3rd District Dems going as far as N.H. for votes
HAMPTON, N.H. — At least one desperate Democratic candidate is prepared to target voters across state lines — campaigning in New Hampshire if she has to — as rivals in the 3rd Congressional District scramble to drum up interest for a primary election set for the day after Labor Day.
“A fair amount of voters from Greater Lowell, and not just Lowell but the surrounding towns, will be spending that last summer weekend up in Hampton and Seabrook,” said Lori Trahan, who was an aide to former U.S. Rep. Martin T. Meehan. “That’s a big concern of ours.”
The election is Sept. 4, and Trahan added, “You can imagine us sending some folks up there on Sept. 3, you know, rallying people to get home in time to vote.”
In the favored hot spot for generations of vacationing Merrimack Valley residents, potential voters indicated the crowded field of 10 Democratic candidates have their work cut out for them.
“We haven’t really been paying attention,” said Ashburnham resident Dawna Lahtinen, who strolled passed arcades and fried dough stands with her husband yesterday despite the cloudy skies.
“We’ve had a really full summer,” she said. “I’m going to be a grandmother again, my other daughter’s getting married. It’s just been too busy.”
Townsend resident Karen Turgeon is positive she is going to vote for a Democrat. She just isn’t sure which one — and there are a lot to choose from.
“I just don’t know yet,” said Turgeon, who has been vacationing at Hampton Beach “since forever.”
The New Hampshire resort town is just one area where the crowded field of 10 competitive Dems hope to win over voters.
Another candidate who stepped outside district lines in a bid to reach residents during the sleepy summer season was Mayor Marty Walsh’s former chief of staff Dan Koh. Koh shook hands and carried voters’ groceries Friday outside the North Andover Market Basket, where many Lawrence residents shop.
Within the district, Alexandra Chandler took pics with barnyard animals yesterday at the Bolton Fair.
“Let’s be honest, not everyone tunes in on this stuff,” said state Sen. Barbara L’Italien, who recently made her own political gamble to grab voters’ attention with a surprise appearance on Fox News. The Sudbury Democrat blasted President Trump while on Fox & Friends First, and the network later scolded L’Italien for misrepresenting herself.
“That’s why those door-to-door conversations are so important,” said L’Italien.
Meanwhile Trahan, Koh and former U.S. Ambassador to Denmark Rufus Gifford also took out TV ads to flood the airwaves for the next three weeks.
Gifford, who has faced criticism for being a district blowin from Nantucket, knocked on 10,000 doors last week in an effort to highlight his connection to the region.
“People don’t know where their congressional district starts and stops, necessarily. When you talk to people at their homes, what they’re interested in is experience, what they’re interested in is leadership, what they’re interested in is integrity,” Gifford said. “Those are the conversations I like to have.”