With the campaign for New Hampshire governor in its final weeks, Democrat Joyce Craig and her ally Gov. Maura Healey (D-Mass.) are hitting the campaign trail.
In California.
The Democratic nominee will be attending a fundraiser in her honor at the home of a big-dollar donor in Berkeley, Calif. on Friday. It’s an event Craig’s Republican opponent, Kelly Ayotte, is happy to publicize.
“This one is pretty on the nose — @JoyceCraigNH campaigning in CALIFORNIA with @MassGovernor,” Ayotte posted on X. “Joyce will feel right at home in San Francisco, having tried to raise taxes six times, busted the tax cap, and enabled an out-of-control homelessness crisis in Manchester.”
The Republican Governors Association is touting the Craig-Healey West Coast tour as well.
(From the RGA)
“Under Joyce Craig, Manchester was well on its way to becoming downtown San Francisco – with needles littering the streets and homeless camps exploding,” said Kollin Crompton, RGA Rapid Response Director. “New Hampshire voters don’t want their state to become Massachusetts or California.”
Craig declined to respond to questions about the fundraiser, hosted by the “Electing Women Bay Area” organization.
Craig did not respond to a request from NHJournal for comment. But at least one elected Democrat came to her defense.
“Kelly, you made the mistake of actually posting a link to an actual invitation to the actual event: it turns out to be a breakfast at a private home in the East Bay,” state Rep. Timothy Horrigan (D-Durham) commented on X. “The hostess of the fundraiser has roots in New Hampshire & her late aunt was a State Senator for many years.”
In fact, East Bay resident and host Betsy Cotton is a longtime California activist who’s donated hundreds of thousands of dollars to Democrats over the years, including to Sens. Maggie Hassan, Elizabeth Warren, and former California Sen. Kamala Harris.
Craig was last seen campaigning with Healey ahead of her Sept. 10 Democratic gubernatorial primary 6-point win over Executive Councilor Cinde Warmington. “As a governor, I know Joyce is the one. She’s got the experience, the leadership ability,” Healey told WMUR at the time.
Still unconfirmed is whether Craig and Healey will be attending additional fundraisers in California either prior to or after their Sept. 27 event in Berkeley.
Republicans are particularly pleased Healey is on hand for the event because it gives them another chance to highlight the fundamental message of Ayotte’s campaign: She will keep the New Hampshire Advantage, while Craig will convert New Hampshire into Massachusetts.
Ayotte, who soundly defeated former state Senate President Chuck Morse 64-34 percent in the GOP gubernatorial primary, currently holds a narrow 3-point lead over Craig, according to poll results released Monday by the Saint Anselm College Survey Center.
Whether Craig’s alliance with Healey and fundraising jaunt to deep-blue California will turn off undecided New Hampshire voters remains to be seen. Veteran New Hampshire GOP political consultant Mike Dennehy said raising money out-of-state generally doesn’t matter to voters.
“It’s necessary to do so especially when you’re in a small state like New Hampshire,” he added. “However, voters do care about where your money comes from.
“Working hand in hand with Massachusetts liberals like Maura Healy and going into the hometown of (former Democratic U.S. House Speaker) Nancy Pelosi aligns Joyce Craig with the most liberal politicians in the country. That is a fact worth telling the voters of New Hampshire.”
Dennehy said candidates like Craig and Ayotte define their campaigns partly by the people in power they choose to associate with.
“Joyce Craig wants to be known as an ally of Maura Healey and Kelly Ayotte wants to be known as an ally of Chris Sununu,” he noted. “Let the voters decide who they like more.”
