Former Vice President Kamala Harris campaigned in Portsmouth on Saturday for U.S. Rep. Chris Pappas, urging Democratic volunteers to intensify turnout efforts with 10 days remaining before the Nov. 3 general election.
Harris appeared at a campaign office where volunteers were conducting a phone bank. She framed the midterms as a critical moment for voters to check the executive branch and delivered sharp criticism of the Trump administration.
“We’re never going to let anyone take our power from us,” Harris said. “This is that moment, and that is so darn exciting.”
Why volunteers matter
Harris thanked volunteers for their work and urged them not to relent in the final days of the campaign. She told the crowd the founders anticipated moments when the branches of government would need to be used as a check on executive power, language she tied to current politics in Washington.
The Portsmouth event also featured appearances by Cinde Warmington, the Democratic nominee for governor, and Stefany Shaheen, the Democratic nominee in the 1st Congressional District, both of whom thanked volunteers for their efforts.
Polling and the race
Campaign remarks came as the Saint Anselm College Survey Center at the New Hampshire Institute of Politics showed Democrats leading the generic congressional ballot 52% to 43% and Pappas holding a seven-point advantage over former U.S. Sen. John E. Sununu, according to the campaign announcement of the poll results cited at the event.
- Harris urged a sustained push in voter contacts, saying the final days are decisive.
- The event drew local and federal candidates, tying the Senate contest to broader turnout efforts.
- Pappas remains, by the poll cited at the event, ahead of Sununu as Nov. 3 approaches.
Campaign events in the closing days of the midterms are often focused on contact operations such as phone banks, door knocking and driving voters to the polls. Harris’s appearance in Portsmouth joined a string of national surrogates who have traveled to New Hampshire this month to support Democratic federal and statewide candidates.
No fundraising figures or scheduling for additional Harris appearances were announced at the Portsmouth event.
