Republican gubernatorial candidate Kelly Ayotte responds to a question during the second and final debate on Oct. 24 at St. Anselm College in Manchester. Courtesy photo by Jeffrey Hastings

MANCHESTER – On the storied campus of St. Anselm College, two political titans, Democrat Joyce Craig and Republican Kelly Ayotte, clashed one last time before voters head to the polls on Nov. 5 to elect the 83rd governor of New Hampshire.

During the Oct. 24 debate, Ayotte defended her campaign advertisements which have cast Manchester in a negative light.

“Our ads show what happened under Joyce Craig,” she said. “We can’t have that lack of leadership in Concord.”

Ayotte also said that at the beginning of the year, a “massive” homeless encampment had formed in front of the Families in Transition shelter. She then accused Craig of doing nothing to resolve the matter.

“She refused to take action to move the homeless to make sure that people could live and thrive,” said Ayotte.

If elected, Ayotte said she would work with Queen City officials to maximize the Doorways Project and streamline the licensing process for recovery center employees.

Turning to her record, Craig said that during her six years in City Hall, she decreased violent crime by 40 percent, added 2,000 housing units and cut the number of opioid overdoses by 20 percent.

“Kelly Ayotte has spent this entire campaign depicting Manchester as a terrible place and that is completely unacceptable,” said Craig.

She also said the first city-run homeless shelter was opened two years ago.

“That shelter is still open and it is full,” said Craig, adding that her administration employed the services of the National Alliance To End Homelessness to assist New Hampshire’s largest city. “We did everything we could to tackle the homeless crisis in Manchester. We did this work on our own because we got very little support from the state.”

In addition, Craig called attention to the $44 million regional grant that the city received from the federal Build Back Better Plan.

“We were the only municipality in the entire country to win,” she said, adding that the money will be used to build out bio-manufacturing space and add 7,000 jobs. “Since that work was done, both Manchester and Nashua have been deemed a tech hub.”

In addition, Craig said she secured $24 million for infrastructure and $20 million for a transit hub.

Craig also reinforced her commitment to keeping taxes low.

“My focus, as governor, is to decrease costs for hard-working families,” she said, adding that she has a plan to cut energy costs and supports the legalization of recreational marijuana. The energy savings and the cannabis revenue would then be used for public education and affordable housing.

Ayotte responded saying Craig increased taxes six times as mayor.

“How she budgets is she increases taxes, she increases spending and we can’t afford that at the state level,” said Ayotte.

Craig also reiterated that she continues to be an advocate for extending the MBTA Commuter Rail into southern New Hampshire with a stop at Manchester-Boston Regional Airport.

“It would provide tremendous opportunities for families and others to be able to get to Manchester-Boston Regional Airport and get to jobs that they could have,” she said.

However, Ayotte said it would cost $700 million to bring the Commuter Rail to the Granite State.

“Multiple studies show it’s not financially sustainable,” she said, adding that there would not be enough passengers on a regular basis. “Manchester itself would have to come up with millions of dollars just to make sure the station is built here.”

Craig countered saying “significant federal funds” are available to cover the project cost.

She also said the proposal from the Executive Council was written without getting input from Manchester or Nashua and was designed to turn legislators against the idea.

“If we don’t move forward on something like this, it will never happen,” said Craig.

As of Oct. 25, the state poll from the WHDH-TV/Emerson College showed Ayotte with 46 percent of the vote and Craig with 43 percent, making it the tightest gubernatorial race in the country.