Top Comments: the Safiya Wazir edition

A quite non-traditional New Hampshire state legislature candidate, after the jump:

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Tonight, New York state ends the long primary election season, going into the midterm elections this November.  This past Tuesday was primary day here in New Hampshire, where Democratic attention was focused on two races. (And not-for-nothing ….. Democratic turnout was way up from normal levels).

One was the contest to challenge incumbent GOP governor Chris Sununu in November — and former state senator Molly Kelly defeated former Portsmouth mayor Steve Marchand (in a somewhat surprising, nearly 2-to-1 margin).

The other was the 1st congressional district seat that Carol Shea-Porter is now vacating in eastern New Hampshire (yours truly lives in the 2nd, western district). The 1st district is one of (if not the) most competitive districts in the country, with Carol Shea-Porter winning in presidential campaign years and a Republican in off-year elections. 

This year is different, with you-know-who looming large … so for an open seat, both the Democratic and Republican primaries were a free-for-all: with eleven candidates on the Democratic ballot. And Chris Pappas won with 56% of the vote, earning the right to face GOP candidate Eddie Edwards (who won in a field of six).

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But one state legislature race here ran under radar (and hardly surprising, given a lower House with a bizarre four hundred-member size). This is for a blue-collar district in the capital city of Concord, known as The Heights.

Much has been written about two primary winners for federal office (and almost certain to win in the November general elections) — who defeated long-time incumbents. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (AOC) in New York, plus Ayanna Pressley in Massachusetts have figured prominently in national news on their upset victories.

Much less will be written about Safiya Wazir, a 27 year-old former refugee from Afghanistan, who defeated a four-term incumbent to advance to the general election in November. But if she wins in November (and the city of Concord is a Democratic stronghold) … you may hear a bit more about her.

Safiya Wazir, NH candidate

Her story begins with her birth in Afghanistan— then her family fled the Taliban and went to Uzbekistan … where where she had to endure taunts from some of her classmates. At age 16, her mother brought her to Concord, New Hampshire where she has lived for eleven years, graduated high school, became a U.S. citizen and eventually graduated from a community college while working part-time.

She is married with two kids, aged 2 and 5 … and is expecting her third child in January (when the state legislature convenes). And so it is not surprising that she campaigned on expanded Medicaid coverage, early childhood education and paid parental leave.

Importantly: the long-time Democratic incumbent that Ayanna Pressley defeated lopsidedly in the Boston area — Mike Capuano, an accomplished legislator who Charlie Pierce is quite fond of — was gracious not only in his concession speech, but throughout the campaign.

Such was apparently not the case with Safiya Wazir’s opponent.

Before we get to Safiya: just five years ago, there was a similar situation in the New Hampshire city of Nashua. An immigrant from India named Latha Mangipudi— who had lived in Nashua for nearly twenty-five years — won a special election against a GOP opponent named Pete Silva, who uncorked this stem-winder:

At a Republican forum, Silva said there were so many people of Indian descent who came out to vote during the primary that "I thought I was in New Delhi." He urged his colleagues to get out and vote to counter the large number of Indian residents in the ward that he predicted would "be coming out of the woodwork ... (I want to) make people aware there’s a tide against us this time."

When criticized for his comments, Silva responded that people offended by his words were the ones at fault … because he spoke the truth. Fortunately, he was given his walking papers by nearly 60% of the voters. Latha Mangipudi is still holding that office, five years later.

Latha Mangipudi: N.H. Leg

But Pete Silva was a Republican: so (perhaps) we’d say that reaction may not be totally unexpected … alas, Safiya Wariz’s primary opponent isn’t a Republican.

Dick Patten was a four-term Democratic incumbent in the state legislature, had been a long-time city councilor, organized the State House’s annual tree lighting ceremony/parade and had been retired as a police dispatcher at age sixty-six. He apparently did not take her candidacy seriously, and had a few choice comments for the hometown Concord Monitor newspaper:

Earlier in the day at the Ward 8 polling place, Patten said the Heights had changed a lot in recent years, and he and some constituents weren’t particularly happy about it.  “A lot has been promised to minorities,” he said. “A lot of out-of-Concord people are getting everything.”

Patten doubted Wazir’s campaign, saying she didn’t know the Heights neighborhood like he did. “She’s promised everything,” he said. “I’ve been here for 66 years and never left. That counts for something.”

In today’s Boston Globe, he …… (sigh) elaborated even further:

“It used to be the Heights would support a Heights person … but the Heights has changed. We have many immigrants in there now, and she’s from Afghanistan so she was treated like the princess”.

Patten says he is now planning to support Wazir’s Republican opponent (Dennis Soucy) in the general election because Soucy and his wife “have been on the Heights for over 50 years”.

Patten accused immigrants of taking welfare benefits from long-time residents and questioned how Wazir can be a legislator and mother.

“She’s got two kids with a third on the way … how are you going to be in the State House with two kids and one on the way?”

By a vote of 329-143 (nearly 70%), voters in the district … decided to chance it.

