MANCHESTER, N.H. – Randall Walden believes that likability and even public opinion on candidates shouldn’t interfere with what they’ve actually said and done during their careers. The school bus driver supports President Joe Biden or any Democrat willing to work on issues he’s focused on, such as the necessity of accurate history education in schools. 

“Likability has nothing to do with it…. I just want to go by what they’ve done with their lives. I read up, and when I hear someone get trashed like Hillary, I get the book, and I read and find out,” he said.

Favorability polls conducted by The Bulfinch Group in the past week show that 56% of Americans disapprove of President Biden. Likability and favorability in New Hampshire take on a new meaning when retail politics brings candidates to town. Communities across the state have shaken hands and heard directly from candidates, but polling hasn’t shown much of a change in likability related to their travels. Nikki Haley, the former U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations, campaigned in New Hampshire for months but only had a 39% favorability rating in the first-in-the-nation primary earlier this week.

Haley’s favorability score was reflected in the results from the New Hampshire primary, where she lost to Trump by 11%. This race was closer than her loss in Iowa but shows that despite 40-plus appearances across the state, favorability is hard to swing with retail politics. In conversations with New Hampshire voters, many said their opinions weren’t changed by meeting, or not meeting, with candidates. 

Stephan Loranger, 21, and his sister, Katie, 20, agree that meeting a politician doesn’t change their opinion of the candidate much. The Gen-Z siblings weren’t driven to vote based on strong favorability toward a particular candidate but said they voted because it was their civic duty. Katie is a first-time voter and believes that policy is what controls who she is voting for, not the opportunity to shake a hand. 

Nashua local Karl Blanchette felt similarly, worrying most about foreign policy. He said he is loyal to former president Donald Trump. Blanchette has a son who has served overseas and believes that Trump is the best candidate to keep the armed forces and U.S. citizens safe. He can see how Trump’s personality is polarizing and, at times, immature, but he thinks people are ready to look past that. 

Blanchette said that more people are interested in policies rather than a likability or popularity contest. “Good thing it’s not a populist vote, or we’d have Brad Pitt running for president,” he said.

MANCHESTER, N.H. — Following former president Donald Trump’s win at the first-in-the-nation primary Tuesday, Americans are likely facing a Biden-Trump matchup in the 2024 general election. Numerous polls suggest that most people don’t want to see this, which leaves them asking what it means to be presidential?

Most Americans are dissatisfied with a face-off between President Joe Biden, 80, and Trump, 77, according to 2023 polls from AP-NORC, CNN-SSRS, and NBC. The problems? Age for both and indictments. Trump is facing 91 felony indictments across four separate trials. A Harvard CAPS-Harris poll found that while Trump could lead Biden in a general election, Biden would likely lead Trump if Trump were convicted of any of his charges.

Still, New Hampshire voters varied on whether Trump’s indictments are deal-breakers.

At a rally for former U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley, India Boillot, 17, said, “He has no place being on the ballot, especially since he was impeached, and he has all the indictments against him.”

Adamant Trump supporters such as Richard Boddie, 50, however, think the indictments are entirely politically motivated. In the search for someone presidential, Boddie said he values Trump’s leadership and compassion.

“You stand back and watch him talk to people,” Boddie said of Trump. “He is humble. He will stand there, and he will listen to you talk. He will not speak over you. He wants to hear what you have to say. Do you think Joe Biden would do that?”

Voters at a Laconia Trump rally tended to agree that Trump is presidential because he’s tough.

Charles Bradley, a 75-year-old Laconia voter, said, “What makes somebody presidential is the ability to make tough decisions and see that they’re acted on.”

Sarah Zeballos, 18, is also looking for someone tough — and Haley is her pick on that front.

“I think toughness is being brave,” Zeballos said at a Haley rally. “I actually really admire Nikki Haley as a woman to go out there and stand your ground and ignore backlash. I think being tough is to be a little stupid and to be a little brave.”

However, Max Abramson, a New Hampshire congressional candidate, said he wants a “very civil Eisenhower-type candidate,” someone who makes the Republican party look good. He criticized Trump for bringing his “name-calling” into the presidency.

“You can kind of do that as a candidate,” Abramson said. “But once you’re president, you’re supposed to kind of bring the country together.”

Still, Abramson thought Trump had good traits.

“I think that a lot of people were impressed by how much he supports military guys, how clear he was on foreign policy.”

But Bob Daly, a 64-year-old Laconia voter, said that in looking for someone presidential, he was more concerned with Trump’s age than his indictments.

