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September 27th  , 2024                   Len’s Political Note #674 Joyce Craig New Hampshire Governor

2024                                                       General Election

On September 11, Manchester Mayor, Joyce Craig won the Democratic primary for Governor. In June, she had announced she recently raised $1.1 million brought her to a record setting $2.3 million for a New Hampshire gubernatorial campaign.  Her Republican opponent, former US Senator Kelly Ayotte zoomed right past that record when she reported that she had raised $4.2 million.

Joyce Craig runs marathons.  She compares political campaigns to marathons – planning, strategy, patience.  There is, however,  nothing to suggest that a life as a politician was part of her long term plan.  She recalls her Manchester childhood as being far from helicopter parenting. An only child in a tiny two bedroom house, after school she played outside – kickball, hide and seek, other games – until she was called in for dinner.  She learned independence playing outside.

She also learned that life is not straightforward.  Her uncle, her father’s brother was a high school star – Mr. Central High School, quarterback on the football team.  He was going places until he was paralyzed in an automobile accident.  Indomitable, he learned to drive a car, went back to college, and got himself a job at Lockheed Martin.  She describes him as their “strength.”

Joyce Craig went to the University of New Hampshire and got a BA in business administration. Like many of her peers, she left to work in Boston.  Starting in the message center of an advertising firm, she got promoted and eventually became an account executive.  She moved on. She worked in bio technology, one of Boston’s high tech fields.  She worked for Cynthia Fisher, founder of ViaCell, a blood stem-cell banking company.

When Joyce Craig and her husband, an attorney, were ready to have children, they left for Manchester rather than raise children in Boston or its suburbs.  She continued to work, managing real estate properties. They had three children and those children drew her into politics.  Concerned about the opioid epidemic and the quality of the schools, she ran for and was elected to the Board of Aldermen.  She served in that role from 2010 to 2016, running for mayor in 2015, but losing by 64 votes.

She won in 2017.  In March of 2023, Joyce Craig announced she would not run for reelection as mayor.  In January of that year, the popular Republican governor Chris Sununu had wondered about a presidential run.  He would not be running for governor again. He may not have made that clear to. himself, but he was pretty clear to others.

In May Joyce Craig created an exploratory committee.  In July Sununu announced his decision not to run for governor again.  That same month, Joyce Craig announced her candidacy for governor.

Joyce Craig had competition from Governor’s Councilor Cinde Warmington whom she defeated in the Democratic primary by a close 48-42 margin.  Joyce Craig would face the one-term former US Senator Kelly Ayotte in November.  She defined Ayotte as having voted for a national abortion ban, having voted six times to defund Planned Parenthood, having endorsed Donald Trump who endangers women’s reproductive freedom.

Even better. Joyce Craig graphically defined her accomplishments as mayor.  I cannot figure out how to copy her graphic.  Here is a link: https://joycecraig.org/about

Simply and clearly, she points out:

  • 100 small business grants,
  • 60% reduction in carbon dioxide emissions,
  • 38% decrease in violent crime,
  • 215 miles of roads and sidewalks repaired,
  • increased starting salary for teachers,
  • $30 million for housing initiatives,
  • 33 additional police officers,
  • 7,000 new jobs,
  • a plan to expand abortion rights, and
  • a $44 million grant to develop a biomedical manufacturing sector in Manchester.

We have no polls.  Joyce Craig has less money than Kelly Ayotte.  Nevertheless, Joyce Craig can win this election. There is no six-year cushion like there is for a Senator.  Like the mayor of Manchester, the governor of New Hampshire is elected every two years. Assuming she wins, Joyce Craig will be facing the voters again in 2026.  Help her. DONATE. VOLUNTEER.

 

Other competitive or interesting gubernatorial races

 North Carolina

This is the most important gubernatorial election of 2024.  Former Attorney General Josh Stein leads North Carolina Democrats into a near apocalyptic struggle against the extreme right. He is the moderate Democratic son of a pioneering, progressive attorney.   His opponent, Lt. Governor Mark Robinson has been a defender of gun rights, argues that abortion is murder, opposes federal funds for education, and stands out as being  as anti-democratic as Donald Trump. Recently, documents have emerged where he described himself as a Black Nazi.  Among his running mates is a Superintendent of Public Instruction candidate who would abolish public schools if she could.  DONATE to Josh Stein. VOLUNTEER.  Consider supporting the entire North Carolina Democratic party.  DONATE to the party.  No other state has so many potentially close statewide races with particularly appealing Democrats running against extremist Republicans.

 

Indiana

A possible surprise.  Former Republican Superintendent of Public Instruction Jennifer McCormick had been a teacher, principal, assistant superintendent, and superintendent. She became convinced that the Republican leadership had no interest in making Indiana schools the rigorous places they ought to be. Her solution to her problem with the Republicans was to quit their political party and run for Governor as a Democrat.  Indiana Democrats are happy with her.  US Senator Mike Braun, who is leaving the Senate expecting an easy ride to be governor, may not be as happy. Jennifer McCormick does not have the kind of resources that Braun has for the campaign, but she does have knowledge on the ground about the impact of state government.  Braun has already demonstrated his lack of knowledge.  He made a proposal to reduce property tax rates. His proposal had such differential effects that, within days, he had to attempt to adjust it.  Jennifer McCormick’s property tax proposal was a little more complex. Her proposal has generated no such bad reaction.

