Governor Hassan Addresses Crowd of Supporters at General Election Kick-Off Celebration

See below for the full text of Governor Hassan's remarks, as prepared for delivery:

Thank you.

Thank you to all of you here tonight -- I am honored to have such incredible support from so many Granite Staters in every corner of our state.

One of the biggest reasons our campaign will be successful this fall is your dedication and your commitment to moving our state forward.

Our grassroots supporters give us an edge that no amount of outside, negative spending can overcome.

And thank you Executive Councilor Chris Pappas for that introduction and for being a steadfast advocate for our communities on the Executive Council.

And I want to thank the people of New Hampshire, who work together every day to strengthen their families, their communities, and the state we all love.

Together, we're building a stronger, more innovative New Hampshire where education and small businesses drive job creation.

We enacted two fiscally responsible, bipartisan budgets -- while holding the line against a sales or an income tax.

We're helping innovative businesses start up and grow.

We're providing a strong and comprehensive approach to the substance abuse epidemic.

Nearly fifty thousand hard-working Granite Staters now have access to quality, affordable health coverage, including coverage for substance abuse treatment, because of our bipartisan efforts to pass -and reauthorize -- Medicaid expansion.

We came together to begin fixing our highways, roads and bridges.

To provide businesses with the 21st century workforce they need to thrive and to expand opportunity for middle class families, we froze tuition at our state universities for the first time in 25 years. And we lowered tuition at our community colleges.

And we are seeing the progress all across our state. Our unemployment rate is among the lowest in the nation, and there are more people working than ever before in our state's history.

We've made progress for our people and businesses by solving problems the New Hampshire Way -- working with Democrats, Republicans and independents to get things done for hard-working families. And it is long past time for Washington to take the same approach.

But Washington is failing New Hampshire's families and small businesses. Because for too long, corporate special interests have rigged the system for themselves at the expense of the middle class.

Senator Ayotte is part of the problem in Washington.

In vote after vote, Senator Ayotte has put her political party and her special interest backers such as the Koch Brothers ahead of the priorities of the people of New Hampshire.

I am running for Senate because Granite Staters deserve a Senator who will always put their interests first. Who will fight to expand middle class opportunity. Who will focus on bipartisan problem solving and promoting innovation and education to ensure that everyone is included in our economic success.

I want to see a future where everyone who works hard has an opportunity to get ahead and stay ahead. Where our middle class is growing and thriving, and where all parents can once again feel confident that their children will have a better future. Where each generation is again better off than the last.

As I travel across New Hampshire, I hear from people and businesses who tell me about their priorities -- and those are the priorities we've been fighting for at the state level every single day.

I hear from the college student who said that because we froze tuition, he had the peace of mind that he'd be able to go to college.

I hear from the owners of Smuttynose Brewing Company in Hampton, who not only brew really great beer and help drive our economy, but also do so from an environmentally sustainable facility.

And the Manchester nursing student whose lack of insurance almost kept her from completing her nursing program. But thanks to Medicaid expansion, she was able to continue pursuing her dream of becoming a nurse.

I've put forward an economic plan outlining the policies I will focus on as a United States Senator to continue working to foster innovation, support job-creating businesses and expand opportunity for hard-working families.

That plan includes key priorities such as expanding the impact and availability of the federal Research & Development tax credit, enacting a new $1,000 tax cut for middle class families, and making college more affordable by expanding Pell Grants and allowing students to refinance their loans.

Unfortunately, our shared vision stands in stark contrast to what we see from Senator Kelly Ayotte in Washington.

Time and again in Washington, Senator Ayotte has demonstrated that she puts her political party and corporate special interest backers ahead of Granite Staters.

Special interests -- from the Koch Brothers to Big Oil to Wall Street and big pharmaceutical companies -- are spending millions of dollars supporting Senator Ayotte, because they know they can count on her vote for their agenda in Washington.

During her first four years in Washington, Senator Ayotte voted with the Koch Brothers nearly 90% of the time.

And what does that mean for New Hampshire families?

