Political observers and activists criticized Democratic New Hampshire Gov. Maggie Hassan’s recent call to address the state’s drug crisis as "political theater" designed to advance her Senate campaign, rather than save lives.
New Hampshire has the highest rate of drug use in the country, especially for harder drugs, such as heroin and prescription opiates. Hassan called for a special legislative session dedicated to substance abuse on Tuesday to address an epidemic that claimed more than 500 lives in 2013 and 2014, according to the state medical examiner.
The New Hampshire Union-Leader derided her calls in a Wednesday editorial titled "Hacky Hassan exploiting drug crisis for headlines." The editorial paid particular attention to Hassan’s decision to veto a state budget that would have ramped up spending to address the crisis.
"After sitting on her hands since July, she suddenly thinks the situation so urgent that the Legislature has to spend Thanksgiving holding committee hearings. The politics behind Hassan’s sudden urgency are transparent. She wants to leverage the governor’s office to bolster her campaign for U.S. Senate," the editorial says. "If the situation is truly this urgent, Hassan would suspend her senate campaign, and her fundraising, so she can concentrate full time on helping lawmakers come up with a solution. Until she does, there is no reason to take her seriously."
Hassan’s response to the drug epidemic has been limited. She rejected Manchester Mayor Ted Gatsas’ request for $2.5 million to build a drug court to address the deadly problem, saying that it had to spend the money before Oct. 1 or return it to the federal government, as part of the federal Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration program.
Hassan’s office did not return request for comment or answer questions about how that money was spent.
The heroin epidemic in New Hampshire has made national headlines and even led the White House to craft a $13 million program to help hard hit areas, such as New Hampshire, in August.
Hassan critics have linked the heroin epidemic to Hassan’s veto in the past. Conservative grassroots group Citizens for a Strong New Hampshire aired radio and television ads highlighting the vetoed budget’s importance to fighting drug addiction. Group spokesman Derek Dufresne said that Hassan’s call for a special session is too little too late.
"When looking at Maggie Hassan's responses to the state's growing heroin epidemic, it truly is a tale of two governors," Dufresne said in a release. "Granite Staters unfortunately suffered under the unresponsive Governor Hassan. This apathetic individual was willing to use her budget veto to hold up a 75% increase in funding to combat drug abuse simply to advance her liberal agenda. Now that she has made her political intentions clear, New Hampshire is forced to suffer under the rushed Governor Hassan. This frantic chief executive is exploiting the problem with no consensus or bipartisan plan to truly fight the epidemic."
Hassan will challenge Republican Sen. Kelly Ayotte in 2016.
Update 4:20 P.M.: A previous version of this article referred to the paper that published the editorial as "the New Hampshire Union-Telegraph." The editorial appeared in the New Hampshire Union-Leader.