Priorities

Dr. Sherman believes government has no place getting between a woman and her doctor. He would codify Roe v. Wade into statute and affirm that women should have the freedom to choose. New Hampshire currently has no proactive protections against a federal abortion ban. 

Chris Sununu promised he wouldn’t back any abortion restrictions and then signed New Hampshire’s first modern abortion ban with no exceptions for rape, incest, health of the mother or fatal fetal anomaly. Doctors who provide appropriate medical care can face a felony conviction with up to seven years in prison. That means a woman facing serious and tragic health complications could have to sit in a hospital and wait until she gets even sicker before the law deems her life in enough danger to receive necessary care. Those kinds of delays can be fatal. Earlier this year 85% of New Hampshire House Republicans voted to move forward legislation to implement a Texas-style ban. Sununu has said he’s open to further restrictions.

Watch our campaign ad below to hear from Lisa Akey, who didn’t have access to medical care that could have saved her daughter’s life because of Sununu’s abortion ban. 

Dr. Sherman would also advocate to restore funding for necessary healthcare for low-income women — including access to contraceptives and cancer screenings. That funding was stripped by the Executive Council last year. Chris Sununu voted to defund Planned Parenthood when he was on the Executive Council, and has pledged to back all of the Executive Councilors who are currently blocking funding.

Dr. Sherman has had to sit with far too many patients when their cancer diagnosis was caught too late. He deeply believes that access to preventative medical care should not be a political issue. 

We need to build a thriving economy that works for all Granite Staters. Right now, far too many people are struggling to make ends meet with the high cost of electricity, housing, child care, and property taxes. 

All of those costs could be lower today if Chris Sununu had taken action sooner during his six years as governor. Instead, Granite Staters are now paying a mismanagement tax. 

We need to remove regulatory red tape and give people the freedom to produce their own energy in order to lower costs. We need to give tax breaks to companies that offer affordable child care, work with local communities to incentivize more housing development, protect our supply chains by supporting domestic manufacturers and growing more food close to home, and giving more money back to cities and towns so they can lower property taxes. 

Dr. Sherman has always opposed an income tax or a sales tax, and he would veto one if it came to his desk. 

Dr. Sherman believes if we want New Hampshire to thrive, we need to provide more property tax relief to people and small businesses. Property taxes have gone up $1.6 billion since Sununu took office, while he keeps giving tax breaks to his wealthy donors and large out-of-state corporations. 

Right now, Granite Staters are paying a mismanagement tax because of Chris Sununu. He vetoed bipartisan measures that would have expanded our energy options and lowered costs. He gave tax breaks to out-of-state corporations instead of property tax relief to Granite Staters. He signed into law a program that’s $12 million over budget and sends taxpayer money to private and religious schools. And the state has had to pay millions in settlements because of mismanagement and lack of oversight. Now Granite Staters are paying the price. 

Electricity bills have doubled in the past few months because for years Chris Sununu has vetoed bipartisan measures to expand our energy options, and now we’re overly sensitive to surges in natural gas prices. The Sununu-appointed Public Utilities Commission had the ability to phase in these hikes in order to provide more relief to consumers, but they chose not to. 

In the short-term, we can lower costs by investing more in weatherization and energy efficiency because the cheapest energy is the energy we never use. Dr. Sherman introduced legislation to do this in September. We also need to expand our energy options to include cheaper renewable energy sources like wind, solar, and hydro so that New Hampshire is less dependent on foreign energy sources. 

Clean energy is not only cheaper, it better protects our environment and creates good-paying jobs. New Hampshire has beautiful natural resources for Granite Staters to enjoy and that drive our tourism industry. We need to do everything we can to protect those resources. 

Across New Hampshire, businesses say they want to grow but they can’t find the workforce to do so. Workers can’t afford to move here and our kids can’t afford to move back here because they can’t find affordable housing or affordable child care. 

In the past six years, New Hampshire has plummeted in the rankings of the best states to do business — largely because of our workforce issues. Recent economic numbers show New Hampshire trailed most of the nation in personal income growth and was at the bottom of the nation in GDP growth. 

If we want New Hampshire to thrive, we need to grow our workforce by working with communities and developers to increase our housing supply, providing tax breaks to companies that offer affordable child care, and supporting programs in our high schools and community colleges that train people for good-paying careers.

New Hampshire is in the midst of a housing crisis. Rental vacancy rates are under 1%, housing supply is at an all-time low, and prices are at an all-time high. Businesses can’t find workers because workers can’t find a place to live, seniors looking to downsize can’t afford to stay in their communities, and young families can’t afford to put down roots in the community. We need to cut through the red tape and government bureaucracy that stops smart growth, support zoning that makes sense for the modern economy, and invest in infrastructure like regional water and sewer that allows our communities to build housing.

Read Dr. Sherman’s comprehensive housing plan here.

Dr. Sherman remembers the name of every one of his public school teachers. They were part of the community that helped raise him. But right now, public education in New Hampshire is under attack. This Governor and legislature sent millions of tax dollars to private and religious schools, which will almost certainly cause property taxes to rise and school budgets to tighten. This Governor also signed legislation that makes teachers afraid to teach basic history. 

Dr. Sherman believes we need comprehensive education programs from pre-k to the trades and higher education. As Governor, Dr. Sherman will fully support our public schools and invest in opportunities to train our students for the 21st century economy.

Dr. Sherman believes we need to finally legalize adult-use cannabis like every state surrounding New Hampshire and stop sending that revenue out of state. He worked to expand medical cannabis in the state and has been a long-time advocate for legalization. 

The opioid crisis continues to devastate our communities after six years of Governor Sununu. Dr. Sherman is committed to ensuring the availability of intake, treatment, and recovery services for substance use disorder. In the State Senate, Dr. Sherman led the efforts to increase access to telemedicine and was a lead negotiator for the bipartisan medicaid expansion legislation that was a critical tool to expanding medical coverage to those suffering from substance use disorder.

Dr. Sherman worked with stakeholders across the state to make sure New Hampshire took strategic steps to make keep people safe and to keep businesses open.

In the early phase of COVID, Dr. Sherman facilitated the delivery of shipments of PPE to New Hampshire and co-founded the COVID Policy Alliance Senior Support Team, which connected senior residential facilities throughout NH to critical resources. 

Dr. Sherman also served on the Select Committee on 2020 Emergency Election Support to make recommendations on how to best allocate NH’s $3.2 million CARES Act funding to ensure the safety of our elections during the pandemic. 

Dr. Sherman also served as the Public Health Advisor for the Hampton Area Chamber of Commerce in their work to safely accommodate visitors to Hampton Beach. He sponsored weekly meetings of his district towns to facilitate communication and coordination with each other and with appropriate state and regional agencies. He also assisted the school board at Portsmouth High School in their work to safely resume athletic programming.

Dr. Sherman grew up shooting with his dad and knows many Granite Staters can say the same. He believes we can respect responsible gun owners while still taking common-sense measures to prevent illegal gun trafficking and keep weapons out of the hands of people who should never have them. That includes measures like expand background checks, add reasonable waiting periods, help law enforcement crack down on gun trafficking, and keep guns out of the hands of domestic abusers. 

The first bill Sununu signed as governor was to repeal concealed carry permits, which law enforcement said was “dangerous” and would make it harder for them to keep guns out of the hands of domestic abusers. Sununu vetoed common-sense measures to expand background checks and add waiting periods, and he signed a law that prohibits local police from working with federal partners to enforce firearm laws. County sheriffs worry the law could also prevent the state from being eligible for additional mental health funding.