MANCHESTER, N.H. – Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer made a stop at Pappy’s Pizza on Thursday afternoon to meet with voters as this fall’s election moves closer.
The stop was part of a multi-stop tour to help garner support for likely Democratic Presidential Candidate and U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris, following the recent withdrawal of presumptive nominee Joe Biden.
“There’s a real energy on the ground. I’ve seen it in Michigan, I’ve seen it here in New Hampshire. We can’t take anyone or any vote or any community for granted,” Whitmer told NBC 10. “That’s why I’m here on behalf of the Harris campaign and that’s why we’ve got organizers in every community, listening, knocking on doors and reminding people of the high stakes of the election.”
Manchester Board of School Committee Member Peter Argeropoulos was one of many local political figures at the event. He praised Whitmer for her work over the past several years and agreed with her assessment regarding the feeling on the ground regarding the election now that Harris has replaced Biden.
“It’s a totally different race,” he said. “President Biden has done many great things for New Hampshire and the rest of the country and people are very energized to see a very articulate candidate that seeks to continue that work.”
“Even though we’re a small state, we still carry a lot of weight when it comes to the election and it might come down to the wire here, so I thought it was great to see the energy we’re already seeing elsewhere for Vice President Harris.”
There were also newcomers to the political process that came out to see Whitmer such as Ellie Tibbets of Merrimack. Although Tibbets has long been a fan of Whitmer like Argeropoulos, she has never seen a national political figure firsthand and was pleased to experience the sort of energy that both Whitmer and Argeropoulos mentioned they have been seeing in recent days.
“It just feels great to have energy again. I mean, we love Joe Biden, but it’s been very great,” she said. “I have three daughters, so it’s incredibly important to me to ensure reproductive freedom is something important to the candidates.”