Brian Schnee
State Senate Republican hopeful Richard Foote could not muscle out a win in the District 10 New Hampshire Senate race late Tuesday night.
Foote only gained 34 percent of the vote totaling with just over 8,000 votes while Democratic incumbent Molly Kelly wrapped up the majority of votes for her fourth consecutive term.
Kelly had nearly 16,500 votes while Foote had 8,635 after 95 percent of votes were reported. In addition to Keene, 14 surrounding towns create District 10.
His interest in politics began at the age of 21 years old. This was the first time Foote could vote in an election. After graduating the Command Training Institute at Babson College and the FBI National Academy, Foote served nearly 30 years with the New Hampshire State Police, retiring as Captain.
Fourteen years ago, Foote was elected to the office of Sheriff in Cheshire County. “It was the first time I ran for anything,” Foote said.
Ever since, he used his work with other local agencies to develop relationships with small businesses to develop a better idea of what the people of Cheshire County want and need from the Senate.
Foote appeared to be waiting patiently for final election results as he sat at a corner roundtable at Papagallos Restaurant in Swanzey. Supporters and fellow politicians at surrounding tables joined him at the quiet local Republican Party gathering.
Foote said if elected, his first points of interest would be to lower taxes and help smaller businesses. He mentioned that Papagallos, being a small business, is a perfect example of a business that needs to spark the economy. “They have to start up, grow and hire people,” Foote said.
Foote said that jobs and education are directly connected with one another. “Education is part of job building,” Foote said. “Having education connect with small businesses is where jobs are created.”
He said his campaign focused on investment of education. According to his campaign website, Foote says that education works best when spending and the curriculum decisions are made as close to home as possible. “I think that the legislature and the university system have to work together to do something to lower the in-state tuition,” Foote said. “We can get New Hampshire students into the university system so when they get through school, they don’t leave.”
He reflected on the importance of keeping teachers and the impact of increasing more educators in the university system. “You always keep growing but have to keep growing within your needs,” Foote said. “I don’t think Keene State College can hold many more students right now.”
Foote said he didn’t target KSC students in his campaign strategy, in fact garnering just over 3,000 votes in Keene, while incumbent Molly Kelly had over 7,000, according to Keene Equinox poll watchers. “We have a college town,” Foote said. “The youth are going to have an impact.”
“If they’re not in tune to what my position is, they are pretty hard to target,” Foote said.
Brian Schnee can be contacted at: bschnee@keene-equinox.com