There is a lot at stake in this election. All across our country and across our state, the decisions we make this year will shape a decade of recovery. We are facing the worst economic crisis since the Great Recession and no clear end in sight. COVID has affected all of us in our daily lives. My wife Erin and I have two young daughters; Iris is 3 and Josie is almost 2. When their daycare shut down we struggled with many of the same issues families all across the state struggled with. As I’ve spoken with Granite Staters over the past six months, I’ve been incredibly inspired by their resilience and determination – I don’t know how so many are getting by.

In this election, we have an opportunity to bring about real change and get out of this mess in a way that actually works for working people and working families. Not slogans. Not talking points. Not press conferences or photo ops. Just hard work based on that fundamental belief that we are all in this together, and, in order to move New Hampshire forward, we cannot leave anyone behind. This election is about folks who never asked for a damn thing, but need someone in their corner now more than ever.

This election is about people like my parents. My dad worked in a furniture factory for 45 years, the same one, unairconditioned, doing roughly the same job day in and day out. My mom worked part-time jobs, including the night shift while raising four kids. The values they instilled in me, hard work and honesty, led me to a career of service. Right out of law school I had a choice: take a job as a corporate attorney or take a job with New Hampshire Legal Assistance. I chose legal aid.

This election is about the people I represented as a legal aid attorney. People like Carl and Pauline who, after years of saving, bought the modest home of their dreams. However, their dream quickly faded when they fell behind on bills in the Recession and received a foreclosure notice from a big Wall Street bank. As a legal aid attorney, I represented them against the Wall Street bank and we won. They got to keep their home. Time and time again, I saw hard-working Granite Staters who did everything right get left behind in a system that was not meant for them to succeed. Too many laws were written behind closed doors to benefit corporate campaign donors. That’s why in 2014 I ran for the state senate, so I could make a difference.

This election is about the people I’ve fought for in the state senate. People like Kurt, who with his wife went to a routine doctor’s appointment after she was suffering from headaches. The doctors told them she had just months to live. Kurt didn’t have access to paid family and medical leave, so instead of spending all waking moments with her, he had to return to work as the hospital bills kept piling up. That’s why in the state senate I sponsored paid family and medical leave insurance so people like Kurt could spend the final moments with a loved one.

In the state senate, we’ve gotten results. We passed legislation to lower prescription drug prices, we expanded health care to over 50,000 Granite Staters, we protected people with pre-existing conditions, we expanded access to mental health and substance use disorder treatment, we advanced clean energy and clean water, and we delivered the biggest public school funding in state history by closing tax loopholes for big corporations, but all too often, including on bipartisan initiatives, we ran into the same roadblock – Chris Sununu.

As we get out of this crisis, it’s not just enough to win an election. We need a different kind of politics. We need a politics of lifting people up, not tearing people down. We need to listen to those folks marching for change and those raising their voices, because the best ideas come from the ground up, not the top down. We need a politics that puts people first, which is why I led the way on campaign finance reform in the State Senate and why in this campaign, we do not accept any corporate contributions, any corporate PAC contributions, or any LLC contributions, and we’re proud in this campaign to be endorsed by the leading, national campaign finance reform organization, End Citizens United.

Now is not the time to sink into the tired debates of the past. On the left, we must reject the falsehood that an income tax is the only way to reduce property taxes, and on the right, we must reject the idea that our current tax system works. Neither is true. Now is the time to create a progressive future that works for everyone, not just those at the top. Now is the time to make government truly work for the people.

I respectfully ask for your vote in the Democratic primary for governor on Sept. 8. With your help, I am confident we can and we will move New Hampshire forward, together.

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