What Will Drive Success in NH and Maine U.S. Senate Races? 6-11-26
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47 segmentsHey everybody, Lady Luck here, and we're celebrating America's 250th birthday. Now, all summer long, I'm going to be celebrating by playing on SpinQuest.com, which is an American-owned social casino. It obviously features over a thousand slot games and live blackjack, live craps, live bubble craps. Head on over to SpinQuest.com. Get yourself a $30 coin pack for just $10.00. SpenQuest is a free-to-play social casino. Avoid where prohibited. Visit SpenQuest.com for more details. This is Dancer today. I am Chris Ryan. After Tuesday's state primary, the general election is underway in the Senate race in Maine. Let's get the latest on that right now from Alexis McAdams. Graham Platner wasn't surprised by the support on the ground. He said people that are political analysts and people in the D.C. cocktail circles don't understand Maine voters. He's promising to go after the billionaires and the Democrat class. I will fight for you.
I have been willing to die from my country. There is nothing that I will not do for the state of Maine. Now, Graham Platner's win was called within just over an hour after the polls closed here in the state of Maine. He had a lot of support. We're going to have to see, though, what happens in November. The campaign says that's what they're focused on. They're focused now in beating Republican Senator Susan Collins. Yesterday, President Trump commented on Graham Platner and his victory. Here's Jared Halpert at the White House. Maine Republican Senator Susan Collins does not always vote how President Trump wants, but he says he'll support her re-election bid in November. She's a sane woman, and she's a respected person. President Trump calls her challenger, Democrat Graham Platner, a thug. He's a phony. I've made a lot of money picking out phonies. He's a real phony. He's a bad person. Graham Platner, a political newcomer, defeated Maine's governor Janet Mills in the Democratic primary, overcoming a series of scandals, including a years-old tattoo depicting Nazi imagery and accusations of abusive behavior from ex-girlfriends. At the White House, Jared Halpern, Fox News. Joining us right now on the HRC, your neighbor credit union guest on 2020 Republican nominee for the United States Senate here in the Granite State. Corky Messner, good morning, Cork. Good morning, Chris. Appreciate joining us for the show. Two questions out of this. A, how do you see Graham Platner doing in Maine when it comes to the general election? And if you were running against Graham Platner, what would your focus be? Great questions. You know, I think right now, the momentum across the country favors the Democrats. And I think in Maine, it's even particularly stronger. I think Susan Collins has, you know, is perceived as being in the Senate too long, which he probably has. And so I think Graham Platner, despite all the issues he's dealing with. has momentum. And I was listening to an interview of him yesterday. He sounds very, very authentic. He seems to be a normal middle class guy and certainly not in the elite. And I think that'll serve him well in this election, especially what's going on with the economy in the country and the fact that we now have a war going on. And he's a veteran and he's a combat veteran.
Yeah, let's stop there before we get to how you would run against him because I think you made a number of really good points. And I think that there is also this anti-establishment sentiment that sent, you know, Janet Mills out of this race, right? And then had her soundly defeated despite the fact that she's like, hey, if you want to vote for me, you can. I'm still on the ballot. For a lot of Mainers, you know, and I've spent some time over there over the last couple months and talking to people. it seems that they feel that not only have Mills and in particular Susan Collins been around for a long time, but they don't have much to show for it. And that Mainers don't have a lot to show for, particularly working class folks. And so you have that and you have the progressive left, obviously, behind Graham Platner because of his stances and the Bernie Sanders connection and all that. So I think that those are all really good points. The question is going to be, you know, character. And does Graham Platner have, are the conditions that are leading to his success? greater than the concerns in regard to his character. And those concerns are legitimate and the man is a walking red flag despite the authenticity that you described. And that to me is very similar to President Trump in both sides of the coin, right, in regard to the character, but also the authenticity, right? That he says what he thinks, that he is plain spoken. He doesn't speak in DCEs. So those things are... driving his candidacy in both directions. So now to the point of how would you run against him? Do you focus on his various scandals and his deficiencies? If you're Susan Collins, do you focus mostly on trying to show what you've accomplished to overcome your negatives? Do you focus on policy in the fact that a lot of the policies that Graham Platner describes are outside of the mainstream, although if you listen to him interviewed, he does a good job of explaining how they may be more mainstream than you think, very similar to how Bernie Sanders goes about things until you start asking, you know, the whys and the hows of their policies and then things kind of fall apart? Yeah, I think first the negative campaigning will be intense against him and expect to see much of that coming from independent expenditures. 100%. So Susan Collins will do a little bit of that. But she'll try to keep arms length away from the intense negative campaigning. I think it's got to be policy. I think she's got to focus on policy. And I think that's necessarily going to mean that, you know, she's got to keep arms length away from Trump. And he seems to be fine with that, right? I mean, this is the clip there. Exactly. He's fine with that.
