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Biden continues infrastructure victory lap with second stop in New Hampshire

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President Joe Biden is scheduled to go to New Hampshire for the second time in six months Tuesday, the place he’s planning to tout his administration’s $1.2 trillion infrastructure regulation in Portsmouth.

“The President will spotlight how these investments will strengthen provide chains, maintain items shifting to assist decrease costs for working households, and allow the U.S. to compete globally,” the White Home mentioned in a Monday launch forward of the go to.

The Bipartisan Infrastructure Regulation, formally the Infrastructure Funding and Jobs Act, was signed into regulation by Biden on November 15.

The act contains over $500 billion for roads and bridges, $72 billion for clear water, $65 billion for broadband entry, and over $100 billion for rail, airport, and seaport enhancements.

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New Hampshire, the place Biden was met in Woodstock with jeers in November, is in dire want of the funds, in keeping with the Division of Transportation.

“For many years, infrastructure in New Hampshire has suffered from a systemic lack of funding. The truth is, the American Society of Civil Engineers gave New Hampshire a C- on its infrastructure report card,” the DOT mentioned in a launch.

In response to the DOT, 215 New Hampshire bridges and practically 700 miles of state freeway are in poor situation. The outcomes, the division says, are longer commutes and expensive repairs.

“Since 2011, commute occasions have elevated by 5.9% in New Hampshire, and on common, every driver pays $476 per 12 months in prices attributable to driving on roads in want of restore,” the DOT mentioned in a launch.

The Bipartisan Infrastructure Regulation is anticipated to ship practically $1.6 billion to the Granite State for street and bridge repairs and a further $126 million over the following 5 years for public transportation enhancements, in keeping with DOT.

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The regulation would additionally ship $17 million to the state for improvement of electrical car charging infrastructure.



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New Hampshire

Criminal Threatening Deadly Weapon, Mischief Arrest On East Side Drive: Concord Police Log

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Criminal Threatening Deadly Weapon, Mischief Arrest On East Side Drive: Concord Police Log


Lowell M. Brookbank, born 1961, of Henniker, was arrested at 10:41 p.m. on May 5 on felony possession of a controlled drug charge after an incident or investigation at the Quick Stop at 201 S. Main St.

Esther Ntumba Mbombo, 43, of Concord was arrested at 3:30 p.m. on May 3 on felony criminal threatening-deadly weapon and criminal mischief charges. She was arrested after an incident or investigation on East Side Drive.

Troy Maine, born 2000, of Concord was arrested at 10:10 a.m. on May 1 on a conduct after an accident charge and an unsafe lane violation after an incident or investigation on South State Street.

Alex R. Crowder, 35, of Concord received a summons at 10:25 p.m. on April 28 on a bench warrant after an incident or investigation at the Concord Homeless Resource Center at 238 N. Main St.

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Jonathan Taylor Gagne, 23, a homeless man now located in Concord, received a summons on a bench warrant at 8:05 a.m. on April 28 after an incident or investigation at the Friendly Kitchen at 2 South Commercial St.



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New Hampshire

Even before Trump verdict, most N.H. voters already had their minds made up – The Boston Globe

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Even before Trump verdict, most N.H. voters already had their minds made up – The Boston Globe


“A lot of people are focused on putting food on the table. A lot of people are focused on not getting fired from their job, or keeping their families together,” he said.

So even before the jury convicted Trump on 34 felony counts Thursday night, Register was confident: The trial’s outcome alone would be unlikely on its own to change the minds of many voters in New Hampshire, where analysts generally view President Biden as somewhat favored to win, though recent polling suggests he has no more than a slight edge over Trump.

“I think the people that are going to vote for Trump are going to vote for Trump,” Register said Wednesday, after a veterans roundtable hosted by the Biden campaign. “I think independents that are still undecided are going to stay undecided. I think the Democrats need to get out and vote.”

Register said he is among the undeclared voters who comprise a plurality of New Hampshire’s electorate. And, like a majority of the state’s population, he was born elsewhere. Originally from North Carolina, he moved to New Hampshire in 2021 after his military service. He said he used to vote for Republican presidential candidates, but sees Trump as a self-serving threat to American norms and the rule of law. So he’s actively supporting Biden.

Register isn’t alone in his assessment that Granite Staters — who handed Trump a victory over former South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley in the first-in-the-nation GOP primary in January — have mostly made up their minds on who they prefer in the Trump-Biden showdown. And reactions to the verdict reflect that.

“If you’re on Team Trump, this just hardens the resolve,” said Wayne Lesperance, a political science professor and the president of New England College. For those on Team Biden? “It feels good: He’s been held accountable.”

But there is also a middle group, Lesperance said. The group includes some Haley voters who are still wrestling with whether to throw their support behind the presumptive GOP nominee, as Haley has. While this segment may be fairly small, it could have an outsize influence in New Hampshire, he said.

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“It’s the only segment that has the potential to move the needle for either Trump or Biden,” he added.

J.P. Marzullo, 80, of Deering, N.H., is somewhere in that middle group. He’s a former vice chairman of the New Hampshire Republican Party and a former state representative. He initially supported former New Jersey Governor Chris Christie’s bid for presidency, then turned to Haley after Christie dropped out.

Marzullo has mixed feelings about Trump’s conviction. On the one hand, he said the justice system worked and jurors did a good job. On the other, he still wants to know more details about how and why the case played out the way it did.

“Honestly, I’m still kind of sitting there, trying to figure out what I’m going to do,” he said on Friday.

