on is voters who feel like Tahnya Cloutier.

Despite backing Gallus in the past, she isn’t this time.

TAPE: I am not saying he’s a bad person or anything like that. I guess, I’ve given him a chance and I haven’t seen too, too much.

McLeod’s campaign believes the electorate’s in an ornery mood, looking for change.

But Senator Gallus says if that’s out there, he hasn’t seen it.

TAPE: I feel pretty comfortable in this district...I would think at the end of the day we are in good shape.

For NHPR News, I’m DG.