It means she's voting to support tax breaks for Big Oil, big corporations, and outsourcers, while also voting to turn Medicare into a voucher program, voting to raise the retirement age, and voting against efforts to protect Social Security from benefit cuts.

Wall Street has given Ayotte's campaign over $2 million dollars. And how does she back their agenda?

By voting against consumer protections, by voting to protect taxpayer subsidies for corporate bonuses for Wall Street CEOs.

And by voting against allowing students to refinance their loans while voting to cut Pell grants, which would make college more expensive for students and families across New Hampshire.

She even tried to cover up her record by introducing a sham student loan bill that's been called a "sweetheart deal" for Wall Street's private lenders.

Big Pharma has spent nearly $200,000 supporting Senator Ayotte, and she backs their agenda by voting against measures to lower prescription drug costs -- including her votes against helping to get affordable generic drugs to the market sooner and against letting Americans get access to safe, cheaper prescription drugs from Canada.

The gun lobby has invested in Ayotte's campaign, and she's stood with them in Washington… Repeatedly voting against expanding background checks to prevent suspected terrorists and other dangerous individuals from buying guns at gun shows or online.

Senator Ayotte has also stood with her political party in working to undermine a woman's right to make her own health decisions and to safely and affordably access health care, supporting efforts to overturn Roe V. Wade and voting six times to defund Planned Parenthood.

And Ayotte has put politics over the safety and security of our nation with her support of Donald Trump for Commander in Chief despite the judgment of national security experts from both parties who have said that Trump presents a clear and present danger to America.

That's been Senator Ayotte's record the entire time she's been in Washington -- always putting her political party, and the corporate special interests who pour money into her campaigns first.

These are not the priorities of New Hampshire -- and I know that we can do better for our families and small businesses.

In the Senate, I will work across party lines to foster innovation, support job-creating businesses and expand economic opportunity.

We need to equip Granite Staters to compete in our changing global economy. And I will continue fighting to make college more affordable and reduce the burden of student loan debt.

I will work to combat climate change -- because our economy, our environment, our people, and our way of life depend on it.

New Hampshire's seniors deserve the full benefits that they have earned. That's why I will work to protect and strengthen Social Security and Medicare.

It's unacceptable that politicians in Washington are still playing politics with a woman's right to make her own health decisions and control her own destiny. In the Senate, I will always stand up against attempts to defund Planned Parenthood and undermine Roe v. Wade.

And I will ensure that our nation is secure and our communities are safe. As Governor, my number one priority has always been keeping New Hampshire safe and secure -- and in the Senate, America's security will always be my top priority. We have the strongest fighting force in the world, and we must maintain our military superiority while also being the greatest force for good.

No matter the issue, you can count on me to take my bipartisan approach, my common sense and my commitment to problem-solving to the Senate to get results for New Hampshire.

The choice in this election is clear: between a Senator who will focus on New Hampshire and our priorities. Or a Senator whose agenda is determined by the corporate special interests that already have too many Senators on their side in Washington.

Here in the Granite State we have fought hard to make progress for our people, our small businesses, and our economy.

And we have come too far to let corporate special interests and the politicians like Senator Ayotte who advance their agenda pull us backward.

So I look forward to seeing all of you -- at house parties, phone banks, and canvass kickoffs. Your grassroots work will make the difference, as we engage with our fellow citizens, person to person, experience to experience, to get out every last vote.

But there's something more fundamental to grassroots work than that.

When we engage in our democracy, when we share our stories and learn the stories of our fellow citizens, we bring in more people from the margins and help build a more inclusive, more perfect union.

We know that the work of inclusion, the work of change is extraordinarily hard. Don't let anybody tell you it's not.

But our forefathers wrote a Declaration of Independence where they pledged their lives, their fortunes, and their sacred honor to the cause of an inclusive democracy where all are created equal.

That's our job too, that's what's at stake.

This election won't be easy, but we have proven before that we are up to the challenge.

And by working together, we can -- and we will -- create a brighter future for all Granite Staters.

Thank you all for your support -- and onward to victory in November!

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