“The legal issues don’t bother me,” Daly said. “If I thought they were that severe, I wouldn’t be here.”

At the time of the rally, Daly didn’t know who he would vote for. His wife, Nancy, 60, also went back and forth on the issue.

“I don’t believe he’s innocent, but I don’t believe the other side is innocent either,” Nancy said. “What scares me is that we’re down to the same election that we had last time.”

Both Bob and Nancy said the slate of candidates is “disappointing,” partly because of the frontrunners’ age. But Nancy said that no candidate appears presidential.

“I don’t think they represent the values that I grew up with — honesty, integrity — and I think for years we’ve been lied to. By all of them,” Daly said. “So I don’t think any of them are very presidential in my book.”

MANCHESTER, N.H. — After launching an unlikely bid to challenge President Joe Biden for the Democratic nomination, Congressman Dean Phillips (D-Minn.) spent the final day before the first-in-the-nation primary rallying supporters and giving high fives.

The night before election day, Phillips supporters gathered at his campaign’s headquarters in downtown Manchester. Supporters were treated to free campaign merchandise, including Dean for President T-shirts and Missing Joe Biden posters. Former 2020 presidential candidate Andrew Yang introduced Phillips to a crowd of supporters and journalists.

“I personally think it’s absurd that New Hampshire Democrats are being punished for holding a primary [that] you all are required to hold by state law,” Yang said, referring to Biden’s absence from both the ballot and in the state leading up to the election. “We need a guy who is actually making the case here in New Hampshire.”

Phillips talked less about policy and more about civic engagement, “Thank you for your belief in me,” he said. “Thank you for recognizing that if we don’t get our act together and start treating people with respect, and decency, and collegiality, we’re in big trouble.”

“If you want to be the leader of the United States of America, you cannot and should not ever condemn 50% of this country,” Phillips said, referring to his outreach to Trump supporters the night before. “That’s who I am. Are you ready for that kind of change?”

On election day, Phillips spent the morning greeting voters from polling place to polling place. He made a point to shake hands with sign-holders for every candidate.

When asked how he’d unify the Democratic party, Phillips said, “I’m really excited about the opportunity to not just unify Democrats, but actually bring independents and most Republicans along and re-establish what America really is — which is working together.”

Democratic primary voters had many options on their ballots, none of which were Biden. Many Democratic voters expressed displeasure at Biden’s absence from the state and the subsequent write-in campaign.

“I think it’s pathetic,” Donna LeRoy, 56, said. She and her husband, wearing Dean for President shirts, took photos with Phillips outside their polling place on election day.

“How dare they say our vote doesn’t matter to them and then want us to write his name in?”

Retired teacher Jill Gendron, 64, was disappointed by Biden’s absence but still voted for him. “To tell you the truth, I’m voting for Biden just because he’s a Democrat.”

Her husband, retiree Michael Gendron, 65, wasn’t convinced by Phillips’ campaign. “I thought it was a very good campaign… I don’t know anything about him other than that he’s been on the TV the past three weeks.”

On Tuesday night, Phillips’ supporters gathered at the Millyard Museum in Manchester, where they were treated to food, an open bar and free campaign merchandise.

The room erupted in boos when it was announced that news organizations projected a win for Biden.

“So I’m here to say, are you ready to keep this baby going?” Phillips asked. “This is not a campaign about me, this is a campaign about all of you, and all the people around this great country who are looking for someone to get excited about.”

Phillips finished second with 19.6% of the Democratic vote.

 MANCHESTER, N.H. — Minutes after the polls closed in New Hampshire, the Associated Press the race for former president Donald Trump. His sole remaining opponent, former U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley, was undeterred. 

 “Thank you for the love, New Hampshire. We are going home to South Carolina!” Haley said in a after the election, her claims leading up to the primary that she would not drop out of the race even if she lost in New Hampshire.  

 Haley has been the underdog since the Iowa caucuses, where she to Trump by a 30-point margin. She stayed in the race while the two remaining Republican challengers, businessman Vivek Ramaswamy and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, dropped out. Haley continued to lower than Trump and eventually to him in New Hampshire by an 11-point margin. 

 Haley persists against the odds, as the Republican National Committee is a resolution to declare Trump the presumptive nominee. In New Hampshire, however, a state that prides itself on holding the primary in the nation, her supporters are adamant that she stands a chance. 

 Haley charmed some voters with traditional New Hampshire retail politics and face-to-face campaigning. She and Gov. Chris Sununu tour local breweries, restaurants and businesses, pouring beers and shaking hands with voters.

