NH-01: Crowded Pack of Democrats Races to Finish Line
The 1st Congressional District stretches from the southeastern corner of the state over to Manchester and reaches north into the White Mountains, through Conway and up to Jackson. Within that area, many campaigns said in the final days, they have their eyes set on the Seacoast and Manchester. Both are big Democratic strongholds, but they're also home -- or close to home -- to the majority of CD1 Democratic candidates. Maura Sullivan, Deaglan McEachern, State Rep. Mindi Messmer, Lincoln Soldati all live on the Seacoast. Two others, Naomi Andrews and Terence O'Rourke, live in towns in Rockingham County. Meanwhile, Pappas, Rep. Mark MacKenzie and William Martin have roots in Manchester, creating a lot of overlap in some of the most populated areas in the district.
Levi Sanders, son of Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders, actually lives in the 2nd Congressional District, in Claremont, while Paul Cardinal lives in Merrimack.
Dante Scala, political science professor at University of New Hampshire, said he thinks Pappas will do well in the Manchester-area because he's represented it as an executive councilor for several years. But Scala also thinks there could be room for other candidates to poke holes.
"It’s highly unlikely you’re gonna win Manchester over Chris Pappas, but if you can keep the margins within reach, the other half of the challenge is: How do you break out of the Seacoast and find a way to win a large portion of that vote," he said.
But candidates said they're not ignoring the northern parts of the district, where voters sometimes complain of being last on a campaign's canvassing list. MacKenzie said he believes the race will be won in parts of Belknap and Carroll counties, so the former state AFL-CIO president recently sent volunteers to canvas there.
http://www.nhpr.org/post/nhs-1st-congressional-district-crowded-pack-democrats-races-finish-line#stream/0
