New Hampshire Congresswoman Annie Kuster has emerged from the bunker, launching a diner tour in the final weeks of the 2014 election cycle. Kuster plans to visit 30 diners in 30 days, as stipulated in this Oct. 2 campaign email:
This past week, Annie kicked off her 30 Diners in 30 Days tour, which will take her to diners, cafes and restaurants all across the Second District to meet with voters right in their own backyards. From Salem to Berlin, Annie is sitting down and chatting with voters about what’s on their mind this election season.This week, Annie was proud to receive the endorsement of the Professional Fire Fighters of New Hampshire. Annie knows that every day, Granite State fire fighters put their own lives on the line in order to keep our families safe. Since taking office, she’s fought to ensure our fire fighters receive the resources and support they need in order to do their jobs effectively – and get home safely.
Annie was thrilled to hold her third seniors forum of the year in Nashua, with special guest Jon “Bowzer” Bauman. During the forum, Annie took questions from the audience, and addressed seniors’ concerns about issues they care about – protecting Medicare and Social Security, affordable health care, foreign policy, and much more. At the event, Annie was pleased to also receive the endorsement of Senior Votes Count, a seniors advocacy organization that works to elect candidates who care about issues that affect local seniors.
Her Republican opponent, State Rep. Marilinda Garcia, released this ad highlighting the growing distrust surrounding Washington. But she also said that all is not lost; we still need to grow communities, we have careers to build, and we have a long future ahead of us.
Garcia’s communications director, Ken Cunningham, said of the ad:
As a millennial who grew up in New Hampshire, Marilinda Garcia has watched as a generation of Washington politicians, like Barack Obama and Ann Kuster, imposed burdensome regulations that make New Hampshire less free. Marilinda Garcia believes it is time for a new generation of independent leaders to speak up and solve our nation’s most crucial problems.Marilinda is a reform-minded candidate who will work to restore the bond of trust between government and Granite Staters. She will fight to maintain traditional New Hampshire values - low taxes, small government, and personal freedom – for a new generation. Momentum is building to support Marilinda in the fight for a stronger future for the Granite State and our Nation.
Nevertheless, Garcia faces an uphill challenge in New Hampshire's second congressional district. She’s trailing Kuster by double-digits in the polls–and this district voted for Barack Obama twice. Regardless, Garcia is moving forward, hosting a town hall event tonight on reforming health care in Littleton.
UPDATE: A WMUR Granite State Poll from the University of New Hampshire Survey Center has Garcia up (with leaners) 4 points over Kuster. The poll noted that both candidates' favorability ratings are way underwater, which makes this race volatile. Nevertheless, it could be showing that Garcia's visible presence on the campaign trail, visiting schools; small businesses, and hosting town hall events are paying dividends.
Currently, 36% of likely voters in the 2nd District say they would vote for Kuster if the election were held today, 34% would vote for Garcia, 3% would vote for someone else and 28% are undecided. However, when undecided voters are asked which candidate they lean toward supporting, the race shifts so that 41% of voters say they would vote for Garcia, 37% would vote for Kuster, 3% would vote for someone else, and 19% remain undecided.
This image courtesy of WMUR
Yet, this is just one poll. It could be an outlier. The vast majority of polls have Kuster leading big over Garcia, but a new polling could give us a better picture. We'll have to wait and see.
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