By BOB MARTIN
Eagle Times Staff
Republican Executive Council candidate Kim Strathdee is coming off a big primary election win, and with no incumbent in her race, there will be new blood in the District 2 seat. Strathdee stressed the importance of hitting the polls next month and voting for her in the upcoming general election.
“I am the right candidate because I am here for the people,” Strathdee said. “I want to be that, bottom line, where if you have a problem and need a connection, and don’t have it yourself, I’m the girl who has that connection.”
Strathdee is running to represent and serve District 2, while concurrently looking out for the best interests of the state as a whole. One of the most important duties, she said, is to respond when a constituent calls seeking help or guidance.
Strathdee has been attending various meetings while on the campaign trail, which has included executive council meetings and the Concord Republican City meeting. During her travels, she said there are some recurring themes among the constituents. This includes education, border security and infrastructure.
“Each person has their only little avenue,” she said. “I hate to discuss it, but sometimes it is abortion. Other times it is cannabis. It is just right down the middle and everyone’s got something. If you want to put an analogy to it, it’s like the Connecticut River. Everything is flowing.”
Strathdee said infrastructure, including bridges and dams along the Connecticut River, are of particular concern. Strathdee said it is pretty obvious that there are bridges along the Connecticut River, and poor bridges and dams can cause a catastrophe. She noted that there are also five highly traveled bridges that are structurally deficient in Concord, as identified by the American Society of Civil Engineers.
These bridges have thousands of people traveling over them per day, and she would like to be proactive in looking at the state’s bridge situation. One idea is to look into continual maintenance, which she feels should be part of the state’s 10-year highway plan.
“I feel we should get ahead of these problems before they become disasters, requiring us to demonstrate the level of emergency preparedness possessed by first responders in New Hampshire,” she said.
Education is a particular passion of hers, and Strathdee believes that it is not as important to know all the answers, but rather to know the correct resources to find them.
“The door has many keys,” she said. “We only have to find the right one.”
Strathdee also stressed working with the younger generations to get them involved in politics at an earlier age. She would like to develop a New Hampshire based history and civics program for middle to high school level students, which would lead to an internship program for high school to college level students who may be interested in state government and politics.
“Really I would like to start at the youngest ages in the schools,” Strathdee said. “Work with them on the history of the state and start getting them interested in history, geography and what New Hampshire has to offer. Then maybe get them interested in politics as they get to middle school and high school.”
She would also work to reintroduce the internship program that the late Executive Councilor Ray Burton started, for students in high school and college. This would give people the opportunity to get their feet wet and find out if they have an interest at a younger age.
“I think it would be a great thing to get people learning at the younger ages, and get them involved from the get go,” she said. “This is their world that they’re growing into. It’s not ours. We’re growing out of it. I’d like to leave it better for the next generation than I find it to be right now.”
Strathdee recognized that there are stacks of contracts that sit on the end of executive councilors’ desks that are at least a foot tall, and she said part of the job is to read them, read between the lines, and understand what they are saying. This is something she is ready to tackle.
“A lot of the job is homework,” Strathdee said. “This is where I can dive in and get to work.”
She added, “I am willing to listen and discuss any other topics that impact or concern New Hampshire residents. If it’s a problem for you, it’s a problem for me.”
Nationwide, Republicans and Democrats each make up about a third of the population, and the rest are Independent or undeclared. While she is a Republican, and has never wavered on that, she understands the importance of working across the aisle in this job.
“I try to see things through a broad screen,” Strathdee said. “Are the bridges not non-partisan? If that bridge falls, it doesn’t care if you’re black, white, purple, Republican or from Mars. It’s going to fall down.”
Strathdee faces Democrat Karen Liot Hill in the general election taking place on Nov. 5.
