With midterm elections right around the corner, many politicians have come to Keene to campaign. On Thursday, Oct. 30, 14 candidates for local positions spoke to Keene State College students and Keene residents about the upcoming elections and their stances on the issues.
Candidates for State Representative, County Commissioner and Sheriff each gave a brief speech about their stances and what they want to accomplish if elected.
Candidates for State Representative in attendance were: John Mann (D), Jerry Sickels (R), Luke Sacher (D), Dick Thackston (R), Ruth Ward (R), Timothy Robertson (D), Bayard Tracy (R), Cynthia Chase (D), George Hansel (R), F. Barrett Faulkner (D) and Jim McConnell (R).
Candidate for Cheshire County Sheriff Eli Rivera was in attendance, but his opponent, Earl Nelson, was unable to make it, although he did send a small statement that was read on his behalf.
Candidate for County Commissioner and current State Representative, Chuck Weed, has no opponent for his District Two seat. Weed stressed the importance of KSC students getting involved with politics.
“The best thing you can do on election day is grab a couple of friends who didn’t want to vote and bring them with you,” Weed said, “We need as big a turnout as possible and there’s plenty of information about where we stand.”
Each candidate was given five-to-ten minutes to tell the audience their credentials, as well as where they stand on important issues in Cheshire County. Some candidates stuck to discussing their own ideals, while others made arguments against previous statements made.
All of the candidates for State Representative agreed upon the need for decent-paying jobs in Cheshire County, which led to a debate over changing the minimum wage. Cynthia Chase, D-N.H., said that she supports raising the minimum wage on a national level as well as in New Hampshire. Her opponent, George Hansel, R-N.H., disagreed and said that he wants to keep the minimum wage the same.
“Minimum wage is the first rung on the ladder to the ‘American Dream’,” Hansel said, “It taught me the value of a dollar and got me into the workforce.” Hansel recalled his first job at a gas station where he made minimum wage.
Chase said there is a myth that minimum wage jobs are only held by young people working part-time or on the weekends, when in reality, many people are trying to live off minimum wage.
“We need to make sure that if you’re working thirty, forty, fifty, sixty hours a week, you can support your family. It’s particularly wrong in my book for somebody to work that many hours and not be able to put food on the table,” Chase said.
“I’ve talked to people and heard that the lack of jobs is a huge issue,” Ruth Ward added, “What I want to do as a rep is make it possible to bring high-tech, high-paying industry to New Hampshire.”
Jim McConnell, R-N.H., said that raising the minimum wage would cause companies that may be considering moving to the area to go elsewhere. His opponent, Barrett Faulkner, D-N.H., pointed out that many people living off of minimum wage generally can’t get by without food stamps, EBT and other government aid, which is paid for by the American people.
“We can’t have a nation where people get down to the lowest level and ship the rest of those costs up to the taxpayer,” Faulkner said. He said the minimum wage needs adjustment on a national level. Dick Thackston, R-N.H., said minimum wage should be addressed at the state level, not federally.
“There may be some areas in the country where a higher minimum wage would be reasonable, and other places where it would be bizarrely inappropriate,” Thackston said. Jerry Sickels, R-N.H., told the audience about being a Union Steelworker after he served in Vietnam, and said those were the days when there was actually a middle class.
“You’d be a high school graduate and make thirty, forty, fifty-thousand dollars a year — what we wouldn’t give to bring some of that back,” Sickels said.
Bayard Tracy, R-N.H., said he went around Keene asking different businesses how much they hired someone for, and only one actually paid their employees minimum wage.
“You can’t hire somebody who’s qualified and drug-free for any less than nine dollars an hour,” Tracy said. He said the minimum wage issue is a self-correcting problem.
Jesse Reynolds can be contacted at jreynolds@keene-equinox.com
