MANCHESTER, NH – The six Democratic candidates vying for the open seat to join the U.S. House of Representatives on behalf of New Hampshire’s 1st Congressional District assembled for a forum on May 13 in the Manchester Public Library Auditorium.
The event was presented and moderated by Spill the Goods, a podcast operated by the duo of Jess Spillers and Cristina Goodwin. The pair are active members in local Democratic circles. Spillers is a former Manchester Board of School Committee Member who stepped down to oppose Jay Ruais in the 2025 mayoral race. Goodwin was a candidate for Alderman in Ward 8 in 2025.
Sponsors of the forum included Ink Link News, Village Play Cafe, and the Southern New Hampshire chapter of the Democratic Socialists of America
The candidates who make up this race on the Democratic side are Carleigh Beriont, Sarah Chadzynski, Rep. Heath Howard, Stefany Shaheen, Maura Sullivan, and Christian Urrutia.
GOP candidates include Melissa Bailey, Brian Cole, Anthony DiLorenzo, Elizabeth Girard and Hollie Noveletsky.
Questions were solicited directly from constituents for about two weeks in advance of the event.
Below is an overview of the popular topics and highlights from a night that was mostly cordial but not without some late fireworks.
Affordability / Cost of Living
The most-discussed theme of the night was the economic strain Granite Staters are feeling.
There was alignment from the candidates, that coming from a federal level, there was a direct correlation between President Trump’s tariffs and increased prices for consumers here at home.Similarly, the candidates seemed to agree when Howard stated that decisions made by the conservative state legislature in Concord and Governor Kelly Ayotte were “downshifting cost burdens” onto public schools and working families across the state.
War in Iran
The candidates also drew a direct connection between the military conflict with Iran, which has entered its 11th week, and skyrocketing energy costs impacting everything from filling up your gas tank to the price of a flight, as the average gas price per gallon reaches $4.48 in New Hampshire, according to AAA. Across the board there was opposition to the war, with Chadzynski alleging Trump’s recent military operations, including the attack on Venezuela and the capture of their President Nicolás Maduro, were in part an effort to posture strength and send a message to China.
There were also nods in agreement from candidates when Sullivan suggested she would, if elected, drag U.S. Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth, and anyone else responsible for these “wreckless” military acts, down in front of Congress to be held accountable.
Money in Politics
Billionaires would not find any friends amongst the candidates on this stage, with several of them directly calling for an immediate increase in taxes on their wealth to help fund social services and key parts of their various platforms.
Urrutia slammed the influence that super PACs and dark money play in U.S. elections, calling out the “carpet bombing of negative ads” that will flood airwaves this coming fall, and challenged his peers on stage to be more vocal in their opposition.
Shaheen touted her success in generating a grassroots financial cash flow during her campaign from supporters across the state and Howard called for the public funding of elections to combat the wealthy and well connected from maintaining an advantage.
The candidates were loud in their opposition to the Supreme Court decision regarding CItizens United, which was the landmark case that gave greater clearance for corporations and special interest groups to financially contribute to campaigns and candidates.
Housing
Urrutia, who served as an executive at the vacation rental company Airbnb until a few months ago, was asked directly about the role short-term rentals are playing in the housing crisis. He shared that he believes the needs of each community are different, and so local cities and towns should dictate their policies around corporations acquiring single-family housing units, and not Congress.
He continued, stating that he believes the current housing crisis is a supply issue, referring to a statistic that says there would need to be five to six million homes built right now to meet current needs and growth across America.
In a moment of contrast, Howard alternatively said that he believes corporations should be barred from acquiring single-family housing stock, and passing legislation to that effect would be a short-term goal of his during his first term in Congress.
Immigration Enforcement
A question posed to the panel of candidates was regarding whether they supported calls to abolish ICE (Immigrations and Customs Enforcement), which is the department that has been leading the aggressive crackdown on communities across the country in response to President Trump’s escalated deportation efforts.
Howard, Urrutia, Beriont, and Chadzynski were clear in their position on supporting the abolishment of ICE.