 The morning of the election, Nicholas Bridle braved the cold in front of Winnacunnet High School, bearing a “Nikki Haley for president” sign.  

 “What I really appreciate about candidate Haley is that she’s actually making an effort to go around and do that retail politics, talk to the people of New Hampshire. It’s one of the great things about the primary here,” Bridle said.  

 “In my opinion, she’s not an underdog campaign,” he added. “I’m a volunteer. I’m here on my own accord. I had the day off from work today, and I was like, I’m going to hold down signs for my candidate and support her because I knew it was going to be a very contested race.” 

 The real allure of Haley is what supporters say she represents: change. The public is with the likely Biden versus Trump rematch in the 2024 election. As the only viable challenger to the two presumptive nominees in either party, Haley excites voters. 

 Jennifer Nassour, the northeast regional chair of Women for Nikki, has been volunteering on campaigns since she was 19. Nassour said that in that time, she’d “only ever seen people this excited about two candidates,” , who replaced the late Sen. Ted Kennedy in 2010, and Haley.  

 Renee McBride-Rogers and Tyler Baker are both young New Hampshire voters; this will be her first time voting for McBride-Rogers. They attended a Haley rally on Jan. 21 and left feeling excited to vote for her. 

 “Donald Trump and Joe Biden, they’re both saying: Here’s all the problems I’m having right now, here’s all the stuff, but it’s not true,” said Baker. “But she’s actually focusing on being a politician and what she wants to do for us.” 

 Baker is “100 percent” sold on Haley. McBride-Rogers agreed, praising Haley for her defense of free speech and composure after a climate protester interrupted the rally. 

 “Definitely, for me, it’s her focusing on the future, whereas the people who are against her are focusing on the past,” said McBride-Rogers. “I want change, and I believe Nikki Haley is that change.” 

MANCHESTER, N.H. — Voters and volunteers at the 2024 New Hampshire primaries repeatedly cited one character trait they want to see in the next president: stability.

“I think what folks are really looking for here, and just everywhere, is common sense and a person who brings stability back to the White House,” said Brittany Martinez, a 32-year-old Republican strategist volunteering for former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley’s presidential campaign.

Multiple attendees at Haley’s events spoke of the former governor as a woman who embodied stability as a person and in her political experience.

“Steady,” said Sam Pimm, a 68-year-old donor to the Haley campaign. “She did a wonderful job as U.N. Ambassador. That is a very difficult job.”

“Great consistency. Showing thoughtfulness,” said Rand York, a 68-year-old nonprofit worker, describing the qualities he is looking for in a leader. “Firmness and kindness together.”

Former president Donald Trump often casts himself as an outsider, and as such, views of his stability vary within his own party. 

Gary Lee Pitts, a 65-year-old retiree who voted for Trump in the primary, sees him as an upstanding citizen whose policies make life more stable for Americans. 

“The economy was thriving” under Trump, Pitts said. He wants to return to having a president who is “looking out for the average American.”

Meanwhile, other Republicans portray the former president as a man who would drag the country into four years of chaos.

“Trump is like a bull in a china shop,” said Jennifer Nassour, the former chairwoman of the Massachusetts Republican party. “He went through, and he knocked everything down and took everything out. But then he failed to actually rebuild it and to fix anything.”

And for some, President Joe Biden, who is running for reelection in 2024, is also seen as a candidate needing more stability.

April Sheerin, a self-employed 71-year-old, said that the country had gone from one extreme under Trump to the opposite extremity under Biden. “He’s trying to make everybody think that everybody should be woke.”

Voters for self-help author Marianne Williamson and President Joe Biden also echoed the stability factor. 

“It’s really hard to vote for someone who campaigns every once in a while,” said Eddie Love, a 34-year-old dietary aide at a Williamson campaign event. “[Williamson is] somewhere every day.”

Tim Tregea, a 73-year-old retiree, said, “[Biden] comes across as a very honest person,” and he wrote his name on the ballot box. He said the president’s economic policies “improve the life standards of U.S. citizens.”

Lisa Gibson, a 47-year-old operations manager for an event space that routinely hosts Democratic Party events, said, “People’s fear of the unknown and what’s gonna happen next” is driving voters’ choices at the ballot box,” she said.

LONDONDERRY, N.H. — Voters in the Granite State are accustomed to seeing potential candidates out and about. While many are proud of their vote, others say they are unhappy with the media’s representation of their candidate.

