The former US senator has built her campaign on a pitch of “Don’t Mass. Up New Hampshire,” a derogatory nod to Massachusetts’ reputation as a tax-and-spend state, implying it’s a “model” Craig wants to emulate. Craig disputes that, saying she opposes an income or sales tax for New Hampshire, though does support keeping a tax on interest and dividends that’s scheduled to phase out in January.

But Craig has offered Ayotte’s campaign regular fodder in her public embrace of Massachusetts Governor Maura Healey. Healey has repeatedly appeared alongside, fund-raised with, and stumped for Craig, even following her across the country last month to raise money in Berkeley, Calif.

Just this week, Healey campaigned twice with Craig in the span of three days, with plans to return Saturday to Hanover and Dover.

The criticism of the Commonwealth — and Healey’s repeated visits north in spite of it — has at times created an uncomfortable narrative for Craig and Healey, who’ve appeared to try to justify Healey’s presence on the campaign trail.

“At the end of the day, we are all New Englanders, and we’re all Americans, we’re all playing for the same team,” Healey said Tuesday while she rallied volunteers at a canvassing kickoff for Craig in Manchester, N.H.

Healey touted Craig as a protector of abortion rights who would stand up to former president Donald Trump, should he be elected. She also pointedly noted she is a New Hampshire native — growing up in Hampton Falls and graduating from Winnacunnet High School — and that her mother, Tracy Healey-Beattie, still lives in the state.

“I get to see my mom a lot more,” she joked of campaigning there.

Standing side-by-side with Healey and other elected officials in Manchester, Craig said Ayotte’s messaging about Massachusetts’ influence on New Hampshire “is wrong,” and characterized it as a divisive tactic “pitting one community against another.” Craig recalled a recent campaign stop in Conway, N.H., where she claimed business owners told her Massachusetts residents would sometimes come in wondering if they were still welcome to visit.

“New Hampshire is a small part of New England,” Craig said. “We shouldn’t be making enemies.”

Her regular appearances with Healey have nonetheless put Craig on the defensive. During a debate hosted by New Hampshire Public Radio last week, moderator Josh Rogers pressed Craig on her repeated appearances with Healey, asking what voters should take from her choosing to “spend day upon day after day” with the Massachusetts governor.

Nothing, Craig replied.

Healey “is a friend of mine, you know, just like other people have friends from out of state,” said Craig, who called herself a fourth-generation New Hampshire resident. “I haven’t spent an excessive amount of time with her. It has nothing to do with who I am, or what I’m running for.”

Ayotte seized on the appearance, writing in a Wednesday post on X that Craig and Healey campaigning together was “otherwise known as a day that ends in ‘y’.” Her campaign then included a slideshow of photos of the two campaigning together set to the tune of the Randy Newman song, “You’ve Got a Friend in Me.”

Massachusetts is not a novel foil for New Hampshire. About one-third of New Hampshire GOP primary voters said last year they believed too many Massachusetts residents were moving to their side of the border, with some bristling at the idea of them importing more progressive viewpoints. “Don’t . . . bring your liberal [expletive] to my state,” one told the Globe at the time.

To be sure, the states share some economic similarities — and frankly people, too. Roughly 82,000 New Hampshire residents make the commute to Massachusetts for work, according to state records. New Hampshire has a lower unemployment rate than Massachusetts and both states have a median household income above the national average, though the Bay State skews higher.

For some New Hampshire voters, Ayotte’s message has resonated. Angela Johnson, a 50-year-old independent backing Ayotte, said the anti-Massachusetts pitch is rooted in taxes. Unlike Massachusetts, New Hampshire has no tax on income, sales, or estates. However, New Hampshire has the second-highest property tax rate in the country, according to the right-leaning think tank the Pioneer Institute.

“We want ‘Live free or die,’” she told the Globe at a fair in Fryeburg, Maine, on the New Hampshire border, referring to the New Hampshire state motto. A resident of Milan in Coös County, Johnson said those living in the state’s north country would feel the pain of any tax increase. Craig “has got some big city ideas that won’t fit in the North Country.”

Still, Ayotte is running to govern a state where more than half of the residents were born elsewhere. Fergus Cullen, a Republican strategist in New Hampshire and an Ayotte supporter, said given that, he’s surprised she continues to use Massachusetts as a proxy.

“I don’t know who it appeals to, I really don’t,” he said. “It doesn’t seem to me to be her strongest argument.” Emphasizing as she has in some ads that she’s a natural successor to Chris Sununu, the state’s popular outgoing four-term Republican governor, is more powerful, he said.

(To be fair, Sununu rarely passed up a chance to jab at Massachusetts, too.)

