will at temple university talk about pennsylvania's role state thisttleground election cycle. watch "washington journal" live thursday morning. discussion. >> tuesday night's results could be an early indicator which party controls the u.s. senate in 2017. james pindell is following the story for the "boston globe." thanks very much for being with us. >> thanks for having me. >> this race between republican senator kelly ayotte and maggie hassan, when they entered the even.it was almost dead it seems to have been the same ever since. james: there's been a lot of twists and turns, but there's been one constant which is the race remains tied. it was tied when the race began. there's been a couple of outlier polls that have shown various times of the year that one candidate was up by a little bit outside the margin of error or the other one was.

but for the most part, every single poll over the course of the last year has shown the race remains to be tied, no matter what happens. host: what are the issues driving voters in new hampshire? what are they talking about? are the candidates talking about? james: there are basically three different ideas in the campaign, which has made it hard for voters to discern who they should vote for. first is the presidential race. you saw it wednesday, the topics of donald trump and hillary clinton and their own popularity is something that is brought up again.nd again and again, these candidates, it has been hard to walk that line. maggie hassan, the democratic governor, has messed up on national tv on answering the question if hillary clinton is trustworthy. and kelly ayotte has been a national storyline in terms of how she is trying to thread the needle, with before she was

going to support donald trump endorse him, which means she would vote for him because clinton. and then a few weeks ago after the access hollywood tape, she said she is not going to vote for donald trump but write in mike pence. the other thing is some people, playing close attention to the politics have seen that new hampshire is in the midst of anery big drug crisis, opioid epidemic. both of them have talked about issue incestently, showing they're knowledgeable about it, it.'re deeply engaged in for voters, i am not sure it's an indication of what they are supposed to do about it. there's not disagreement on philosophically how they're address the problem. it's just about how they talk about it confidently. the third part has been this idea of who is more bipartisan. new hampshire is a state where voters outnumber those who are republican or democrat. both are making their final

closing argument they can be a work-across-the-lines or a check it'sst the president, if hillary clinton or donald trump. host: kelly ayotte has become a case study in how you can distance yourself from an unpopular candidate in some circles and try to maintain the trump voter in her base. how has she been doing? james: in some cases, there are good weeks and bad case studies bad weeks. it's rocky. it's difficult. there's no doubt about it. what we thought was going to be the most significant moment in the campaign was the moment when she officially divorced donald trump. you would say, ok, is this the moment where there will be backlash? is this a moment where she can grab opportunity among some who aren't voters with donald trump? the polling gave us a clear answer, it did not make a difference whatsoever. she maintained the exact same

amongon where she was republicans, including among republican men, which was the of demographic for donald trump in the state. really gain much among independents for it, either. nothing has seem to move the needle. at the end of the day, this may simply be a matter of who's got game.st ground host: when the results are night, whatesday part of the state will you be looking at? who'srea will determine going to win the senate race? james: i think a lot of people will be looking at partisan turnout. if you are kelly ayotte, you need to drive a big republican turnout in the southern portion of the state along the massachusetts border. those are the biggest republican areas. if you're maggie hassan, you need to drive turnout along the seacoast, portsmouth, maine, and the college town of durham. you need to do really well in

those two areas to drive out the base. it may come down to kelly ayotte's hometown of nashua. it's the second largest city in state. and it is the swingingest city in the state. a lot of independent voters there. black hole politically on who votes from one year to the next. that really could be the city that is decisive. host: have newspaper endorsements made a difference? james: newspaper endorsements, of course, are waning in like they are everywhere else. but it's been sort of a mixed bag. kelly ayotte has been getting some of the liberal papers endorsing her, saying she is a moderate voice. democrats would contest that. but other papers have been endorsing maggie hassan. it's been basically an even split. look for your boston.com. james pindell is a political reporter. thanks for being with us. >> ben hassan is my older brother.

he's so smart and my best friend. my mom instilled in us early on importance of finding solutions to those challenges and working hard with your get things done and she made it possible for ben and for me to have a family like any other family. that's part of the reason she got involved in public service because that's what's in her heart. mom's still that way today. by so fast. >> one day you're a kid, and the next -- your own raising little girl. growing up, i watched my mom work so hard. andugh challenges struggles, she made our lives better. she's my inspiration in the strengtheningr social security or medicare, protecting our environment or moreng make college affordable, she taught me that with hard work -- >> you can do anything. >> anything. taught me that, too. >> i'm kelly ayotte, and i approve that message. kelly hampshire senator ayotte and governor maggie hassan participated in a

candidate's forum ahead of election day. from manchester, new hampshire, this is 35 minutes. is george bruno. i am a member of the brotherhood, which is sponsoring this morning's event. the temple has many rituals and so this candidate forum is just one of them. and i would like to thank all of you for coming this morning to hear our candidates. i'd like especially to thank sal rockenmacher for putting this together. he literally worked four months on this, rounding up all of the candidates, speaking with them almost on a daily basis, and making sure we had a good exchange between the community and our candidates this election season.