That's right, because he knows that Senate seats super important for him. So, you know, inflation came in yesterday 4.2%. Yeah. And so she's going to have to, you know, keep arm's length away from his policies, you know, but at the same time, try not to attack him too much for all the negative things that some Republicans attack him for. And then I think lastly, And I saw a commercial watching the game last night, the Knicks game, which was amazing, by the way. Yeah. You know, I saw a commercial where she's really pumping up how much money she's brought into Maine over the years. And I think they'll see some of that. As far as authenticity with her, she is who she is. I think, you know, a lot of people like her there. She survived some. some tough elections i remember back in 2020 when i was running And she was raising money because she was way behind in the polls. And she ended up winning by 10 points, I think. Yeah. So she's a veteran. She's skilled. She knows Maine. And so I think we'll be a very, very close race. But do expect to see a lot more negative stuff come out about Graham Platner. Yeah, I think she's going to focus on her independence, right? And also what she has delivered for Maine. And those are the two key areas that she has to overcome, that she is not a, you know, a Trump Republican, that she is not MAGA, that she is not a vote for for Donald Trump. And that what has she actually delivered in her, you know, now 30 years in the United States Senate. So those are the two key areas that she has to. to overcome. And she also, you know, as do all these candidates, Johnny Sununu, Scott Brown, if he wins, they need MAGA desperately in order to get over the top, but they also need to keep their distance from MAGA in order to get voters in the middle. And I don't feel like there's a lot of Susan Collins supporters in Maine. I feel like people vote for her because they think that she's okay. Right. So I think that's what this race is going to be all about. She has to be okay enough. And Graham Platner has to be seen as, you know, extremist and unfit. And so that's how that race will be defined. Let's focus on New Hampshire a little bit and say that the general election matchup is going to be between Pappas and Sununu. Obviously.
Their personalities and their personas are not going to make this one of the... biggest and most focused upon races in the country because there's not going to be any major scandals or, you know, problems, I think, with those two candidates. You look at Texas and Ken Paxton is, you know, filled with problems. James Talarico is a focus of folks on the right. So that's going to be, in my view, a huge race. And the Susan Collins Graham Platner race is going to be the other kind of one that's the most focused on from a national perspective. But when you come to look at... Pappas and Sununu, what do their focuses need to be in order to have success in November where Sununu has really gone against that tie that you described earlier where he's neck and neck with Pappas in polling, margin of error race in almost all polls, despite the fact that Democrats have had. incredible success running for federal office here in the Granite State over the last several decades and that the tide is against Trump and obviously, you know, the presidents midterms have not been good for decades. Yeah, I think Sununu or Scott Brown if he wins, although I don't think the polls are looking great for Scott Brown right now. I think it's a combination of arms length from Trump again, but not. criticizing him and playing that in a neutral way so the Trump voters will come out and support them. And again, this is an important Senate seat for President Trump. And then I, like all elections here in New Hampshire, he's got, he's got to connect with the independent voters. And that's incredibly important, which I think is going to be difficult, given all the issues that are going on in the country, the high inflation, the war, you know, the general mood of things aren't going well. And we know that, you know folks here are salt of the earth people and and and their daily lives are really really adversely impacted by the economic conditions and you know as far as