After she learned the results

Interestingly: earlier this year Safiya was among many who received an award from …. well, none other than GOP governor Chris Sununu. The New Hampshire Children’s Trust honored 37 extraordinary parents and caregivers at their 11th annual Unsung Hero Awards at the state capitol.

Safiya & family w/Governor

And it was only after that award: that a colleague at the Children’s Trust suggested she run for office. Her mother watched the kids and she knocked on doors across the district during this hot summer (plus enduring pregnancy nausea).

“I had no negative things said about me …. People would open their doors and welcome me, and talk to me for 10, 15 minutes. That was warming for me”.

I don’t suppose Chris Sununu imagined that the woman he handed an award to this past spring … might well become part of the loyal opposition this coming year.

There have been comments from others closer to her district — and one poster actually in her district. Feel free to add-on whatever I’ve missed.

Let’s close with the breakthrough song for the late Tom Petty nearly forty years ago — and here’s hoping that this former refugee becomes an elected official.

x xYouTube Video

And obviously, please add any updates or reports on the path of Hurricane Florence …. politics can sometimes be trivial, this hurricane is not. 

Now, on to Top Comments:

From elfling:

In the front-page story about the rather abrupt closing (by the FBI) of the National Solar Observatory in New Mexico — C F K starts a thread which is full of gems… and finally, the ideal lair for a supervillain is considered by Mxwll …. and a new term is coined.

From meadowmist:

In the today’s Good News Diary (hosted by oldhippiedude) — this comment by CwV seems like a great bumper sticker or T-shirt slogan … but it's also an important reminder for all of us in these crazy times we're living in.

And from Ed Tracey, your faithful correspondent this evening ........

In the front-page story about residents of Planet Starboard who are quite upset that Willie Nelson plans to perform at a rally for senatorial candidate Beto O’Rourke in Texas — dillonfence wonders when they will run out of things to boycott, soon.

In the (obviously) personal diary by coquiero about the home gas explosions in his hometown in northeast Massachusetts (and adjacent communities) — pierre9045 asks what could have caused this disaster…. which leads to a strong thread on both causes, plus similarities/differences with other such incidents.

And in the front-page story about the possible plea arrangement for Paul Manafort— and whether it involves a simple plea, a cooperation agreement or anything in-between — apotropaic offers a place to look for clues. 

TOP PHOTOS September 12th, 2018 Next - enjoy jotter's wonderful *PictureQuilt™* below. Just click on the picture and it will magically take you to the comment that features that photo. (NOTE: Any missing images in the Quilt were removed because (a) they were from an unapproved source that somehow snuck through in the comments, or (b) it was an image from the DailyKos Image Library which didn't have permissions set to allow others to use it.)

And lastly: yesterday's Top Mojo - mega-mojo to the intrepid mik ...... who rescued this feature from oblivion:

1)  It’s odd. The douchenozzle never gave any indica … by letterrip +126 2)  Excellent! by CwV +125 3)  ⠠⠞⠗⠥⠍⠏ ⠊⠎ ⠁ ⠋⠥⠉⠅⠊⠝⠛ ⠁⠎⠎⠓⠕⠇⠑ by Lost and Found +122 4)  Jesus H...I’m so sick of him... by Violetto +119 5)  Or pretty much anything to which you can secure  … by freewayblogger +116 6)  This gets buried in community while "Serena is m … by dyana auset +112 7)  I was in Washington, DC few weeks back when Drum … by Delib +111 8)  Good morning and thank you, sir, as always. by Rikon Snow +107 9)  The presidential limo should have a “baby on boa … by Stevoreno +106 10) Colorado is getting the message. Cool! … by Shockwave +102 11) The local repub legislature in NC is just plain  … by TulipGirl +101 11) This made my day. And esp. love the Pink Floyd f … by NYFM +101 13) I still think this one is more appropriate for t … by slave138 +100 14) Hell yes! It always makes me feel good to see fa … by Angry Scientist +95 14) [embed] by durrati +95 16) Glad you mentioned it! I’m having a bit of a Dev … by freewayblogger +91 16) Wassup North Dakota, Missouri. by DoctorWho +91 18) Beto is on Colbert tonight by MTmofo +86 18) And traitors, Le Pen is financed by Putin and th … by Upstate NYawker +86 20) Re: Susan Collins ANNE LAMOTT @ANNELAMOTT Defini … by jwfs +85 21) If she doesn't want to be stereotyped as an ugly … by Lucy Montrose +83 22) www.brailletranslator.org … by FoundingFatherDAR +80 23) I loved the Brits sign saying "all and all you'r … by ski bum +81 24) Go Juli go! Flip the county board. by Shockwave +78 25) They have always been who we have said they were. by WolframAndHart +76 26) She flaunted her connection to Putin during the  … by Mark Lippman +75 27) Good morning Greg — thank you. … by Denise Oliver Velez +74 27) No wonder it’s taking Muller so long. by Mathy Kathy +74 29) I didn’t remember, until I read this article, ho … by barskin +73 30) AARGHHHH by wonder6789 +72 30) The crap continues by Denise Oliver Velez +72