After joining interviews with Chris Ryan and Jack Heath and filing for re-election on Friday, Senator Maggie Hassan hit the campaign trail – attending events across the state and laying out the stakes in this election. At campaign stops in Laconia, Peterborough, Keene and Concord, Senator Hassan “warn[ed] of a ‘McConnell agenda’ in Congress,” “stressed the need to protect abortion rights, suspend the federal gas tax and lower the cost of prescription drugs,” and made clear the contrast between herself and her opponents.
Read more coverage below:
Brattleboro Reformer: Sen. Hassan stops in Keene, warns of a ‘McConnell agenda’ in Congress
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During a campaign stop in Keene, shortly after filing her candidacy for a second term in Congress, Sen. Maggie Hassan pointed out that all five of the Republicans who hope to unseat her are men. “And all of them say that if they are elected, they would vote to ban abortion, and to defund Planned Parenthood,” said Hassan.
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“And they have made very clear that if they are elected,” [Hassan said], “they will take away a woman’s most basic fundamental freedoms. They apparently think that women have neither the capacity nor the conscience to make their own critical decisions about some of the most complex and difficult choices about our health and our lives that we have to make.”
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“I really, really believe in our democracy,” she said. “This is really what this election is about; are we going to have a democracy where everybody has a voice? Are we going to have an economy that works for everybody, and are our daughters going to have the same rights and freedoms as everybody else. That’s what this is about. We have a tough election ahead of us. The stakes are really, really high. But it is also a very winnable election.”
Keene Sentinel: Hassan files for re-election, brings campaign to Keene
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Democratic U.S. Sen. Maggie Hassan stressed the need to protect abortion rights, suspend the federal gas tax and lower the cost of prescription drugs in a campaign stop in Keene Friday, hours after she filed for re-election to a second term.
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She said her Republican opponents in the race would support the agenda of Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell and “do the bidding of big pharma and big oil.” “All of them say, if elected, they would ban abortion and defund Planned Parenthood. They have made very clear that if they are elected they will take away a woman’s most basic fundamental freedoms,” she told a group of campaign supporters and politicians.
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“We stood up to the entire health care industry because we realized surprise medical bills worked well for the insurance companies and they work well for the health care providers, they just don’t work very well for patients,” she told supporters. “The law went into effect Jan. 1 and to date, estimates say that we have stopped 2 million surprise medical bills.”
Monadnock Ledger Transcript: U.S. Sen. Maggie Hassan visits Toadstool in Peterborough
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“One of the things I’ve learned is that when you really raise the priorities of your constituents with senators on both sides of the aisle, that their constituents are often facing some of the same challenges, and you can get things done,” Hassan said.
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Hassan also took pride in other bipartisan bills she has worked on, such as the Innovation and Competition Act, which authorizes funding for technology and research in multiple areas over a five-year period, and other legislation that has addressed the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on schools, businesses and first-responders.
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Although Hassan works in the U.S. Senate, and her work affects the whole of the United States, she also wants to address specific issues within the Monadnock Region. “When I have been out here, both housing and internet access has been a real issue,” Hassan said, explaining that creating affordable housing and reliable, high-speed internet are both ways to address unemployment in the region.
Monadnock Beat: Maggie Hassan comes to Peterborough, after filing for her second term, to listen to voters
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“One of the things that is always really important in New Hampshire is we listen to voters and then addressing the [priorities] that they care about,” Hassan said. “And obviously, as we’re heading towards the election I’m trying to make clear the contrast between me and my opponents who would be listening to corporate special interests and not listening to the people of our state.”
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“If there is one issue I’m hearing about the most right now it’s high gas prices and inflation generally,” Hassan told reporters outside of the bookshop afterward. Hassan said “big oil” is to blame for the gas price hikes and said it’s time to hold them accountable. “Big oil right now is taking advantage not only of the crisis of the pandemic, but also the crisis of the war,” she said.
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“Businesses have been saying to me it’s hard to hire workers because workers can’t find affordable places to live. And one of the things we’ve tried to do is support state efforts to really tackle this problem and it’s a problem that has a number factors to it. But I hear about it loudly and clearly and I am trying to make sure we’re supporting those who invest in low and moderate income housing and increasing housing supply,” Hassan said.
WMUR: Hassan files to defend US Senate seat
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U.S. Sen. Maggie Hassan was the last major candidate to submit their paperwork and fee Friday as the filing period for the November election closed. Supporters of Hassan chanted her name outside the secretary of state’s office, previewing the intensity of the hard-fought election contest that’s likely to come.
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“The contrast in this race is really, really clear, because all of my opponents would be yes votes for Mitch McConnell and the special interest, anti-choice agenda he represents,” Hassan said.
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Record price inflation and gas prices have the potential to dominate the campaign season. Hassan is trying to show voters she’s doing something about it by strongly advocating for a gas tax holiday. “That helps put some more money back in people’s pockets,” she said. “I’m pushing the administration to support that. They haven’t yet. That’s disappointing. But we also need to stand up to big oil, and that’s why we have been asking the FTC to investigate if there’s market manipulation or price gouging.”
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Democratic Sen. Maggie Hassan says that it’s “frustrating” that President Biden has yet to support her push to temporarily repeal the federal gas tax, to help consumers cope with skyrocketing prices at the pump. […] “What I’ve been pushing for is, among other things, is suspending the gas tax. That helps put some more money back in people’s pockets. I’m pushing the administration to support that. They haven’t yet and that’s frustrating,” Hassan told Fox News on Friday.
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On Friday, Hassan reiterated that “we also need to stand up to big oil. That’s why we have been asking the FTC (Federal Trade Commission) to investigate whether there is market manipulation or price gouging going on.”
Concord Monitor: On the trail: Hassan tries to put daylight between herself and Biden
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Last month Hassan went up with a TV commercial in her home state spotlighting that the senator is “taking on members of my own party to push a gas tax holiday, and I am pushing Joe Biden to release more of our oil reserves. That’s how we lower costs and get through these times.” She echoed that point Friday. “When you look at this, big oil’s got record profits, but they keep increasing the price of gasoline anyway while they have extra capacity that they could tap but they choose not to,” Hassan said.
Senator Hassan on NH Today with Chris Ryan:
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“One of the most straightforward things we could do is allow Medicare to negotiate prescription drug prices that would lower overall prices for consumers, as well as save the federal government some money – that keeps getting blocked by Republicans in Washington.”
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“My constituents are also very worried about the GOP’s attack on fundamental freedoms. That’s obviously been a huge issue here in New Hampshire. One of my opponents, Chuck Morse, was the architect of the abortion ban. That really goes counter to the way Granite Staters think about a woman’s right to make her own decisions and to keep the government out of her private business.”
Senator Hassan on Good Morning New Hampshire with Jack Heath:
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“I proposed suspending the gas tax for the rest of the year, putting a little bit more money back in people’s pockets. My opponents oppose that. They are parroting Big Oil’s agenda as opposed to [being] focused on how we can get gas prices down and hold Big Oil accountable because they’re keeping profits way up while also increasing our prices.”
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“There are a number of things we can do to hold Big Oil accountable. One of the things it’s a real clear contrast in in my race is that I’ve got opponents who won’t pursue those actions. They oppose suspending the gas tax. They won’t stand up to Big Oil. This is really about whether we’re going to have people who stand up for their constituents in Congress or not. And one of the things I’ll continue to do is, push Big Oil, Big Pharma, and then also find ways to work together across the aisle to get things done”