Pappas goes, he's got a tack to the middle to get those independent voters. He's very good at that. Chris Pappas is very, very smart and articulate and a really good politician. You know, he's a homegrown kid, and I think that helps, and he'll have to tack to the middle and away from all the progressive stuff. Being progressive in New Hampshire, you're not going to get the independent voters. So I think you're right. I think it's going to be a campaign that with not a lot of controversy and maybe we could actually focus on policy issues and make a decision based on that, which is awesome. I totally agree. Great analysis there. Cork, as always, and we'll talk soon. Thank you. We'll see you. Bye-bye. That is Korky Messer, joining us on the HRC, your neighbored credit union guest on. I am Chris Ryan. This is New Hampshire today. Another night of bombing Iran despite a ceasefire. I'm Dave Anthony. Fox News is fighting flares up for the third time this week. Overnight, the United States unleashed powerful strikes against the Iranian regime. CENTCOM says that Iranian military surveillance systems, along with communication systems and air defense sites across Iran were hit. Speaking from the situation room, President Trump told Fox News that 49 Tomahawk missiles hit locations as close to 40 miles from the capital of Tehran. Positions were also targeted along the southwestern part of Iran. The president described. the strikes as violent and vicious. Also, President Trump says top Iranian officials called him directly asking him to stop the bombing. Foxes-Trey-Inkston, Tel Aviv, Iran has retaliated. Iranian strikes targeted locations in Bahrain, Kuwait and Jim Jordan, all countries with a U.S. military presence. Kuwait condemned to what it called sinful aggressions from Iran. Foxes Jonathan Savage said it shot down 20 Iranian missiles. Oil prices down slightly. The day after a worse-than-expected inflation report led to a stock market seller. showing consumer prices rising the most in three years in May. Democrats are critical of a Trump comment that he loves the inflation. But the president insists he was taken out of context, adding he loves that prices are not higher and... When the war is over? Yes. It's coming down. I know you can't. It's going to come down like a rock. The president also says even as Iran insists it keeps blocking shipping in the Strait of Hormuz, a secret U.S. mission got commercial ships through the strait carrying 100 million barrels of oil. Drama in New York City last night in the NBA finals. The Knicks pull off.
A.B.C. The Knicks hit the game winning shot with a second left completing the biggest comeback in NBA finals history. The Spurs blew a 29 point second half lead and lost 107-106. Game 5 will be Saturday in San Antonio. America's listening to Fox News. This is News Radio 610 and 967. New Hampshire's News, New Hampshire Station, and IHart Radio Station with New Hampshire News. Now. Good morning. Governor Ayad welcomes Analogic to New Hampshire. They designed to manufacture tech for things like aviation security and health care. They decided to move corporate headquarters from Massachusetts up to Salem. That move expected to bring hundreds of new local jobs. Teacher at Pinkerton Academy is named New Hampshire's Teacher of the Year. Math teacher Christop Powers, one of 124 nominated for the honor. chosen for her teaching methods and leadership within the school. And a heat advisory continues today. We'll push 90 degrees this afternoon. The real feels even hotter, maybe a storm too. In sports, Knicks get the greatest comeback in NBA finals history, taking a 3-1 series lead over the spurs last night, coming back from 29 points down. Red Sox off, Fisher Cats, and Hartford. I'm Jay Corwin. If you run a business. What's up, everybody? It's Bretzky. And America is turning 250. And I can't think of a better way to celebrate that than playing on an American-owned social casino, SpinQuest.com. With all of your favorite games, live craps, bubble craps, live blackjack, there's no better place to play for free and win real cash prizes. SpinQuest.com. SpenQuest is a free-to-play social casino. Avoid where prohibited. Visit spendquest.com for more details.