Steve Negron

As one of the original colonies, New Hampshire and her proud residents have always valued the Constitutional structures and associated legal traditions that make us a unified country comprised of strong states. For two centuries, countless scholars have concluded that it has resulted in the most exceptional example of self-rule in all of human history. I happen to agree. Chief among these Constitutional structures is the Electoral College, our unique way of electing the President of the United States unlike any other electoral process in the world. The Electoral College was deliberately designed to ensure every one of our 50 states has an equal voice in electing our Commander and Chief, whether a large state like California or a small state like New Hampshire. Like the Senate, it is a unique cornerstone of our constitutional republic and perfectly complements our democratically elected House of Representatives. Working together, the House, Senate, and Electoral College give fair representative voice to every American and are as necessary today as they were for our first Presidential election in 1788.

Unhappy with the 2016 presidential election results, there are short-sighted and angry people out there who want to eliminate the Electoral College with the consequence of silencing New Hampshire’s voice and stripping us of our ability to play a part in electing the President. Without an Electoral College, big cities like Los Angeles and New York City would be making that decision for small cities like Nashua and Concord. Some of the Democratic presidential candidates ran on a platform of eliminating the Electoral College, advocating against the better judgement of the Founding Fathers, preferring instead to elect the President by popular vote. Under that scheme, New Hampshire loses its say in presidential politics and its First in the Nation primary status. Instead of presidential hopefuls making New Hampshire their first stop at the initiation of their campaigns, they wouldn’t visit New Hampshire at all. We’d lose not only our voice, but over $60 million in business revenue that comes from visitors to New Hampshire during campaign season.

One such proponent of stripping New Hampshire of its equality in the presidential election process was “Mayor Pete” Buttigieg. That was bad enough in itself. But what is exceedingly worse for New Hampshire is that one our state’s voices in Congress, Rep. Ann Kuster, endorsed Mayor Pete for President. Ann’s mind-boggling position on this was exactly and objectively contrary to the constituents she represents, revealing a blatant disregard for the best interests of New Hampshire, the survival of our voice in the presidential electoral process, and the loss of vital business revenue to our small business owners.

This is a troubling example of how Rep. Kuster has lost her way in advocating for the people she is meant to serve, instead putting the priorities of Nancy Pelosi’s Washington D.C., big-city, socialist agenda ahead of our own. She has now become a civic danger to the people of New Hampshire. As New Hampshire’s Second Congressional District representative, you have my word that I will defend the Electoral College and our great state’s voice on all matters over swamp-city politics.

Steve Negron is a candidate for the Second District U.S. House of Representative seat in Tuesday’s general election.