'I believe we are off track': State Sen. Tom Sherman makes run for governor official

RYE — State Sen. Tom Sherman is leaning heavily on his experience in Concord and credentials as a medical doctor in announcing Monday he is running for governor.

Sherman, 64, of Rye, is the first well-known Democrat in the state to announce a campaign for governor in 2022. If he wins the party nomination, he'll challenge three-term Republican Gov. Chris Sununu, 47.

Sherman last month announced he would explore a run for governor. His announcement that he is making the campaign for the state's top office official touted his record of "expanding health care access, lowering prescription drug costs, keeping our elections fair and safe, and protecting our firefighters and drinking water from harmful chemicals."

Sherman also took aim at Sununu in a prepared statement.

“I’m running for governor because right now a lot of families are struggling with rising costs, and under Governor Sununu we’re veering even further off course,” Sherman said. “The Live Free or Die state has always valued individual responsibility and dedication to our communities, but Governor Sununu has signed the most extreme abortion ban in state history and legislation to censor our teachers. We need to get back on track and focus on the real issues facing Granite Staters – rising property taxes, the availability of affordable child care and housing, protecting public education, and the high cost of energy.”

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Sherman is a gastroenterologist with more than 30 years experience. He's in his second two-year term representing District 24 of the Seacoast in the state Senate, serving the towns of Greenland, Hampton, Hampton Falls, Kensington, New Castle, North Hampton, Newton, Rye, Seabrook, Stratham and South Hampton. He previously served two terms as a state representative in the House. He was elected to the Senate in 2018 and re-elected in 2020.

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"I have a lifetime of service starting when I was in high school working on an ambulance to going to med school, where I designed a clinic in a shelter in Hartford, Connecticut, that is still going today," Sherman said last month. "That's the way I think. A lot of people had unmet health-care needs and there was a medical school a short drive away where students could use a clinical experience with people who desperately need them."

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He said Sununu in 2021 signed "one of most restrictive abortion bans in the country."

He added, "It's not just restrictive, it's cruel," citing the 24-week limit is coupled with requirements for ultrasounds and can require "women who have been raped or have a fatal fetal anomaly" to carry a pregnancy to term.

Sherman also decried Sununu's decision to sign into law as part of the state budget rules that he says "censor teachers" and the current Legislature's efforts to put more restrictions on what is taught in schools in the state.

"I believe we are off track," Sherman said. "We are not moving forward in a way that is traditionally a New Hampshire way. But there's a huge amount of hope we can unite the state. We have the best workers and best companies in the country. We can be even more productive and prosperous."

Paul Collins, senior advisor for Sununu, responded to Sherman's comments about the governor.

“In this era of Joe Biden inflation and skyrocketing gas prices, New Hampshire cannot afford Tom Sherman, who’s voted for an income tax and is in fact against cutting taxes.”

Republicans have pointed to Sherman's support for paid family and medical leave legislation that included a 0.5% payroll deduction as an income tax. Sherman has previously countered that argument by saying "if they are calling paid family medical leave an income tax then New Hampshire already has an income tax and that’s unemployment insurance."

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Sununu won his third term in 2020 with more than 65% of the vote in a decisive victory over Dan Feltes, who came in with credentials as a Democratic state senator. Sununu has been raising his political profile nationally by attending events around the country and appearing on national TV networks, fueling speculation he could seek a run for the presidential nomination in 2024 or beyond.

Sherman has touted he is the only physician in the state Senate and positioned himself as a leader in public health. He has been outspoken on COVID-19 issues and issues related to PFAS contamination in water on the Seacoast. He is the ranking Democrat on the Senate Health and Human Services Committee and serves on the Election Law and Municipal Affairs committee.

During the coronavirus pandemic, Sherman has served as chief medical officer for the COVID Policy Alliance, an all-volunteer organization of Massachusetts Institute of Technology professors formed to combat the spread and impact of the virus. Sherman also chaired and co-founded the Senior Support Team, an effort spawned by the COVID Policy Alliance, to help senior residential living facilities. The commissioner of the New Hampshire Department of Health and Human Services appointed Sherman to serve on the state’s Crisis Standards of Care State Disaster Medical Advisory Committee.

This article originally appeared on Portsmouth Herald: Tom Sherman to run for NH governor challenging Sununu in Election 2022