4 takeaways from Pete Buttigieg’s NH visit, from ICE to elections

Former Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg appeared alongside Rep. Chris Pappas, D-NH, Feb. 19 at the Puritan Backroom restaurant, where he was supporting Pappas’ campaign for Senate as well as stoking presidential run rumors.

The visit came after the University of New Hampshire Survey Center released a poll that morning showing Buttigieg with a small lead in the state over other potential 2028 Democratic primary candidates.

Buttigieg has not confirmed whether he is running for president and did not in Manchester. Of the poll, he said that it “feels good to be well received.”

At the restaurant, one woman told him that she hopes he’ll run again.

“We’ll see what the future holds,” he responded.

It’s still a long way until the election, but Buttigieg is one of three major potential candidates visiting the early primary state in the next few weeks, suggesting an unofficial race is already underway.

Sitting at the bar of the restaurant, New Hampshire residents Maggie and Matt Thibeault said it’s too early for them to say who their top candidate is, but that seeing Buttigieg was a “wonderful” surprise.

At the restaurant, which is owned by Pappas’ family, Buttigieg and Pappas spoke with reporters and mingled with diners. Here are some takeaways from the first stop on Buttigieg’s multi-day trip through the Granite State.

NH primary is alive and well, but Buttigieg won’t affirm his support for first-in-nation status

Neil Levesque, the director of the New Hampshire Institute of Politics, said the number of potential presidential candidates coming to New Hampshire shows that the state’s status as the first-in-the-nation primary is “alive and well,” despite the Democratic National Committee’s attempt to remove it from its first-place slot in 2024.

California Gov. Gavin Newsom is scheduled to promote his book at The Music Hall in Portsmouth on March 5. Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear is set to visit the state from March 7-8, also to support Pappas.

“People are voting for the New Hampshire primary with their feet,” he said.

But on Thursday, Buttigieg would not commit to supporting the state’s first-in-the-nation primary status.

“I respect that I don’t get to be part of that decision making or rule making. But what I will say is that New Hampshire, having the role that it did during the time that I was campaigning for president, made me a better candidate,” Buttigieg said. “It certainly shaped the way I not just ran my campaign, but came to understand presidential politics.”

Levesque said New Hampshire was the perfect state for Buttigieg, who came in as a small-town mayor and was then vaulted onto the national stage.

He returns as a former official on the national level, but he said his relationship with the state has only deepened.

UNH Survey Center Director Andy Smith said Buttigieg came to the state several times as transportation secretary and has continued to visit to support Democratic candidates.

“I think he’s done the things that he needs to do, basically tending to his garden up here in New Hampshire with the intent of running again,” Smith said.

What to do about ICE facility plan in Merrimack and nationally

The proposed Immigration and Customs Enforcement detention center in Merrimack has caused controversy in New Hampshire in recent weeks as residents push back against its creation and Gov. Kelly Ayotte says she didn’t know about the plans until recently.

Pappas said he’s been working with the community to figure out where and how they can push back harder.

“We don’t want this in New Hampshire. We can focus on how we keep our community safe and what we can do to get dangerous criminals off the street,” Pappas said. “This is not the New Hampshire way of doing business. And I think regardless of who you are, the governor, a town council, a member of Congress, you should be speaking out against this.”

Buttigieg said his “heart is with the residents of Merrimack,” and he applauded their bipartisan resistance to the facility.

The two criticized ICE’s actions and said it needs more accountability, but they shied away from saying whether ICE should be abolished altogether.

“My view is the problem with ICE isn’t whether or not it exists,” Buttigeg said. “The problem is that it’s being ordered to do destructive and in many cases, illegal things. Of course, we need immigration law, and it will be up to somebody to enforce that law. Right now is not that.”

Pappas ‘hopeful’ DHS shutdown will end in next few weeks

The Department of Homeland Security has been shut down since Feb. 13 after lawmakers were unable to come to a deal over immigration enforcement reforms after federal agents fatally shot two people in Minnesota.

Pappas said Congress has not yet seen a “serious negotiation that has produced a result,” but he is hopeful it can happen in the next few weeks.

As the shutdown goes on, workers under the DHS, like TSA agents at the airport and FEMA employees, won’t be paid and funding for those department’s projects could be delayed.

“I think there’s a way to bring this to a close and focus on what we can do to fund important areas of the government, from FEMA to TSA to the Coast Guard, and I’m very committed to doing that,” Pappas said. “I think the conversations around things like the use of warrants, de-escalation training for members of ICE and Border Patrol, making sure that officers are identified – there’s a lot of common ground there.”

He also said that he supports legislation to pay federal workers throughout a shutdown.

The midterms and the 2028 presidential election are linked

Part of the reason for Buttigieg’s trip to New Hampshire was to support Pappas in his campaign to succeed retiring Sen. Jeanne Shaheen, D-NH, in the upper chamber.

“Chris Pappas is a great example of a candidate that I am proud to be supporting and speaking up for,” Buttigieg said. “I’ve known him for a long time, worked together to deliver transportation funding to New Hampshire. I’ve seen his pragmatic style that’s very much characteristics of this state. And I also think he represents a welcome generational opportunity to have new voices in a more modern Senate.”

Buttigieg will next be going to Nevada, where he’s set to campaign for Sandra Jauregui for lieutenant governor.

“I’m a big believer in going everywhere, both across the media landscape and geographically,” Buttigieg said. “All of them deserve attention in a moment like this.”

Buttigieg campaigning for Democratic candidates and getting ready for a potential presidential run are “mixed together,” said Smith.

“He obviously wants to get Democrats elected, but this provides him an opportunity and a stage to remind people that he’s still out there,” Smith said. “Most importantly, should (Rep. Maggie) Goodlander (D-NH) and Pappas get elected, he’ll expect them to remember his help, and hopefully they would be going to campaign for him in 2028.”

After his event with Pappas, Buttigieg was expected to participate in “community conversations” with Goodlander Feb. 19-20, as well as a “grassroots mobilization effort” in Concord on Feb. 21.

This article originally appeared on Portsmouth Herald. Reporting by Margie Cullen.