Kelly Ayotte was campaigning in Joyce Craig’s backyard Wednesday, holding court at a local bar where she listened to local small business owners’ concerns about crime, homelessness, and the economy in the Queen City.
Craig spent six years as Manchester’s Democratic mayor before leaving office to run for Granite State governor. Voters replaced her with Republican Jay Ruais and, for the first time since 1998, a GOP majority on the Board of Aldermen.
Ruais was on hand at Bonfire Country Bar on Elm Street as Ayotte talked about the need to beef up the city’s understaffed police force. She also heard from restaurant and property owners who said the downtown homeless problem is still a hurdle to attracting clientele.
Kelly Ayotte and Mayor Jay Ruais speak to local Manchester business owners on September 18, 2024.
“I’m a big fan of the ‘broken windows theory,’” Ayotte said, referencing the social science theory that visible signs of disorder lead to more serious crimes. She said the increase in drug trafficking in the city over the previous six years is an example.
“A lot of drugs get trafficked through Lowell and Lawrence into this city,” Ayotte said. “One of the top guys in the DEA [Drug Enforcement Agency], who actually lives in New Hampshire, told me, ‘Kelly, they used to be afraid to traffic their stuff here, but they don’t feel that way anymore.”
Ayotte and her Republican allies have made Craig’s troubled record as mayor a centerpiece of their campaign to hold the governor’s office after popular incumbent Gov. Chris Sununu leaves office.
Ruais talked about bail reform efforts proposed by state lawmakers and said more work needs to be done.
“It’s a deterrent effect, obviously, to get arrested. But if that person is right out on the street six hours later, that is of no long-term help to addressing this challenge,” he said. “I certainly agree that the first step that was taken this year was great — fantastic — but what does the next iteration of bail reform look like?”
Earlier this summer, lawmakers agreed on legislation establishing a bail notification and tracking system in order for courts and law enforcement to keep tabs on warrants and bail restrictions, two key pieces of information officials say have fallen through the cracks over the years.
Several restaurant owners said outside diners are frequently targets of repeat panhandlers, some of whom have even snatched food off patrons’ plates. Erin Convery opened Campo Enoteca on Elm Street in early 2023 and said she’s hamstrung.
“I don’t have a bouncer, because we’re a restaurant, not a bar,” Convery said. “We want people to come to Elm Street. But right in front of Veterans Park today, I saw about 40 homeless people.”
It’s bad for business and a turn-off for prospective diners, Convery complained.
Norri Oberlander, who owns and manages several downtown properties, said she’s seen “massive improvement in the sense of urgency of safety” under Ruais’ administration.
She acknowledged more work is still left to be done, but told newer business owners that the city has changed for the better.
“If you were here for the last six years, at one point I cried publicly at an event to the mayor (Craig),” Oberlander recalled. “No one was here for us, no one was listening to us, and there was a complete lack of order.”
Oberlander later told NHJournal the biggest difference between the two mayoral administrations is the level of accessibility.
“I feel like you can now access any alderman, who can then access the mayor, and that wasn’t the case for me before,” she said.
Craig pushed back, releasing a letter Wednesday from two dozen Manchester business owners complaining that campaign ads attacking the Democrat’s record as mayor are hurting their businesses.
“The ads that have taken over the airwaves during this campaign don’t tell the real story of our city and how Joyce Craig worked…In fact, those very ads have hurt our businesses,” they wrote.
The ads, featuring news footage of Manchester streets during Craig’s tenure, were run by both Republicans and Democrats during the recent primary.
In addition to crime and homelessness, business owners told Ayotte of their concerns about New Hampshire’s notoriously high electricity costs and the threat of illegal immigration. Attendees said they worried that resources like public housing meant for local, legal residents might be directed elsewhere.
Ayotte jumped at the chance to address the issue.
“You know, people laugh when they see my signs saying ‘Don’t MASS Up New Hampshire,’ but there’s a huge contrast,” Ayotte said. “Massachusetts has spent $1 billion housing illegal immigrants, and that’s because they’re a sanctuary state. That’s because they’re a state that provides illegal immigrants with driver’s licenses.”
“That’s not going to be the policy in New Hampshire if I’m governor.”
A day earlier, Ayotte’s campaign publicized Craig’s upcoming fundraising trip to California’s liberal-dominated Bay Area. Craig will be accompanied on the trip by progressive Massachusetts Gov. Maura Healey.
“I know one thing about this election, and that there is a big difference in policies between me and Joyce Craig, on the ‘sanctuary’ issue,” Ayotte said Tuesday. “And obviously she’s been endorsed by the governor of Massachusetts and I don’t think we need to become like them.
“I think we need to be who we are.”
