“I voted for you last year,” one man said, as he gave Pappas a firm handshake.
“I might ask you to do it again this year,” Pappas replied.
Get N.H. Morning Report
A weekday newsletter delivering the N.H. news you need to know right to your inbox.
Advertisement
“It’s going to happen,” the man added. “I hate Trump.”
Pappas has a commanding lead in the contested Democratic primary. He also appears to be ahead, albeit by a narrower margin, in hypothetical matchups with John E. Sununu and Scott Brown, the two contenders for the Republican nomination.
Sununu, whose family is seen as a political dynasty in New Hampshire, secured President Trump’s endorsement earlier this month. That further strengthens his position in the GOP primary, though it poses a potential challenge for the general election, since Trump’s job approval rating remains underwater in New Hampshire.
Pete Buttigieg speaks to reporters alongside US Representative Chris Pappas during a campaign stop at the Puritan Backroom in Manchester, N.H.Erin Clark/Globe Staff
While the Trump administration’s sweeping crackdown on immigrants has been a point of contention nationwide, the topic has become especially urgent in New Hampshire in recent weeks. State and local leaders have struggled to get clear answers from the federal government about plans to convert an industrial warehouse in Merrimack, N.H., into a regional processing center where US Immigration and Customs Enforcement plans to hold 400 to 600 detainees at a time, as part of a nationwide network of new detention centers.
When asked about the warehouse, Buttigieg noted that Republicans have joined in pushing back on plans for such facilities in New Hampshire and elsewhere.
Advertisement
“We all understand and accept the importance of proper immigration law and enforcement, but a campaign of mass incarceration and terror is not what most Americans believe is the right thing to do,” he said. “And I think the bipartisan resistance to this facility shows that.”
Pappas said he is eager to support legislation to end the partial government shutdown that’s impacting parts of the US Department of Homeland Security, but he wants to see additional guardrails on ICE, such as requiring warrants and deescalation training and ensuring officers identify themselves.
“This shouldn’t be about political leverage. It should be about getting the job done,” Pappas said. “And if we will see legislation come to the floor of the House, I want to make sure those accountability measures are in place, in addition to proper funding.”
Former Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg greets a supporter during a campaign stop at the Puritan Backroom in Manchester, N.H., on Thursday.Erin Clark/Globe Staff
Buttigieg said he came to New Hampshire because he is traveling around the country elevating causes and candidates worth supporting. He praised Pappas and New Hampshire in the same breath.
“I’ve seen his pragmatic style that’s very much characteristic of this state,” Buttigieg said, “and I also think he represents a welcome generational opportunity to have new voices in a more modern Senate.”
Buttigieg, 44, is popular among Democrats in New Hampshire. He finished second in the state’s presidential primary in 2020, which helped him climb from his prior job as mayor of South Bend, Ind., to a cabinet-level post overseeing the US Department of Transportation under former president Joe Biden.
Advertisement
His prior campaign experience was evident on Thursday, as some of the restaurant patrons regaled him with stories recalling the first time they had met him and his husband, Chasten, in 2019 at the house parties and meet-and-greet events for which the New Hampshire primary is known.
Buttigieg said campaigning in New Hampshire ahead of the 2020 primary made him a stronger candidate and influenced his views on presidential politics.
US Representative Chris Pappas speaks to constituents inside the Puritan Backroom in Manchester, N.H., on Thursday.Erin Clark/Globe Staff
“I think it’s critically important for candidates on the national stage to have to have that experience of slowing down and talking to people in small communities, in intimate settings,” he said, “and New Hampshire is full of people who take their civic responsibility as an early state seriously.”
Looking ahead to the 2028 presidential race, Buttigieg ranks among the favorite potential candidates for likely Democratic primary voters in New Hampshire, according to early polling. Data that the University of New Hampshire Survey Center released Thursday showed Buttigieg in the lead at 20 percent, followed by Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and California Governor Gavin Newsom at 15 percent apiece, then former vice president Kamala Harris and Senator Mark Kelly at 10 percent apiece.
Andrew Smith, director of the UNH Survey Center, said Buttigieg’s activity in New Hampshire is a strong sign of his potential aspirations to launch another presidential bid. If that’s the case, then stumping alongside Pappas and others is a good opportunity to build connections and support among the politically engaged Granite Staters who would be interested in working for the 2028 campaign, he said.
Smith said the latest data on potential Republican candidates show Vice President JD Vance is the clear front-runner for the GOP’s 2028 primary in New Hampshire, which signals Vance is also well-positioned to win his party’s nomination. But there is no front-runner in the Democratic contest.
Advertisement
“There’s no clear leader here,” Smith said. “There is an open field.”
Buttigieg is far from the only potential presidential hopeful making noteworthy visits to New Hampshire. Newsom and Kentucky Governor Andy Beshear are each expected to visit in early March, and several others — including Illinois Governor JB Pritzker and senators Cory Booker, Amy Klobuchar, and Ruben Gallego — have made similar treks in recent months.
After visiting with Pappas in Manchester on Thursday afternoon, Buttigieg attended a community conversation Thursday evening with Representative Maggie Goodlander in Nashua. He’s expected to join local leaders in Concord on Friday morning, then deliver a speech at Dartmouth College on Friday evening, before joining local organizers for an event on Saturday.
Steven Porter can be reached at steven.porter@globe.com. Follow him @reporterporter.
Two people are facing charges after they allegedly broke into a New Hampshire home on Tuesday wearing black masks and armed with baseball bats, all while a 12-year-old was inside.