Londonderry school district worker and Republican voter Rebecca Mitchell, 55, contends that coverage varies by party. “I think the media is a huge problem,” she said.

At the same polling site, Laurie Riedel, vice president of finance for a software company, expressed her support for former U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley but said she would vote for President Joe Biden if he wins the nomination.

Riedel, 58, said, “I don’t think Biden gets enough credit for what he has done.” She said it’s the media’s fault for the lack of press because “the media — and the voters — like to focus on the drama.”

Data analyst Lee Sinkow, 39, and hospital administrator Linda Sinkow, 38, also voted in the Republican primary, casting their votes for Haley. “I find that she’s very much in the middle, which is a majority of America,” said Lee.

“I think a lot of the media or whatnot portrays everything to be very black and white,” Linda said. “You have to be on one side or another when most of America’s in the middle. I feel like she’s that middle-road representation.”

The couple hoped Haley would win the nomination, but if the election were between former President Trump and President Biden, they would be “torn” in their choice.

Donna and Paul LeRoy are loyal Democrat voters. After voting for President Biden in the 2020 presidential election, they turned to Democratic candidate Dean Phillips.

Her assessment of current coverage? “I don’t think they’ve been fair in representing Dean,” she said. “I think that they should have been out there more telling people that Biden stole our votes.”

The two also expressed their dissatisfaction with major T.V. networks.

“I was watching ABC, and they were covering a whole bunch of Republican candidates and so forth, but they have no spots on anything that happened on the Democrat side,” said Paul.

Paul LeRoy did say, “Channel 9 here in the state has always been very, very good about covering all the candidates.”

Michael Gendron, 65, and Jill Gendron, 64, both retired, voted for President Biden in the write-in campaign. Michael feels that “Joe doesn’t get enough positive coverage” and the “DNC needs to get their act together.”

Veteran and Trump voter Jim Baub had a more pessimistic outlook on the media. “I try to take in what I can, but … I don’t trust the conservative or formerly conservative media …. The liberal media, I don’t trust any of them.”

Baub had said, “They’ve changed… Everybody’s got an agenda. That’s exactly it, propaganda.”

NASHUA, N.H. — Young climate protesters interrupted a series of rallies across New Hampshire last week as candidates prepared for the primaries, including three campaign events by former President Donald Trump. 

The protesters stood up and shouted during former U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley’s Jan. 20 speech in Nashua, N.H. and Trump’s Jan. 22 speech in Laconia, N.H., calling the candidates “climate criminals” before being removed from the premises.

Adah Crandall, 17, is an organizer for the Sunrise Movement who traveled from Portland, Oregon, to protest at rallies in Iowa and New Hampshire throughout the past two weeks. 

“I joined the Sunrise Movement because, in the state of Oregon, my home is literally on fire from climate disasters,” Crandall said in an interview. “I walk outside my house in the summer, and I’m literally breathing the smoke of wildfires. And I believe that young people have the power to change the path of this country.”

Although Oregon saw an average number of wildfires in 2023, the . According to the Associated Press, the 2020 wildfires were among the worst natural disasters in the state’s history, forcing more than 500,000 people to evacuate their homes. She said she wants to see “ambitious, bold climate policy” from the U.S. government. 

“We’ve been out here confronting Republican presidential candidates about their ties to the fossil fuel industry because these people claim to represent Americans, they claim to represent working people, but at the same time, their campaigns are literally funded by the Koch brothers and by fossil fuels that are poisoning our communities,” she said.

Over the last two decades, fossil fuel billionaires Charles and the late David Koch have that oppose science and policy solutions. 

Crandall added that it was “terrifying” to stand up and speak in front of the hundreds of attendees at the Laconia rally, but she had courage knowing that she had the support of members of the Sunrise Movement.

“I know my values, and I know that I cannot morally stand to let this man lie to these people and to the public. But I know that my home is burning, my friends’ homes are flooding, this entire country and everyone in the world is going to be hurt by the climate crisis,” Crandall said. “I was shaking in there right before I stood up. But to me, it’s absolutely worth it because it’s my values, and it’s my future.”

, a network founded by the Kochs, Haley’s presidential run in November 2023, which will include a multimillion-dollar ad campaign launching this week.

On Jan. 20, young protesters stood up one by one during Haley’s rally to ask what she would do to combat climate change as President.

“You’re taking millions of dollars from the fossil fuel industry!” Crandall shouted before being escorted outside by security. “The climate crisis destroyed our homes. Will you look me in the eye? … You destroyed my generation’s future!”

