HOLLIS, NH – U.S. House Democratic leader Hakeem Jeffries traveled to the Granite State Wednesday to support Democratic candidates on the November ballot. He was the headliner for 2nd Congressional District Democratic nominee Maggie Goodlander’s campaign rally in Hollis.
The upcoming election will determine the balance of power in the New Hampshire State House, Congress, and the White House. Goodlander and Jeffries’s fate is connected. If Goodlander holds Democrat Annie Kuster’s seat and the Democrats pick up four seats, Hakeem Jeffries will become the next Speaker of the House.
That potential change in the balance of power goes from top to bottom this year. Nashua State Representative Laura Telerski kicked off the event by reminding the crowd that in 2022 House Democrats lost the majority by just three seats and 11 votes across those three seats.
House Democratic Leader Matt Willhem, D-Manchester, could become the next speaker in the NH House this election cycle. He pointed out that despite being in the minority, NH Democrats were able to prevent much of the Republican majorities right-wing legislative agenda
“Look at what we’ve been able to accomplish this term despite being in the minority. Together, House Democrats blocked some horrible bills, including the so-called Parental Bill of Rights, which would have forced teachers to out LGBTQ-plus students, potentially putting them in danger. We blocked a 15-week and even a 15-day abortion ban, and a six-week ban that was supported by over half of Republicans, including members of House Republican leadership. We defeated the so-called Right to Work, a union-busting bill. And we defeated that on the floor of the House. We killed more than one book ban, and we blocked Education Commissioner Frank Edelbliut’s universal school voucher program, which gives taxpayer money to private schools.” said Wilhelm
NH State Senator Cindy Rosenwald, State Senate candidate Ben Ming, and Executive Council candidate Melanie Levesque all spoke to the stakes of the election and encouraged the crowd to keep working.
Maggie Goodlander was greeted by applause as she took the stage. She got right to the point.
“We’ve got 13 days, that’s 312 hours, to get it done. We’ve got to send Beng Ming to the New Hampshire Senate, we’ve got to send Nashua’s own Cindy Rosenwald back to the New Hampshire Senate, and we’ve got to take back the New Hampshire House. We’ve got to do it. We’ve got to get Matt Wilhelm, as Speaker Wilhelm, and that’s not all,” she said. “We’ve got to take back the United States House of Representatives, the people’s house. We’ve got to make damn sure that 75 days from today, that’s January 6th, 2025, the Honorable Hakeem Jeffries, House Democratic Leader, the pride of Crown Heights, Leader Hakeem Jeffries, who I am so honored to welcome to New Hampshire today, you’re going to hear from him. You’ve got to make Leader Jeffries our next Speaker of the House of Representatives.”
She recounted her relationship with Jeffries when he was a house manager of the first Trump impeachment and she was a staff lawyer. After the introduction she addressed the crowd and expressed her gratitude, “Thank you from the bottom of my heart. Thank you. I’m so proud to be in this fight alongside you. It would truly be the honor of my lifetime to represent you in the United States House of Representatives.”
Leader Jeffries addressed the crowd energetically with his signature staccato delivery, point by point. In 20 minutes of remarks, he covered a wide range of topics. He began with a critique of the loss of reproductive freedom. And the threat of the MAGA agenda.
“If Roe v. Wade can fall, then anything can fall. Roe v. Wade was a settled precedent. We were told by judges who came before the United States Senate, swore an oath, and said Roe v. Wade was a settled precedent. And then the first opportunity that the extremists on the Supreme Court got, they ripped away reproductive freedom for the women of America. If Roe v. Wade can fall, then anything can fall. Social Security can fall. Medicare can fall. The Affordable Care Act can fall. Democracy itself has to win,” said Jeffries.
Jeffries compared that agenda to the results achieved under Biden, despite being in the minority.
“Because we care about governing, we care about making a difference in the lives of the American people we care about getting things done, as Maggie indicated, to put shots in arms, money in pockets, kids back in school, rescue the economy from a once-in-a-century pandemic. We know that more needs to be done. And we laid the foundation,” said Jeffries. “We passed the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act to fix our crumbling bridges, roads, and tunnels, our airports, our mass transit and water and sewer systems, and high-speed Internet access for every single community, including rural America and suburban America, who deserve to be connected to the innovation economy. Maggie talked about the same narrow majority. We passed gun safety legislation for the first time in 30 years that will save lives.”
He described his aspirations for the next congress as “That’s our job. People over politics. To make life better for everyday Americans.”
In a rousing close, he rallied the crowd, “We always get back up. We always get back up. And so as long as at this moment we continue to show up and stand up and speak up for what we know is right, then I’m confident that we will win the day, win the week, win the month, win the year, win the hearts and minds of the American people, elect Maggie Goodlander to the United States Congress, take back control of the House of Representatives, hold the Senate, elect Kamala Harris as the 47th President of the United States of America, and continue our great country’s march toward a more perfect union,” Jeffries said.
Thirteen Days to go.