Democratic candidate for governor Dr. Tom Sherman spoke on the importance of public education, health care rights and combating rising household costs during a meet-and-greet in Peterborough on Saturday.
Sherman, who has served two terms in the state House of Representatives and is currently serving his second term as a state senator in District 24, is challenging Republican Gov. Chris Sununu in the Nov. 8 election.
The event was held at the home of former Democratic New Hampshire State Sen. Jeanne Dietsch, who said her top issues this election cycle were restrengthening the state’s public education sector and climate action.
Dietsch decried the state’s current system of school vouchers, which allows families who financially qualify to receive an amount equal the per-pupil share of state public school funding – around $4,600 – which can be used to pay for schooling other than the public school system. She referred to the program as a “dismantling” of the public education system, and said she looked to Sherman to end the use of taxpayers’ dollars in religious institutions.
Sherman said the school voucher system has been a major issue among the constituents he has been speaking with.
“Until every child in the State of New Hampshire has access to great public education, we shouldn’t be taking money from our public schools and giving it to private and religious schools. It’s taxpayer dollars,” Sherman said in an interview Saturday.
Sherman criticized the program for a lack of oversight and going over budget, and said he would like to see it repealed, but lacking that, those schools that accepted voucher funds should not have the option to turn away students for reasons such as disabilities.
“I would repeal it as a first choice,” Sherman said. “My second choice is any school taking taxpayer dollars has to provide the same services and the same experience for the children in public schools. They have to accept all the children.”
Temple resident Michael DeLoria, who is running on the Democratic ticket for state representative for Hillsborough District 32, attended Saturday’s event and said he was supporting Sherman in November’s election.
“We align in a lot of our positions. He supports things that are important to New Hampshire voters right now. I think a lot of voters are motivated by the overturning of Roe v. Wade,” DeLoria said. “I’m a big advocate for Dr. Sherman.”
During the interview, Sherman said New Hampshire should not be in the business of interfering with health care decisions that should be between a doctor and patient, and criticized the state’s current abortion rules, which Sununu signed into law and bans abortions after 24 weeks.
“The current law is not where we should be. Sununu caved to extremists in the Legislature, and actually took away the rights of women in many different ways,” Sherman said. “Even though the vast majority of the people of New Hampshire didn’t want a bill, he came in and signed a bill that was cruel.”
Sherman said amendments to the bill since its inception – including removing a requirement for an ultrasound before any abortions and making exceptions for fatal fetal anomalies and when the life of the mother is at risk – do not solve the issues he has with the legislation. He said the bill does not cover cases where there may be serious complications that might not put the mother’s life at risk, or for cases of rape or incest. He said it complicated an issue which did not need complicating, as elective abortions in the third trimester were something that “no one is doing.”
“Everybody told him we didn’t need it. It’s still, no matter what you say, a decision between a woman and her doctor. It’s not Sununu’s decision and he should stay out of it,” Sherman said.
Sherman said the state also needs to address rising costs in areas that include energy and the state’s property tax.
“We’ve seen housing skyrocketing. We’ve seen rents skyrocketing, and people are having trouble just meeting their monthly bills,” Sherman said.
Sherman said the state needed to allow for more energy diversity, and said there had been bills before Sununu that would have left New Hampshire in a better place on energy costs, but those bills had been vetoed.
Jonah Wheeler of Peterborough, a Democratic candidate for state representative in Hillsborough District 33, said this year is a critical election. The 19-year-old said that as a state, New Hampshire was lacking in community.
“We have a moment to build that community in the state,” Wheeler said.
In 2020, Sununu won the gubernatorial election with 65 percent of the vote, despite the fact that over 52 percent of voters in the state voted for Democratic President Joe Biden in the same election. Wheeler said the state’s Democrats need to fight against current poll numbers, which put Sherman significantly behind Sununu.
“They say ‘He’s too nice,’” Wheeler said of Sununu. “Well, it’s not nice to take away a woman’s right to choose. It’s not nice to take away a disabled person’s right to an education. It’s fake affability.”
Dietsch said she believes in Sherman’s ability to work with all stakeholders and do what is best for the state.
“I served in the senate with Doctor Sherman, so I saw him up close and personal. He was a leader who would bring policies forward, and speak vehemently in favor of them and bring both sides together,” Dietsch said.
Ashley Saari can be reached at 603-924-7172 ext. 244 or asaari@ledgertranscript.com. She’s on Twitter @AshleySaariMLT.