Which Side Are You On

New Hampshire will once again make the classic decision between a democratic and republican Governor on Nov., 6. Democratic nominee Maggie Hassan and republican nominee Ovide Lamontagne give priority to education and health care issues, but both campaigns present distinct plans on how to govern New Hampshire. 

Lamontagne supports local control over education. He would focus on increasing school choice, which gives low-income parents the ability to choose the right school for their children, instead of being placed in a school determined by their zip code.

For Lamontagne, the educational system is a main solution to the economic problems. His support of the Learn-to-Earn initiative will, in theory, bring together stakeholders in education, public policy, and business to align education with the needs of employers.

Hassan shares Lamontagne's goal of aligning education with the needs of today's businesses. Her priority to achieve this is to support increased state funding for public colleges and to freeze tuition for two years. She does not support local control over education and opposes efforts to cut state aid to local schools.

Lamontagne would modify NH's healthcare policies with free market reforms. He believes in a patient-centered health care system that should be supported by state policy, not the federal government. Lamontagne hopes that his free market driven care will increase certain choices in health care, such as allowing workers to choose the benefits they purchase without state mandates.

 Lamontagne strongly opposes Obamacare and believes NH's health care system should be a competitive marketplace with incentives to control coverage costs. He also opposes legal abortion and has not commented on women's access to birth control.

Hassan supports Obamacare and will push for $1 billion in federal funding to assure affordable health insurance for working families. Hassan's priority for health care is to reduce the costs and expand the coverage. Hassan supports legal abortion and strongly opposes the restricted access to birth control.

Besides their focus on education and health care, other standpoints may lead one candidate into office. The debate over gay marriage could sway many voters as Hassan supports the right while Lamontagne opposes it. The two candidates focus differently with environmental and energy policies as well; Hassan focuses on supporting clean energy investments like the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative, while Lamontagne focuses on deregulating the energy industry with free market reform.

These opposing ideas are meant to better the state and only NH residents can choose between the two sides.