Candidates fanned out across New Hampshire this weekend — shaking hands, waving signs and chatting up voters — in a final burst of campaigning ahead of Election Day.
NHPR reporters were in the field too. He’s some of what they saw and heard.
Politics with a side of toast
Democratic Congressman Chris Pappas and Republican John Sununu, the candidates running for U.S. Senate this year, scrambled for votes all weekend long. At the start of a canvassing drive in Salem Saturday morning, Sununu gave a crowd of volunteers a quick primer on his local cred.
"I don’t like to brag. I’m not the type to brag,” he said. “But I am a member of the Salem High School hall of fame."
He chased that with a heaping portion of Republican red meat.
“Don’t crush us with taxes,” he said, standing in front of signs encouraging people to “Be the reason the left melts down.”
“Don’t crush us with regulation,” Sununu continued. “Don’t crush us with woke culture. Let us be us.”
Many of the volunteer canvassers were affiliated with Turning Point USA, the conservative group founded by Charlie Kirk. They included students who had flown from Texas to canvas in New Hampshire.
Up the road in Derry, Pappas worked the breakfast crowd at Mary Ann’s Diner with a wingman in tow: Former Gov. John Lynch.
The pair worked the booths, introducing themselves to diners over eggs and bacon. Some interactions went well — such as a promise from Southern New Hampshire University student Will Paganini that Pappas had “my whole family’s vote.”
Others went less well, such as the man who told Pappas: “I’m voting for the other guy.”
Pappas says the mixed response from face-to-face campaigning can be instructive — at least most of the time.
“People generally want the same things for their families,” he said. “So we're just trying to be visible and connect with the last few folks we need.”
A sound M.O. for any candidate locked in a tight race.
Recycled campaign messages at the dump
The local transfer station is always a good choice for candidates seeking face time with potential voters. When Bedford residents dropped off their recycling at the dump Saturday morning, they were greeted by candidates waving signs and cheering.
Dave Carey looked on at the crowd across the parking lot where he was throwing a bag of trash into a dumpster. He said he doesn’t think someone holding a sign would influence him in any way once he got to the polls.
“Maybe for some that are on the fence it does,” he said. “I mean, there's a lot of independents in the state. And I think it's good if people want to come and have a conversation.”
Carey is a Democrat, but he says he votes across party lines. He’s not sure who he wants to back when he votes this week.
“The ads get a little unfortunate after a while because, I mean, everyone's just throwing darts,” he said. “And I don't think that there's a lot of discussion around how things can be better. You don't hear anything from that about a plan.”
Dropping several bags into the dumpsters, Matt Romanowski said sign-waving seems kind of pointless to him.
“I think at this point, most people have decided, and especially now, the topics are so divisive, I don't think it changes anyone's mind,” he said.
Romanowski is planning to vote Tuesday, but no particular candidate excites him. He just knows the issues that matter to him.
“It's affordability,” he said. “It is the care you have for your neighbors in the local community. It’s certainly taxes and those things. And then all the local issues of how you think your town should be run.”
No candidate from the sign-waving crowd caught his eye. But as a salesman, he appreciated the hopeful politicians coming out anyway.
“I think for someone to believe in something enough, they're willing to knock on your door, they're willing to campaign to make the phone calls or to stand out here on a day like today — it shows that people still really care about what they're doing,” he said.
Whether the voters care too, only Tuesday’s results will tell.
A tight congressional race comes down to the wire
For more than a year, Republican Anthony DiLorenzo has been introducing himself to voters in the state’s 1st Congressional District.
The auto executive and first-time candidate worked a crowded brunch shift at The Goat in Hampton Sunday morning. At 11am, the mimosas were flowing — and so were the positive thoughts.
“Good luck; I’m praying for all of you, I really am,” one woman told DiLorenzo.
DiLorenzo has pitched himself as a successful businessman: a new voice for the district.
“This election is about New Hampshire’s future and who is best to represent it, and it's really about common sense,” he said.
Sensibility was also on the mind of Valerie O’Reilly. She hosted a party for Stefany Shaheen, the Democrat in this race, Sunday afternoon at her home in Manchester.
“We just need reasonable answers,” O’Reilly said. “We don’t need chaos.”
Shaheen, a former Portsmouth city councilor, is hoping a wave can carry her and other Democrats to wins on Tuesday.
“We’re not taking anything for granted, and look, this is a dream team of candidates up and down the ticket this year,” she told the house party crowd. “We’ve been telling everyone: remember, vote blue all the way through.
After plenty of campaigning, it’s finally time for voters to pick their color.