Haley asked the crowd not to boo Crandall: “My husband and other military men and women sacrifice for us every day for her to be able to do that,” she said to cheers and applause before continuing her speech. Bruce Denner, an attendee, shouted, “Let her speak!” numerous times during the series of protests at the rally.

Near the end of the rally, Haley addressed the young protesters who had interrupted her speech and offered steps to remedy climate change.

“And what I will tell you is we’re all worried about the environment, too. We all want clean air. We all want clean water. We all want a world that we can have our kids and our grandkids grow up. That’s not up for debate,” she told the crowd. “What we need to do is do it in a sensible way. First, call out India and China for the big polluters that they are. They are the ones that have to start cutting our emissions if we ever plan on doing something that’s really going to save the environment.”

Crandall spoke to the importance of young voters in the upcoming election year.

“Every candidate right now — Democrat or Republican — is vying for the youth vote,” she said. “And young people with Sunrise are here to say that regardless of which party you’re in if you want [Generation] Z to support you, you have to be willing to fight for us.”

HAMPTON, N.H. –  Robert Casassa is the poll moderator for the New Hampshire town with 13,000 voters on the checklist.  The Hampton native has served as the moderator for 20 years.

Just as he had in years past, Casassa oversaw the election processes at Winnacunnet High School, Hampton’s only polling location. Casassa said voters in New Hampshire feel a “responsibility to go out to events… and get educated… to get a different feel for [the candidates] than on TV.” 

 One of those events occurred on election day in the school’s parking lot when former U.N. Ambassador and presidential candidate Nikki Haley stopped by. She talked to voters alongside New Hampshire Gov. Chris Sununu and Gen. Don Bolduc, saying she was “super excited” and grateful to Dixville Notch’s residents, whose residents voted at midnight and gave her a  6-0 victory.  

Casassa said it is “highly complementary when candidates stop by. It energizes the voters.” He noted that such visits are common occurrences for candidates. He recalled the 2016 race when his daughter took a picture with former president Bill Clinton, who was then campaigning for his wife and former secretary of state, Hillary. Casassa attributed the candidate visits to Hampton being a “tossup community. It’s roughly 30% Republican, 30% Democrat, and 40% in the middle, and so everyone can have a dream.”

 One of the things that makes New Hampshire unique is the large number of undeclared voters in the state. These voters can choose to vote in either primary. While “a lot of people enjoy the flexibility of being able to vote in either, the parties don’t tend to like it,” he said.  

Over 1,700 people voted in the Democratic primary and 4,500 in the Republican primary. 

MANCHESTER, N. H. — Former President Donald Trump cruised to a comfortable win in New Hampshire’s Republican primary Tuesday, ending with 54% of the vote. Despite a formidable challenge from former ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley, the nation’s 45th president won the state by over 11 percentage points, following up on a dominant win last week in Iowa.

Trump’s victories in Iowa and New Hampshire almost certainly assures him the nomination as his team shifts their attention to South Carolina.

On the Democratic side of the primary, a campaign to write-in President Joe Biden’s name coasted to a commanding victory with 59% of the vote. Warding off Dean Phillip’s energetic attempt to complicate things with a primary challenge, Biden took another step toward the nomination despite not once campaigning in New Hampshire.

Trump and Biden’s victories indicate that the country is headed toward a repeat of the 2020 general election — a reality that many voters in New Hampshire object to. However, the alternatives to the two parties’ presumptive nominees have failed to entice the state’s voters sufficiently.

Karishma Manzur of Exeter, New Hampshire, came to Nikki Haley’s Jan. 21 rally hoping to find a candidate with the will and capacity to defeat Donald Trump. Instead, she found herself disappointed with Haley’s messaging.

“We need to see democracy over autocracy. And we want to see decency over vulgarity, and we want to see truth over lies. And unfortunately, the Trump train has taken over America,” Manzur said. “And we were hoping Nikki Haley was going to be truly on the attack. But we were so saddened by the fact that she barely criticized him.”

Manzur instead found Haley’s words misguided. The candidate, in Manzur’s eyes, had directed aggression at the wrong adversaries.

“She’s opposing Trump on Tuesday, but it sounded like she’s opposing China and Biden on Tuesday,” Manzur said. “She was way harsher with China and Biden than she was with Donald Trump … with that attitude, she cannot possibly stop the Trump train. I am really, really sad.”