Chadzynski took it a step further, saying that Congress must outlaw “gestapo-style” tactics being displayed by federal law enforcement, harkening back to her own familial history, where her grandmother was forced to dig her intended grave during the Holocaust.
Shaheen and Sullivan stopped short of calling for ICE to be abolished, with Shaheen believing the group can be overhauled and held to the same standards and accountability as local police departments, while Sullivan said she wouldn’t support committing a single new dollar to the agency.
When Shaheen had added that she wouldn’t commit another dollar to the Department of Homeland Security, Beriont countered, saying that holding back funding from Homeland Security would have negative consequences on organizations like FEMA, that provide critical disaster relief.
Israel and Gaza
As the moderators announced that they were pivoting from questions to allow each candidate the opportunity to make a closing statement, an older gentleman in the audience rose from his seat and began to express his frustration over the lack of any question related to the conflict between Israel and Palestine being included in the event.
After a minute of pleading from Spillers and Goodwin to sit down and allow the forum to move toward its planned conclusion, Chadzynsky hopped off the stage to engage with the man. After a brief exchange and an offer to have a conversation after the event, he agreed to return to his seat, “because she asked nicely.”
As the event seemed ready to return to the closing remarks, a couple more audience members began shouting at the moderators that they wanted to hear from the candidates on Israel and Palestine, with one calling it the most important issue in the country over the last few years. Spillers attempted to quell the rising tension, telling the audience that there were plans to ask a question on the topic but that they’ve run short on time, referring to their time agreement with the library.
One of those from the audience calling out during the forum alleged that questions around this topic seem to “conveniently” be omitted during typical candidate forums.
The ongoing disruptions drew anger from some in the room, with one man in close proximity to one of the pro-Palestinian advocates accusing the rhetoric of being antisemetic and likened it to behavior by the KKK.
After threatening to have some attendees removed if they refused to allow the event to continue, Spillers and Goodwin got approval from the candidates to preempt closing statements and include a final question on the subject.
The question was whether they believed Israel’s actions in Gaza constituted a genocide, whether they would support ending U.S. aid to the Israeli government, and what their thoughts were on the rising claims of antisemetism across the the United States.
Beriont, Urrutia, and Howard affirmed their mutual position that Israel had committed a genocide, with Howard stating his view that the attack by Hamas on October 7th does not justify the collective punishment of an entire population.
Chadzynski, the lone candidate of Jewish faith on the panel, said the antisemetic attacks thrown her way on the campaign trail have not altered her view that it is a genocide. She added that she believes the United States must join the International Criminal Court and help in prosecuting warrants against Russian leader Vladimir Putin and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
Sullivan, who is endorsed by the Democratic Majority for Israel, did not directly address whether she believed Israel had committed a genocide in Gaza while referring to atrocities committed by both sides. Shaheen also avoided directly answering the question, during which one of the earlier audience members who interrupted got up and walked out, not before shouting a few remarks toward Shaheen over his dissatisfaction with her answer.
Final Thoughts
Closing remarks from the candidates took the event past a runtime of 90 minutes. And despite the interruptions, the moderators said they were pleased overall about the turnout.
“We held this forum in the first place for folks to be able to differentiate themselves,” Spillers said. Added Goodwin, “it’s clear by tonight that the public is interested in something like this,” referring to the nearly full auditorium and lively crowd. Spillers thanked the various press groups in attendance covering the event and the candidates for taking a little extra time with them to answer questions.
Spillers was also asked about a previous public endorsement she had made of Sullivan’s campaign and whether that factored in at all to the planning of or perceptions around the forum.
“I did endorse Maura back in 2025 when I was on the school board. I make no bones about that.” Later defending the integrity of her participation in the event despite the endorsement, she noted “These questions came from the public. They truly came from the people. They are not biased nor do they represent mine or Cristina’s personal views and I feel like that was reflected here tonight.”
A recording of the event will be published via Manchester Public Television as well as the Spill the Goods podcast feeds.