Danville police said they received a call around 9 p.m. Tuesday for a report of a home invasion on Beatrice Street. A 12-year-old was home alone on a video chat with his friend when three people wearing black masks and armed with baseball bats broke through his front door. The 12-year-old’s friend quickly called 911.
According to police, the three people were attempting to locate the child’s father and threatened the father with serious bodily injury.
An officer soon arrived at the scene, set a perimeter, and called in two K9 units.
Advertisement
A search of the area didn’t initially turn up anything, but a K9 track led officers to another nearby home. Police interviewed the resident of the mobile home, identified as Nathan Wilder, who denied any involvement in the home invasion.
As the investigation continued, police learned that the original caller had heard from some other friends that one of the suspects in the home invasion had bragged about being involved. They determined that Nathan Wilder, John Wilder and a juvenile were the three people who had broken into the home.
John Wilder admitted to police that he had broken into the home on Beatrice Street and said that Nathan Wilder and a juvenile had assisted him.
Police were able to locate and seized three baseball bats, two ski masks and a few articles of clothing used in the crime.
John and Nathan Wilder were arrested and the juvenile who was involved was released to a parent.
Advertisement
John Wilder is charged with burglary with a weapon, criminal threat with a deadly weapon and criminal mischief. Nathan Wilder is charged with with burglary with a weapon and criminal threat with a deadly weapon. Both men are currently being held at the Rockingham County Jail awaiting arraignment.
A former New Hampshire state representative was sentenced to more than 33 years in prison for involvement in a child exploitation case — almost double the mandatory minimum.
Stacie Marie Laughton, 42, pleaded guilty to three counts of sexual exploitation of children after soliciting and receiving nude photos of three toddlers from an ex-girlfriend who worked at a daycare.
Lindsay Groves, 41, of Hudson, N.H., was sentenced to almost 22 years in prison earlier this month after pleading guilty to the same charges as well as an additional count of distribution of child pornography.
According to court documents, Groves took the photos of the victims in 2023 at Creative Minds daycare in Tyngsboro, where she was a teacher, during designated bathroom breaks and nap times.
Advertisement
She then sent the photos to Laughton, who requested the images and asked that Grove touch one of the minor’s genitals. In the conversation included in the records, the pair sexualizes the victims.
“Did the girl give you an issue,” Laughton texted after receiving the photos.
“No… the boy didn’t either,” Groves texted back.
In a sentencing memorandum, Laughton’s counsel had argued that she should receive a shorter sentence than Groves and asked for the minimum mandatory sentence, which would have 15 years for each count to be served concurrently.
“Stacie Laughton is a complex 42-year-old woman,” the memo said, noting that she was the first openly transgender woman to be elected to the New Hampshire legislature.
Advertisement
The filing described Laughton’s history of mental health, substance abuse, sexual abuse, and trauma as mitigating factors the judge should consider.
“One of the few consistencies in Ms. Laughton’s life is her challenges with mental health illnesses,” the memo said. “She began receiving mental health treatment at the age of four and has been in and out of extensive treatment programs ever since.”
The death of Laughton’s wife in 2020 and a tumultuous relationship with Groves also added to her mental health struggles, the memo said, stating that the defendant drank every day and had tried heroin for the first time leading up to her arrest.
A doctor quoted in the filing said that Laughton likely had a low IQ, tied in part to her premature birth, as well as “normal sexual interests.”
“This finding shows both how caught up Ms. Laughton was in her relationship with Groves that she participated in activity counter to this and is … an important factor in considering whether Ms. Laughton would be a future threat upon release,” the memo said.
Advertisement
The filing described Laughton’s actions as “horrendous, reprehensible, and shocking,” but said that even though the crimes were “utterly inexcusable,” she should still receive a shorter sentence than her codefendant out of a sense of justice.
However, in their own sentencing memo, federal prosecutors requested Laughton receive 40 years in prison.
“These crimes only came to light when Laughton reported them in an apparent attempt to punish Groves for ending their relationship,” prosecutors wrote. “The defendant, of course, did not disclose her own role in the creation of the imagery.”
“She ultimately admitted that she told Groves to touch one child’s penis, and claimed that she was feeding Groves’s attraction to children,” their memo said.
The prosecutors said that Laughton’s voice was the “more prominent one” in the conversation about exploiting children.
Advertisement
In addition to her prison sentence, Laughton will also serve five years of supervised release.
Massachusetts U.S. Attorney Leah Foley said in a statement that she felt the sentence fit the crime.
“The victims in this case were toddlers – children who were not yet old enough to care for themselves and, in some cases, not even fully verbal. Everyone who learns about the conduct in this case should be outraged,” United States Attorney Leah Foley said in a statement. “The sentences imposed reflect the depravity of the conduct and the seriousness of the crimes. My office will seek the most serious charges and the stiffest sentences for anyone who preys on children.”
Three people suffered injuries in a two-vehicle collision early Tuesday morning in Hooksett, New Hampshire.Courtesy of New Hampshore State
Three people suffered serious injuries Tuesday in a two-vehicle crash in Hooksett, N.H., police said.
The head-on collision happened around 5:40 a.m. on Interstate 293 northbound, State Police said.
Police said that Timothy Hubbard, 43, of Rome, Maine, was traveling south when he lost control of his car and crossed the median into oncoming traffic, police said.
Hubbard, his passenger, and the other driver were taken to hospitals to be treated for serious injuries, police said. The injures were not believed to be life-threatening.
Advertisement
Police said speed was believed to be a factor in the crash, which is under investigation.
Hannah Goeke can be reached at hannah.goeke@globe.com.