Do not count her out.  Help her out. DONATE.  VOLUNTEER. See Len’s Political Note #590

Montana

A victory here would be a surprise. Former gun manufacture executive Ryan Busse saw the light. He is not giving up hunting.  He continues to own guns at home and has taught his sons to hunt and shoot. After leading a corporate boycott of Smith & Wesson for agreeing to gun safety measures, he gradually shifted his views, and not only on gun safety.  He supported Barack Obama because he thought the Democrat would be more likely to protect public lands.  The Marjorie Stoneham Douglas mass shooting was, for him and his wife, the last straw.  He became an advisor to Joe Biden on gun issues. And now he is running for governor of Montana against the extreme conservative Greg Gianforte – a man who got in trouble after moving to Montana because he blocked others from access to fishing spots, a man who manhandled a reporter whose writing he did not like, and a man who does not accept dissent, even from fellow Republicans.  Democrats throughout the country will be fortunate if Montanans keep Jon Tester as US Senator.  Ryan Busse gives Montanans another Democrat to vote for.  He is a long shot, but worthy of support.  DONATE.  VOLUNTEER. See Len’s Political Note #604

Missouri

 Crystal Quade, graduated from Missouri State.  She was the first in her family to graduate from high school. A voice from Missouri’s Ozarks, she navigated the condescension with which a young female legislator was treated to become a figure in the state.  Currently the minority leader in the House, she is leading the Democrats against a Republican supermajority of 111 to 51 with 1 vacancy.

Now she is aiming to defeat businessman turned politician Lt. Governor Mike Kehoe in what has to be considered a very uphill battle.  A. poll in August found her behind by 10 points; a poll in September nearly doubled that deficit to 18 points.  In June, NPR reported that Kehoe had raised $13 million for his campaign.  A critic suggested that much of that was from people and businesses with state contracts.  The same report suggested that Crystal Quade had raised $1 million.  No matter how fresh a face she is; no matter how effective she may be, unless she has some funds to reach the public she cannot win.  DONATE VOLUNTEER Help Crystal Quade compete.  See Len’s Political Note # 671.

 

Utah

A surprise victory for Brian King would be the product of an odd alliance with extreme conservative State Rep Phil Lyman.  Lyman won the Republican Party convention, but lost in the primary. He announced a write-in campaign for Governor, intentionally undermining the incumbent Republican governor, Spencer Cox’s run for reelection.  Lyman began his write-in campaign using a joint advertisement with Brian King.  Arguing that Governor Cox is part of a corrupt establishment, Lyman tells voters they are better off voting for Brian King than for Spencer Cox.

Brian King describes himself as the descendent of Joseph Smith’s martyred brother Hyrum, and the South Utah pioneer Lyman family (No one seems to note whether or not that makes him a relative of Phil Lyman).  He recalls his rancher grandfather and his attorney father, in particular, his father’s commitment to the law.  He recalls his mother’s feminism and logical understanding of the world.  He recalls lively dinner table conversations that were more exploratory than adversarial.  And he recalls a permanent sense of growing up “for the better.”  He describes his legal career as frequently a case of David versus Goliath.  He describes his time as an LDS Bishop as an opportunity to connect with people in their “vulnerable moments.” He describes his service in the legislature as an occasion for learning the “art of thoughtful disagreement for the better.” And he describes his recent interfaith marriage to Ann Silverberg Williamson, which increased the number of children in his family from three to seven, as an opportunity to celebrate diversity of opinion. Finally, he describes this new family as a microcosm of Utah’s “richness of diversity” and as a “source of strength and unity”.

Can this guy get elected governor?  Maybe he can with Phil Lyman’s help.  Help him try.  DONATE.  VOLUNTEER.

 

Washington

Bob Ferguson’s contest for Governor, especially compared to those described above, should be easy.  A bookish descendent of pioneers, a graduate of a Catholic High School, the University of Washington, the Jesuit Volunteers, and NYU’s law school, he became a litigator.  Memorable cases including protecting taxpayers from paying the cost of construction overruns of a baseball stadium’s construction and challenging the constitutionality of anti-tax schemes.  As a county councilor and attorney general, he continued his efforts as protecting taxpayers, insisting, for instance, on the purchase of used furniture for a new county office building.  As attorney general, he sued Comcast for deceiving customers and a flower store for refusing to provide flowers for a same sex wedding.

Bob Ferguson has his hobbies.  He is a mountain climber and a birder; he has won the Washington State chess championship and is ranked internationally.  He should defeat former Congressman David Reichert, a former county sheriff.  Reichert left Congress in 2018.  Analysts suggest the retirement from Congress was a product of his discomfort with Trump’s behavior as President.

Whatever Reichert’s reasoning, Bob Ferguson, seems to be ahead.  The Cook Report sees the race as leaning Democratic; Inside Elections says Bob Ferguson is the likely winner.  In mid-June, the Washington State Standard reported that Bob Ferguson had raised $7.4 million to Reichert’s $3.7 million.  Nothing is ever certain.  If you wanted to help, it would be welcome.  DONATE. VOLUNTEER.  For Bob Ferguson.  See Len’s Political Note #633

 

 WE HAVE A PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION TO WIN

Kamala Harris and Tim Walz

As we look toward November, 2024, enthused by the extraordinary convention, Kamala Harris’s dynamic debate, and the remarkably disciplined Harris/Walz campaign we know we have to keep on helping.   Every donation, large or small, makes a difference.  Larger donations mean more money for the campaign.  But many in the media count the number of small donations as a measure of enthusiasm for the candidate.  Make a small donation if you cannot afford a large one.  DONATE TO KAMALA HARRIS & TIM WALZ.  VOLUNTEER. Be part of a new beginning for the United States of America and for the Democratic Party.