First Lady Jill Biden was in New Hampshire on Saturday, headlining a fundraiser for Sen. Maggie Hassan and attending campaign rallies in Manchester and Portsmouth.
The fundraiser was hosted at the home of the president of Southern New Hampshire University, and was attended by around 100 people, the Hassan campaign said. Biden opened her remarks by asking the crowd to pray for House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's family, after her husband, Paul Pelosi, was violently attacked Friday inside their San Francisco home.
The first lady went on to drum up support for Hassan, praising the senator's work for veterans, on the opioid crisis and to lower prescription costs.
“You elected my husband because he knows how to get things done,” Dr. Biden said. “And he’s delivered results again and again. But we need Maggie in the Senate if we’re going to keep that progress going.”
Get New England news, weather forecasts and entertainment stories to your inbox. Sign up for NECN newsletters.
Biden also talked about the shocking and "devastating" Dobbs decision that overturned Roe v. Wade, declaring Hassan a champion for women's rights who knows we can't go backwards.
New Hampshire's race between Hassan and challenger Don Bolduc is being watched closely as Democrats and Republicans compete for control of the Senate.
Hassan, a two-term Democratic governor, was elected to the Senate in 2016. Her victories in statewide races and her incumbency have not stopped Bolduc, a Republican and retired Army brigadier general, from closing in as the midterm election approaches.
Hassan has said Bolduc is concealing from voters the extreme positions on which he campaigned against fellow Republicans, claiming he would eliminate Social Security and he'd be a yes vote for a nationwide abortion ban.
“Don is the most extreme nominee for the United States Senate that New Hampshire has seen in modern history,” Hassan said Saturday as she ripped into her Republican challenger.
She criticized his comments on abortion, calling him “dangerously extreme” and “unbelievably out of touch.”
“He’s also a 2020 election denier,” she added. “He’s begun to sow doubt about the 2022 results. … The key to an accountable democracy where elected representatives are listening to the people they represent is making sure that every vote counts and every election result is honored. … Don Bolduc is actively working to mislead people about his real views and his real record.”
Bolduc has changed his public stances on multiple issues since the primary, most notably reversing his denial that President Joe Biden defeated former President Donald Trump in 2020. When pressed on the charge by NBC10 Boston, Bolduc said he has changed his mind and he does not believe the election was stolen.
Following events in Manchester, Biden and Hassan also campaigned in Portsmouth alongside Sen. Jeanne Shaheen, and Congressman Chris Pappas.
The first lady urged people to vote in the upcoming midterm elections, talking about how important each vote is.
"What you do on November 8th won't just affect the course for the future of New Hampshire. You'll help decide the future of our country as well," she said.
Biden predicted victory for Hassan, saying, “It starts with all of us digging a little deeper, working a little harder and believing that together we can reelect Sen. Maggie Hassan. Together we are going to win.”
Ahead of Biden's visit to the Granite State on Saturday, New Hampshire Republicans released a statement, saying, "New Hampshire Democrats have been in lockstep with the failed Biden agenda that has caused immeasurable suffering for Granite Staters, who are struggling to buy groceries and fill their oil tanks ahead of winter."
