MANCHESTER, NH – As the campaign to see who will become New Hampshire’s next governor comes to a close, New Hampshire’s largest city has become a focal point in the campaign, leading local leaders to have differing opinions on what that exactly means for the reputation of Manchester in the eyes of other Granite Staters.
For the past six years, Joyce Craig was Manchester’s mayor, leaving a legacy that Republican gubernatorial nominee Kelly Ayotte has used in attack ads. How those ads have been construed differ depending on political affiliation, with some saying the advertisements are actually attacks on Manchester rather than Craig. Ayotte has fervently rejected that assertion, saying that New Hampshire cannot be successful without Manchester and the city’s days are ahead of it as she hopes to work with current Manchester Mayor Jay Ruais to bring the city prosperity in the future.
One of the advertisements attacking Craig’s record featured State Senate candidate and Manchester resident Brittany LeClear-Ping, who is affiliated with the conservative Moms for Liberty. That ad spurred a press conference in response by the Craig campaign. Like Ayotte, LeClear-Ping says she believes the ads are appropriate and are reflective of Craig, and not the city as a whole.
“I think the Ayotte team has done a really good job at showing the Craig campaign has not been truthful about what went on in Manchester,” she said. “I think Craig’s campaign really tried to gloss over a lot of the reality of the things we all have had to deal with in this city. I really do appreciate Kelly Ayotte for being candid and not trying to gaslight the people of Manchester.”
Craig supporter Bill Barry has the exact opposite opinion. A member of the Manchester Board of Mayor and Aldermen and delegate to the 2024 Democratic National Convention, Barry feels that the ads particularly regarding homelessness are not just an attack on Craig but also Manchester’s city employees, other elected officials and the homeless themselves. He also feels those ads targeting homeless are misleading given the opening of the Beech Street shelter during Craig’s term.
“It’s unfortunate that Kelly Ayotte is attacking the city of Manchester about the homeless situation, no one has worked harder than former Mayor Joyce Craig on the homeless issue,” said Barry. “It is a shame that Ayotte would stoop this low to attack some of our most vulnerable residents.”
And then there those who feel that the reaction regarding the negativity in the race has largely had little impact on the reputation of Manchester as the negativity itself has made many voters tune out campaign messages, even if they are disappointing in themselves. Judi Window of Diz’s Café on Elm Street is one of several Manchester business owners who signed a letter of endorsement for Craig earlier this year.
“Generally speaking, negative ads don’t propel me to take action. I am a much more ‘tell me what you’re going to do and then I’ll agree or don’t agree and then I’ll vote’,” said Window. “I think the negative ads against Manchester have been shameless. It’s not reality, and it’s not about what Manchester’s about. And a lot of it was about right after COVID when nobody was around and no services were around. Of course people had problems, it was post-COVID.”
Bunny’s Convenience co-owner Pramod Nyaupane supported Craig when she ran for mayor, but is supporting Ayotte for governor this year. He has a similar perspective to Window, noting that Craig has also aired numerous attack ads against Ayotte.
“I haven’t really heard anybody think it reflected badly on Manchester, I think a lot of people tuned out those ads, so I don’t know how effective those types of ads are,” he said. “They certainly don’t work on me. There have been so many negative ads from both sides that I think they’ve all negated each other.”
Greater Manchester Chamber of Commerce CEO Heather McGrail says rather than politics she’s focused on the Manchester business community as a whole given that her organization is politically non-partisan. Still, she sees the phenomenon of negativity toward Manchester as something incongruous with what she’s seeing every day in the local business community and hopes that more positive stories can arise to counter any negative reactions to the Queen City.
“Businesses are moving to Manchester and seeing how high quality it is,” she said. “I think people have to consider the lens through which things are spoken and take the politics aside. When you talk to folks who are integrated into Manchester and are truly part of it, I think you’ll hear a very different story about the excitement and opportunity that surrounds us.”