PORTSMOUTH The eight Democratic candidates for the states 1st District congressional seat weighed in on a host of hot-button issues Wednesday night during a packed forum at Portsmouth Public Library.
The Portsmouth Democratic Executive Committee hosted the forum, which featured all eight declared candidates for the CD-1 seat. Sitting U.S. Rep. Carol Shea Porter, D, is not running for re-election.
They weighed in on a wide variety of issues as they responded to written questions submitted by the overflow audience on everything from the national debt, whether transgender persons should serve in the military and the recent U.S. missile strikes in Syria.
Asked about gun control, state Rep. Mark MacKenzie stressed the importance of recognizing the fact that the NRA (National Rifle Association) is carrying around bags of money and thats what prevents us from making significant changes to the laws that deal with gun control in this country.
MacKenzie, a longtime firefighter, said he would endorse any sensible gun legislation.
Former Assistant Secretary of the Department of Veterans Affairs and Marine veteran Maura Sullivan said she spent much of 2005 in Fallujah, Iraq, with a nine millimeter pistol strapped to my right thigh.
But she believes that the weapons of war that our teams use in Iraq do not belong in the streets of Manchester or anywhere in the United States.
She supports an assault weapons ban and the Portsmouth resident reported that shes heard from 10-year-old kids on the Seacoast who are afraid to go to school.
Rochester City Attorney Terence ORourke, a U.S. Army veteran, told the crowd that Democrats are going to need the support of gun owners and people who are hunters.
In order to get that support you have to have credibility on the
