This is almost inevitable in New Hampshire gubernatorial elections.

At one point, the Republican candidate argues that electing the Democrat would mean higher taxes. The Democratic candidate counters that choosing the Republican candidate for the corner office would seriously jeopardize abortion rights.

That familiar dynamic is playing a big role in this year’s race for New Hampshire governor, pitting Democrat Joyce Craig against Republican Kelly Ayotte.

There are other points of contention, including Craig’s record as mayor of Manchester and Ayotte’s stint on lucrative corporate boards after her 2016 U.S. Senate re-election defeat.

But with less than a month until Election Day, both candidates appear fixated on their chosen issues and are largely talking past each other — and spending less time on issues that matter most to voters, like housing and the overall economy.

“The race is static, and much of that has to do with the fact that many Americans in general — and not just in New Hampshire — are in their corner and don’t seem to be changing their minds all that much,” said Neil Levesque, who runs the New Hampshire Institute of Politics at St. Anselm College, which ran the governor’s race one year virtual draw in the last few weeks.

Here you will find an overview of the status of this race – and some important points of friction.

Abortion rights

While abortion has been a major political issue in New Hampshire for decades, two recent events have fueled local debate around the issue: a 2022 state law that restricted almost all abortions here after 24 weeks, and the Supreme Court’s Dobbs ruling of the USA, which repealed federal abortion rights.

The combination also leads to a consistent response from Ayotte during the election campaign when it comes to discussing the state’s abortion policy.

“I will not change this law, and I will gladly use the veto pen if someone sends me a law that restricts their rights more,” Ayotte promises in one Campaign ad.

While Ayotte’s promise to fight further restrictions on reproductive rights is consistent with this Messaging It was embraced by many Republicans this year and has been prominent in anti-abortion circles nationwide for years.

As New Hampshire’s attorney general nearly two decades ago, Ayotte sought to overturn a federal court ruling that struck down a state law requiring parents to be notified before their daughter receives an abortion. The dispute went all the way to the US Supreme Court.

After leaving the attorney general’s office to run for the U.S. Senate, Ayotte received strong endorsements Support from anti-abortion groups. Once Ayotte is elected, he votes record vindicated her supporters: She supported a nationwide ban on abortions after 20 weeks and regularly voted to defund Planned Parenthood.

While Ayotte argues her previous positions and Affiliations Craig, who proposes a number of measures to improve access to abortion, is irrelevant to her candidacy for governor and is working hard to keep her front and center.

“Kelly Ayotte has spent her entire career attacking reproductive health,” Craig stressed during the candidate’s first debate last month.

Steer

Taxes are an issue where Ayotte is on the offensive.

“If Joyce Craig makes it to the corner office, we can say goodbye to the New Hampshire Advantage,” Ayotte argued during the same debate.

While Ayotte promises to fight any proposed tax increase as governor and Craig promises to veto any general sales or income tax, the former Manchester mayor wants to end the proposed repeal of the state’s interest and dividend income tax.

“We’re losing $160 million because of this,” Craig said recently while campaigning in Concord.

Ayotte has accepted this proposal, arguing that the change will hurt retirees. She also runs ads claiming that Craig pushed for a city-specific sales tax in Manchester and that as mayor, Craig repeatedly passed budgets that were above the city’s tax cap.

Craig served on the school board prior to her election as mayor and attended once the idea of ​​a city sales tax as part of a series of ideas she had heard from voters. But she herself never supported such a proposal. And without a change in state law, such a tax would be inadmissible anyway.

Some city budgets Craig oversaw as mayor exceeded Manchester’s tax cap. But because of the supermajority on the Board of Aldermen, Craig lacked the power to stop them.

Manchester’s image

The issues of crime, drugs and homelessness in Manchester are another ongoing criticism Ayotte makes of Craig.

Ayotte has made these attacks throughout her election campaign – nationally and in Manchester – and sometimes makes the point clearly TV advertising.

Sometimes Ayotte has oversold the image of Manchester as lawless under Craig’s leadership, such as when she ran an advert falsely claiming that a murder had taken place in the city “under Joyce Craig”, when in fact it had taken place before her mayoralty.

Craig, meanwhile, points to statistics showing crime and overdose rates in Manchester improved under their leadership. But Ayotte’s criticism goes beyond the statistics.

Craig is also being targeted for her opposition to policies that would require local police to assist in federal immigration enforcement.

“I would support a ban on sanctuary cities,” Ayotte stressed during a debate last month. “We will not have policies like we see in Massachusetts that spends money on housing illegal immigrants.”

Craig said she opposed a ban on so-called sanctuary policies when it was discussed in Concord because the policy was also opposed by the Manchester police chief and other local police chiefs.

“I always do whatever I need to do to make sure our communities are safe,” Craig told the Nashua Chamber of Commerce.

Corporate Boards

Ayotte’s lucrative work on corporate boards is a recurring goal for Craig. Ayotte has made millions from board roles since leaving the U.S. Senate in 2017, including at NewsCorp, Boston Properties and Blink Health.

Craig particularly focused on Ayotte’s work for Blackstone, she says contributed to the country’s real estate crisis. Craig has also alleged that other companies Ayotte helped run, including Caterpillar, cut jobs while she profited.

Have fact checkers questioned some specific criticisms of Ayotte’s conduct on that front, calling an ad Craig and the state Democratic Party ran on the issue “half-true.” Democrats amended that ad this week, keeping the claims about Ayotte’s board work but removing a reference to BAE Systems, one of New Hampshire’s largest employers, whose board Ayotte chaired. The move sparked a new round Battle and accusations of bad faith.

It remains to be seen how convincing any of these arguments will be to voters. But given the tense nature of this race — and the political environment — there is little evidence that either campaign will shift much away from its core arguments as Election Day approaches.

“We’ll see in these last few weeks whether these campaigns are trying to find a new specialty that can, if you will, change the minds of voters,” Levesque said. “In the meantime, I think they’ll stick with the tried-and-true themes that are successful for them, and that’s what you’ll see on radio, TV and online.”