Cooper Aleyar, 19, a student at St. Olaf’s College from Rosemont, Minnesota, expressed a similar sentiment. Having traversed over 1,500 miles to campaign in New Hampshire for Biden, Aleyar found himself unmoved by Philipps’s challenge.

“I’m from Minnesota, so I’m a bit familiar with Dean Phillips,” Oleyar said. “I’ve looked at some of his policies, and he just seems like a real flip-flopper. Kind of like he’s throwing a bunch of policies on the wall just to see what sticks.”

While Aleyar noted that Biden was far from his ideal candidate, he called on the electorate to rally around the presumed nominee.

“The world isn’t perfect, and you can’t get everything you want to get done, and sometimes you do have to compromise your ideals,” Aleyar said. “But I think that if you look at everything Biden has done, he is by far the best candidate to get through, that supports policies that help young people and progressives.”

Former educator Judi Lindsey said education is one of her top issues in 2024. She voted for Democratic presidential candidate Marianne Williamson and canvassed for her in front of the Green Street Community Center in Concord, New Hampshire, this week because of Williamson’s positions on education reform and climate policy.

“Because I was a teacher, I saw the public schools,” Lindsey said. “They need to be, as [Williamson] says, palaces of learning. We should have the best there.”

Lindsey said that the entire education system needs to be redone to make it more child-centered.

“We make it fun, and you can make it so much more affordable,” Lindsey said. “Every kid should have the same chance.”

However, Guilford, New Hampshire, resident Ivan Govish said the education system should teach children only some topics.

“They’re pushing a lot of the trans stuff into school,” Govish said. “That is probably the biggest one, and then the gender therapy for little kids and all that nonsense.”

Classes addressing gender identity are an exception in American schools, according to The . Only seven states require that curriculums include LGBTQ topics, and the federal government recommends that schools include lessons on gender identity in their sex education programs.

At a rally in Manchester on Saturday, former President Donald Trump said that the U.S. education system is ranked at the bottom of every single list.

“On day one, I will sign a new executive order to cut federal funding for any school pushing Critical Race Theory, transgender insanity and other inappropriate racial, sexual or political content onto our children to destroy their lives,” Trump said to a cheering crowd.

However, there is “little to no evidence” that K-12 public schools are teaching Critical Race Theory, but elements such as the current consequences of slavery have been taught, according to . The term “critical race theory” is being used by state legislatures to pass laws restricting how teachers can teach racism and examine history through the lens of racism, according to the .

Cameron Ouellette, a 17-year-old high school senior from Winnisquam, New Hampshire, said he wants the education system to focus on setting up students for success rather than teaching about different genders.

“They’ve changed it within the last three years to this political agenda that is being pushed nowadays,” Ouellette said.

Ouellette said Trump is the best candidate to change the education system because he remembers what schools were like when Trump was president.

During Trump’s term in office, he created the , a program that promotes American history education principles that are “accurate, honest, unifying, inspiring, and ennobling.”

“He wants people to go out in a world, whether it’s a blue-collar job or a white-collar job, and to know what they’re learning in school and to be able to apply that to a work ethic and go home with a decent paycheck to support their families,” said Jason Foster, a 52-year-old disc jockey from Laconia, New Hampshire.

Former U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley also touts education reform as an issue in her campaign.

At a rally in Exeter on Sunday, Haley said the country needs to focus on getting kids back to reading.

“If we don’t do something and do something quick, we’re going to be in a world of hurt 10 years from now,” Haley said. “We need to focus on not sending those kids forward but holding them back, bringing in their parents, doing reading remediation and let’s set them up for success.”

As governor of South Carolina, Haley helped get her education reform package passed by the state legislature in 2014, which redistributed money to districts with higher poverty levels and allotted $29 million for all state schools to hire a reading coach, according to 

New Hampshire State Sen. Tim Lang said the parental choice in kids’ education is extremely important.

“The ability that we have compulsory education, and the ability for parents to find a school that works for every child,” Lang said. “I got four kids. They’ve all learned differently.”

Lang said education nationally has lost focus.

“Education used to be about learning, teaching kids how to read, how to do math, how to do science, right?” Lang said. “We’ve kind of wandered into all kinds of areas that are distracting from that, and I think our test scores show that kids are not scoring high in basic reading.”

Foster said that education is an essential issue in America at the moment and that teachers’ personal opinions should be set aside in the classroom.

“We should teach what’s appropriate to navigate yourself through life, without any physical altercation or verbal altercations, and be peaceful,” Foster said. “Knowledge is power.”