Kelly touts experience in governor's race

PORTSMOUTH — For Molly Kelly, it all comes down to education.

“My priority is education. Always has been. It will continue to be,” the former state senator and Democratic gubernatorial candidate declared multiple times at a recent meeting with the Seacoast Media Group editorial board.

“I feel if we erode public education, we erode democracy,” said Kelly, 68, a mother of four and grandmother of seven.

Kelly, a longtime Keene resident who moved a few years ago to nearby Harrisville, represented New Hampshire’s southwest corner for a decade before deciding against seeking re-election in 2016.

Kelly took aim at Republican Gov. Chris Sununu’s support for educational savings accounts. The legislation Sununu championed would set up a voucher-like system – allowing families who remove their kids from public schools to be able to put state money into an education savings account to spend on alternative education such as private or home schooling. She said the measure “takes money from public education and moves it to private or religious schools and so it weakens public education and will eventually raise property taxes.”

Kelly said her goal if elected would be “to strengthen our public schools to be the best schools so there would be no need for a child to go to another school.” She also wants to lower higher education costs in New Hampshire. “I would freeze tuition and lower tuition as well,” she offered, without getting into specifics.

She added she “would increase the state loan repayment program so that students know when they come here that at the end of the four years, they would have an opportunity to work” to pay off their college loans.

Throughout the interview, Kelly took aim at Sununu. “The reason that I’m running for governor is because of my deep, deep, concern about the direction of the state under our current governor,” she said.

She vowed “I will not allow women’s reproductive rights to go backwards. And I promise that all women, regardless of income, will have access to safe legal abortion.”

Kelly criticized Sununu for the first major bill he signed into law as governor, a measure passed by the GOP-dominated Legislature that removed the state’s requirement that people get a license from local officials to carry a concealed weapon. “I think that is wrong and as governor I would repeal that,” she said.

She also targeted Sununu for signing into law last year and this year voter eligibility legislation she described as “voter suppression bills.”

Kelly jumped into the race for governor in April. She has a large fundraising advantage over her rival for the Democratic nomination, former Portsmouth Mayor Steve Marchand, who’s making his second straight run for governor. She also has the establishment backing with endorsements from U.S. Sens. Jeanne Shaheen and Maggie Hassan, top state lawmakers, national groups like Emily’s List and Planned Parenthood, the Teamsters, and two of the top teachers’ unions in New Hampshire.

Asked what differentiates her from Marchand, Kelly highlights her experience in the Legislature.

“I know the process moving legislation through and what that takes,” she said. “I know how to collaborate across party lines to get things done. I am ready to move into the governor’s seat because of my experience and understanding the process.”

In a swipe at Marchand, Kelly said “when you think about the opioid epidemic, I was there on the forefront. It’s not new. It’s not something I discovered as I was running for governor. It’s something that I worked very hard for in the Senate.”

Kelly said if elected she would make sure the new infusion of federal funding the state’s receiving in the drug crisis would be spread equally “so that every community has access that funding, not just a few.”

On energy, Kelly repeated her vow of moving the state eventually to 100 percent renewable energy. She highlighted a 2013 bill she championed, which she said propelled solar and hydroelectric power in the state. Marchand has questioned that claim, saying New Hampshire is only “half of 1 percent renewable five years after Molly’s bill.”

Kelly opposed the Northern Pass hydro-electric transmission lines proposal. When it comes to the Granite Bridge, the proposed natural gas pipeline from the Seacoast to Manchester along Route 101, Kelly said she doesn’t have a position yet. “I have been looking at it, spending a lot of time talking to people,” she said, but vowed “I would not support a project if it did not lower carbon in our communities and was not safe.”

To help court and keep companies in New Hampshire, Kelly said “as governor I would put forth friendly public policy to attract young people,” including bringing back commuter rail, expanding broadband and vowing “I will get through the Legislature and sign paid family leave.”