Others are also mystified at Ayotte casting Massachusetts as the villain. At a visit to a Caribbean restaurant in Manchester Tuesday, Pat Long, a Democrat and 18-year veteran of the New Hampshire House, stood in the back of the restaurant as he watched Craig and Healey address a small crowd and hand out “Latinos con Joyce” campaign signs.

Long, who is currently running for state Senate, said Ayotte’s jabs at Massachusetts don’t make sense for people, like himself, who envy Massachusetts’ strong education system, among other strengths.

“I’d be proud to be walking around with Maura Healey. She’s done some great things in Mass.,” Long said. “New Hampshire needs a little taste of that.”

K.J. Ames, a 73-year-old Republican from Claremont, said the migration of people into New Hampshire, particularly during the pandemic, means the state is “already Massachusetts. And New Jersey. And Philadelphia.”

“A lot of people moved in,” he told the Globe in Fryeburg. But Ames said he couldn’t vote for Ayotte for another reason: “She stood for Trump. And if there’s a baby in the bathwater, I’m sorry, it’s gone.”

That leaves Craig, who “may be a little too liberal for my blood, but I’ll give her a chance,” Ames said.

Plus, he added: “She’s only governor for two years.”

Samantha J. Gross can be reached at samantha.gross@globe.com. Follow her @samanthajgross. Matt Stout can be reached at matt.stout@globe.com. Follow him @mattpstout.

The race for state representative in Massachusetts’ 13th Norfolk District, representing parts of Needham, Medfield and Dover, comes with a political novelty attached.

Josh Tarsky won the Democratic primary in September against three other candidates, but will still face a challenger, after Bill Dermody made it to the general election ballot as an unenrolled candidate.

“When I decided to get in the race, it was past the primary time where I had to sign up with one of the parties to run in the primaries,” explained Dermody. “So I found out you could run as unenrolled so I moved forward with that path.”

Asked if that was savvy political posturing, Dermody replied, “No! I wish I was that smart! I would’ve run in the Democratic primary, it was just timing.”

But Tarsky isn’t upset about the late entry, seeing it as part of the democratic process.

“I’ve taken it in stride,” he said.

On the issues themselves, the pair share similarities and differences.

Ballot Question 2 brings out different opinions. Dermody thinks the MCAS should stay, as a “benchmark,” while Tarsky said the test “needs improvement. I just don’t think we should do it the way we are.”

Ballot Question 1, which would allow the state auditor to audit the Legislature, also drew a contrast.

“It makes me have to defend my decisions, which I think actually helps refine my decisions. I would support that,” Tarsky said.

“The Legislature has to be held accountable,” Dermody said, but he’s “not sure on the constitutionality” of the proposal.

Other issues, like the MBTA Communities Law and housing needs, bring forward agreement.

“We need more housing, and even if you rezone, it doesn’t mean it’s going to happen,” Dermody said.

“Just because zoning is passed in these areas, doesn’t mean we get the type of building we want. Locally I want to empower local leaders,” Tarsky said.

Those are priorities they hope to champion on Beacon Hill.

“I feel I have Democratic values but an independent voice,” Dermody said.

“As a Democrat, if elected, that will allow me to caucus with leadership,” Tarsky said.

Severe fall drought conditions in Massachusetts have worsened, expanding across communities that have been stricken by stubborn wildfires in recent days, according to the latest data from the U.S. Drought Monitor.

An updated map released on Thursday morning showed at least 56 percent of the state in a moderate drought, and 13.6 percent of the state suffering from a severe drought, a drastic jump from last week.

Parts of Norfolk, Middlesex, and Essex counties are in severe drought, while nearly all of central and western Massachusetts is seeing moderate drought conditions.

Northern Bristol and Northern Plymouth counties are experiencing an abnormally dry season, while southeastern Massachusetts, Cape Cod, and the Islands aren’t impacted, the map showed.

This weekly update comes as firefighters continue to monitor dozens of wildfires across the state that have burned up hundreds of acres of land in recent days.

A big problem spot for brush fires has been the North Shore, which is now experiencing severe drought. Crews in Salem remain on high alert for brush fires as holiday revelers flock to the city to celebrate Halloween.

Smoke is still lingering in Salem from two brush fires that were knocked down on Wednesday, causing air quality concerns and the smell of smoke in the air.

Warmer temperatures on Thursday, and the possibility of gusty wind, could cause flare-ups to these brush fires, officials warned.

“The air drying, the wind picking up, and not to mention the drought worsening this week, it’s a day to be vigilant in terms of that wildfire threat,” Boston 25 Meteorologist Tucker Antico said.

Earlier this week, the state Department of Fire Services said nearly 50 brush fires were burning statewide.

Total rainfall in the Boston area is down more than 5 inches below where we should be since the start of the season, while the Worcester area is down 7 inches, Antico said.

The latest forecast from the Boston 25 Weather team shows very little to no rainfall in the extended forecast, with more warmth ahead.

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