A 2024 Election Tip: Don’t Fall for NH GOP Smokescreens

The 2024 Election: It’s deja vu all over again!

As Election Day draws closer, New Hampshire Republican politicians have gone into full smokescreen mode.

Think of a “smokescreen” as a ruse or a claim designed to disguise someone's real intentions or activities.

Here are some prime examples of some of the smokescreens we’re seeing—and what you need to know to clear the air.

GOP Smokescreen #1: “We’ll protect girls’ sports from biological males”

The Reality: Republicans at the state level have made numerous attempts to pass harmful laws that bully and discriminate against a tiny number of vulnerable transgender kids—and in 2024 they succeeded in passing a law (now being appealed in the courts) banning transgender students from competing in school sports teams. At the same time, Republicans at the national level have worked to roll back Title IX protections not only for transgender and LGBTQ kids, but also for sexual assault victims and pregnant students while also seeking to end reproductive freedom for women. Turns out the people that girls need protection from the most…are GOP lawmakers.

GOP Smokescreen #2: “We won’t change New Hampshire’s abortion law”

The Reality: New Hampshire Republicans simply can’t be trusted on this issue. New Hampshire’s current 24 week abortion ban—authored by anti-abortion Republicans in the legislature—was signed into law in 2021 by Gov. Chris Sununu, who ran in 2016, 2018, and 2020 as a “pro-choice” candidate. Meanwhile, Kelly Ayotte, the Republican candidate seeking to replace him, has framed the current law as “the consensus of people in New Hampshire”. This untrue statement ignores the many Granite Staters, both inside and outside the legislature, who opposed the ban and fought for the right of women to make their own reproductive health care decisions without interference from politicians. Ayotte’s opposition to repealing the ban combined with her prior support for the Supreme Court decision overturning Roe vs. Wade and her long record of enthusiastically supporting anti-abortion legislation make her promise to veto any changes to the law a Sununu-like empty promise.

GOP Smokescreen #3: “Democrats want to pass an income tax and raise your taxes!”

The Reality: Actions speak louder than words. In the most recent legislative session, Democrats in the legislature fought tenaciously from the minority for legislation that would have helped to lower property taxes. But elected Republicans opposed those efforts and made the problem worse by 1) repealing the interest & dividends tax 2) and lowering business taxes in a way that shifts the tax burden away from wealthy investors and large out-of-state corporations to local property taxpayers. In 2023, business tax rate reductions led to between $496 million and $729 million less for public services. Meanwhile, repeal of the interest & dividends tax disproportionately benefits individuals and households with high incomes while significantly reducing revenues available for public services. An influx of one-time federal money softened the blow somewhat. But less money from the state for essential services means more money needs to be raised locally to provide them.

GOP Smokescreen #4: “Democrats are against ‘school choice’!”

The Reality: What Democrats are against is forcing struggling communities to subsidize sending even more kids to private and religious schools at the same time that many cities and towns are dealing with a public school funding crisis. The additional cost of making school vouchers available universally to all families regardless of income—which is what Republicans are proposing—would cost Granite Staters $110 million on top of the money the state already spends on vouchers. This undermines public education and robs communities of the funding they need to provide the best possible educational experience for the 90% of New Hampshire kids who attend public schools.

GOP Smokescreen #5: “New Hampshire is the safest state in the nation. Democrats are out to grab your guns!”

The Reality: While New Hampshire has slipped and is now ranked as the second safest state in the nation, gun crime is rising and our state’s rate of suicide by firearm is double the national average. From 2013 to 2022, the rate of gun deaths increased 57% compared to a 36% increase nationwide. Meanwhile, the rate of gun suicides increased 56% compared to an 18% increase nationwide. Passage of universal background checks, a 3-day waiting period, and extreme risk protection order (“red flag”) legislation would reduce the risk of felons, domestic violence offenders, and people adjudicated with serious mental illness from obtaining firearms and using them to commit acts of violence. They would also reduce the risk of troubled people from committing self-harm. Democrats believe the best time to pass legislation like this is BEFORE a tragedy occurs. Unfortunately, this is a lesson our colleagues in legislatures across the country (most recently in Maine after the 2023 Lewiston shooting) have learned the hard way.

GOP Smokescreen #6: “Democrats want to make New Hampshire a sanctuary state.”

The Reality: Immigrants—especially undocumented immigrants—are far less likely to commit crimes than U.S. citizens because of their fear of being deported. Over the years, many in the New Hampshire law enforcement community have worked tirelessly to build relationships and trust in our immigrant communities. Requiring state and local police to enforce federal immigration detainers—which are issued by bureaucrats instead of judges and can be issued for an immigrant who has not committed a criminal offense—would undo this work, expose communities to lawsuits, and endanger the civil liberties of everyone with an accent. We know this because leaders in the law enforcement community have told us this and testified to it. What Democrats want is an immigration and enforcement system that enhances the ability of the federal government to protect our borders and our citizens. This is what the bipartisan congressional border bill killed by Trump would have helped achieve. But because it was more important for him to be able to complain about the issue than to solve it, his GOP allies in congress killed the bill. What we don’t need are policies that criminalize immigration, demonize vulnerable people, sweep millions into detention camps, or that force local law enforcement to conduct “show me your papers” stops and searches. Also critical to understand when examining this issue is that when immigrants are arrested for felonies and misdemeanors, New Hampshire law enforcement ALREADY cooperates with federal immigration officials.

GOP Smokescreen #7: “We need to ‘finish’ bail reform!”

The Reality: In 2024, New Hampshire Democrats and Republicans passed a compromise, bipartisan bail reform package that better protects public safety by ensuring that people accused of the most serious offenses must go before a judge to receive bail and cannot be released on personal recognizance before they do. Signed into law over the summer by the governor, it also adds protections for victims of domestic violence, improves electronic sharing of bail status information between the courts and police, and protects civil liberties by ensuring that everyone being held for committing a crime must have a hearing before a judge within 24 hours. If we tear it apart before giving it a chance, we’ll be right back where we started.

GOP Smokescreen #8: “Democrats are communists and socialists.”

The Reality: To state the obvious: providing free school lunches to ensure poor kids won’t go hungry is not communism or socialism. It’s a common-sense policy that ensures every child is in a position to learn and thrive, which is infinitely harder when they go hungry. As a general principle, Democrats believe in policies that lift all boats. We also believe in the value of public education and public health and we welcome help from anyone—including Republicans—to help improve their value and effectiveness. But we will always oppose the billionaire oligarchs and would-be fascists who seek to defund them while making sure that the only boats left floating are their own.

Bottom line: where there’s smoke, sometimes there’s fire; and sometimes there’s a just a liar.