Marzullo said he has lingering questions. He noted that Judge Juan Merchan made donations to Biden in 2020 ($15 to the campaign and $20 to progressive organizations, as NBC News reported). He’s also mulling Fox News commentary about Merchan’s alleged bias against Trump.

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“It bothers me a little because I think the justice system worked,” Marzullo said, “but people are going to question those things, and I think rightfully so.”

Marzullo said the verdict will likely split Haley voters, with some backing Trump because they think he was “taken advantage of,” while others remain conflicted.

“I mean, to vote for a felon, for me, is going to be difficult,” he said.

Difficult, but not impossible.

Others contend the verdict will dramatically drive turnout for Trump.

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“The American public is smart and they will see through this farce,” said Michael Biundo, a veteran Republican political strategist in New Hampshire who advised Trump’s campaign in 2016 and advised a political action committee that supported Vivek Ramaswamy’s candidacy in 2024. “I think it solidifies his base and moves people that just think that this whole case was done for political reasons. The Democrats have overplayed their hands.”

Recent polling of likely New Hampshire voters found that 37 percent of those who identify with the Republican Party and 14 percent of those who identify as independent said a conviction in this case would make them “much” more likely to vote for Trump, according to the University of New Hampshire Survey Center — but it’s not entirely clear how many of those respondents would cast a vote for Trump anyway. The survey found that 85 percent of likely New Hampshire voters had “definitely decided” who they will support in November.

Bobby Yoho, a construction worker who lives in Alexandria, N.H., said while enjoying a sunny Friday afternoon with his family at the Franklin Falls Dam that Trump’s conviction was “trash.” He called it an abuse of the justice system and said Trump’s other legal challenges are also part of a politically motivated witch hunt.

Yoho, a registered Republican, said he was pleased with how Trump ran the country, noting that costs went down and wages went up. He felt Trump did exactly what he said he would do, and the felony conviction won’t shake his support for the former president.

“It doesn’t change anything for me,” he said.

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While many New Hampshire voters may be dead-set in their presidential selections at this point, Dante Scala, a UNH political science professor, said it would be worthwhile to keep an eye on two groups: progressives and independents.

There are progressives upset with Biden over his handling of Israel’s war with Hamas in Gaza, and Trump’s conviction might provide a basis for Democrats to reinvigorate some of that diminished support, he said. And there are casual independents who aren’t particularly plugged into the political process; the phrase “convicted felon” might make a difference for them.

Scala said it’s also important to remember where the conviction landed in the 2024 political calendar.

“This isn’t an October surprise. It’s a May surprise,” he said. “There’s an awful long time until people actually go to vote, and there’s an awful long time for this to settle in.”


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Steven Porter can be reached at steven.porter@globe.com. Follow him @reporterporter. Amanda Gokee can be reached at amanda.gokee@globe.com. Follow her @amanda_gokee.





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New Hampshire

Trump’s guilty verdict underscores contrast in GOP primary for N.H. governor – The Boston Globe

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Trump’s guilty verdict underscores contrast in GOP primary for N.H. governor – The Boston Globe


One of the two Republicans running for governor in New Hampshire sought to use the news of former president Donald Trump’s conviction Thursday as an opportunity to differentiate himself from his GOP rival.

Chuck Morse’s campaign promptly released a statement denouncing the guilty verdict as a symptom of corruption. The statement also called Morse the “sole New Hampshire gubernatorial candidate to have endorsed” Trump in the 2024 race.

“This weaponization of justice to target a political opponent is an affront to American values and will only embolden President Trump’s supporters, rallying millions of voters to his side,” he said, claiming President Biden had manipulated the system “for electoral gain.”

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Morse, a former New Hampshire Senate president, is up against former US senator Kelly Ayotte in the Republican primary. While Morse has aligned his candidacy with the former president, endorsing Trump at a campaign rally in December, Ayotte has taken a more measured approach, saying she would support whoever wins the GOP presidential nomination.

Ayotte confirmed in March that she’ll support Trump, the party’s presumptive 2024 nominee, despite having withdrawn her 2016 endorsement over the “Access Hollywood” tape. (“I cannot and will not support a candidate for president who brags about degrading and assaulting women,” she said at the time.)

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Former US senator Kelly Ayotte spoke at a campaign rally in 2020 at the Laconia Municipal Airport in Gilford, N.H.Robert F. Bukaty/Associated Press

Unlike many other political candidates, Ayotte did not immediately share a statement about Trump’s conviction on social media, nor did spokespeople for her campaign respond to The Boston Globe’s request for comment. But she released a statement Thursday evening to the New Hampshire Journal.

“Today’s verdict is disappointing, and I don’t believe our justice system should be politicized,” she said. “Our country is on the wrong track with Joe Biden in the White House, and that’s why I’m supporting Donald Trump.”

The two leading Democratic gubernatorial candidates singled out Ayotte for criticism. Joyce Craig, the former mayor of Manchester, said Ayotte lacks “the spine” needed to stand up to Trump and “the dangerous extremists in her party.” Cinde Warmington, the lone Democratic executive councilor, said New Hampshire needs a governor “who has the backbone to stand up to the likes of Trump and Ayotte.”


This story first appeared in Globe NH | Morning Report, our free newsletter focused on the news you need to know about New Hampshire, including great coverage from the Boston Globe and links to interesting articles from other places. If you’d like to receive it via e-mail Monday through Friday, you can sign up here.


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Steven Porter can be reached at steven.porter@globe.com. Follow him @reporterporter.





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