NH Gubernatorial Candidate Says Her Campaign Will Stress Job Creation

Democrat Maggie Hassan, 53, who recently announced her candidacy for governor, said one of her major goals is to focus on creating jobs in New Hampshire, and suggested that gambling in the state ought to be expanded in order to boost state revenue.

The former Democratic Senate majority leader spoke to the Portsmouth Press Herald:

“We will be developing more policy proposals as the campaign proceeds, but what we do know is that the best way to attract businesses to a state is to have a work force that is well-educated and ready with the skill sets that businesses need,” she said. “What we need to do is create jobs and to be innovative, both in terms of job creation and in terms of how we run state government and the best way to approach that is to come together with people and find out what they need to create jobs.”

Hassan also told the paper that another way to boost jobs in New Hampshire is to consider expanding gambling here:

“With Massachusetts very likely to support gambling and building casinos, I think it’s worth taking a look at whether we should have at least one gambling location,” she said. “Because, otherwise, what’s going to happen is people will go over the border into Massachusetts and spend their money there, funding Massachusetts roads, bridges and schools with their gambling money, and then come back to New Hampshire with the same social problems gambling sometimes causes.”

Hassan, who served in the state Legislature from 2004-2010, says as governor she would revisit the recent cuts in education. She says education and jobs “go hand in hand.”