so a round of applause for saul. [applause] for the great job he has done. the brotherhood is active throughout the year. this is not the only function that we sponsor. we also sponsor scholarship programs, hanukkah parties, lectures, a dinner for seniors, and of course our famous deli night which is coming up on january 28. the christmas mitzvah program supports the new horizon soup kitchen and working together with our muslim and christian friends delivering meals on elliottnd staffing hospital and the catholic medical center hospitality desk

and running the veterans administration hospital bingo program. so with that said, there is a list of the candidate morning.es this these are going to be 15 minute intervals. so i will not be giving long flowery introductions for each of the candidates. it will be very brief, to give them the maximum amount of speaking time possible. and i just want to underscore what rabbi davidson said, that we value diversity of opinion and respect for our democratic process. if you like what a candidate says, it is ok to applaud and cheer. if you don't, silence is the best response. [laughter]

so thank you for that. we have nine candidates appearing before us this morning. the event is being covered by major news media, including the union leader, channel 9, c-span news outlets. so i know that what the candidates say this morning will not only be for this audience, but for a much broader audience throughout our state and the nation. so with that said, let me introduce our first candidate, she is a republican, she is the senator. united states she resides in nashua, she is the former attorney general of our state, and a warm welcome to senator kelly ayotte. [applause]

sen. ayotte: good morning. i am so glad to be here today. i wanted to thank ambassador bruno for hosting this and i want to thank rabbi davison and i want to thank saul for inviting me to be part of this important forum. it is a privilege to serve you in the senate where i have focused on finding common ground. i have one of the most bipartisan records in the senate that has enabled me to work together on efforts like getting legislation passed this summer address our heroin epidemic. that legislation called the comprehensive addiction recovery act is focused on how we can state and local efforts on prevention, treatment and recovery. i also serve on the small business committee. my husband has a small business so i understand how decisions in washington can impact our small businesses' ability to thrive and succeed. i have been focusing on a more sensible tax and regulatory

environment and education and sure we canmake have good paying jobs here. i serve on the armed services committee. my husband is a combat veteran who served in iraq and security for all of us is very important. i chaired the readiness that and ie with have been a very strong supporter of our friendship which is so important with the jewish state of israel. i have been glad to support security cooperation between our countries, the iron dome system, the aero system, the david sling are verywhich important to security in israel but also very important to our own security in terms of our missile defense systems. i have been a strong opponent of the iran agreement because i believe it will allow iran to keep the infrastructure legitimately for nuclear weapons capability. i have also been a leader in introducing sanctions to address iran's ballistic missile program

of deep concern. they have tested ballistic missiles, some of them saying they want to wipe israel off the face of the earth. so it is very important to focus on this iranian threat and in addition to that, i've strongly foreign aid to israel. i've had the privilege of beautifulto the country of israel on several occasions. and one of the greatest honors i've had in the senate is to introduce the congressional gold medal for the late statesman, shimon peres, and to be present receivedpitol when he that gold medal. i will never forget that. amazing person for humanity. so i am honored to be here with all of you today. i look forward to answering your questions about domestic and national security issues. this is a very important forum and i really appreciate all that you do for the manchester community and for our state.

much.you very .pplause so, senator ayotte, i have your first question. do you support legislation that would close the gun show loophole and require background checks? sen. ayotte: i am a former attorney general, as you know, prosecutor.urder i think that first of all we need to make sure that we ensure that criminals and terrorists cannot have access to firearms. but at the same time, we have to the second commandment rights of law-abiding citizens. so what i have focused on, i am open to addressing gaps in our system. but we need to address some of the immediate gaps. that is that mental health records that are supposed to be in the system are not in there for those who are adjudicated a danger to themselves and others and i have supported legislation to get those records. in addition, more prosecution.

right now there is an abysmal record of even prosecuting any backgroundf our check system. and i can assure you having been a former attorney general, if we do not prosecute those who are attempting to violate the system, that is not going to send the right message to criminals. i also happen to have the endorsement of the troopers association and the manchester patrolmen's association. they know that security and keeping us safe is our priority. so i will work to address these issues on a bipartisan basis and also make sure that your constitutional rights are protected. having had the experience of being a prosecutor, i look at this legislation very carefully when it comes up to make sure that it's actually going to work effective. >> thank you. do you support legislation that would allow the government to negotiate pharmaceutical companies' prices for drugs for the medicare program? ms. ayotte: i would support the ability of the government to

negotiate. but we have to go well beyond that if we want to deal with the rising prices of prescription drugs. for example, i'm also sponsoring druglation called the fair pricing act. you have seen some of the instances with epipen. it would actually require notification in advance if any company is going to increase the 10% so that we can, instead of hearing about it inquireds, can actually in advance if there's something investigated or is handled improperly. we also need to get generics to market sooner and that involves not only competition with the pharmaceutical companies, but the fda. epipenlook at the situation, making sure that you can get generics to market sooner is very important in terms of addressing drug prices. let me just say, we need to make some changes to the health care law. so many people here in new hampshire are coming to me about higher deductibles, higher

co-pays, higher premiums. i want to see more competition and transparency, less one-size-fits-all from washington so that people in new hampshire can have different choices and hopefully we can really be focused on the costs that are rising for many of our families. >> there have been many reports about contamination of groundwater in new hampshire. what should the federal government do to safeguard drinking water? sen. ayotte: first of all, enforcing the clean water act and our laws and our state and hampshire d.e.s. and what they do with that. instances, for example, on the seacoast, have pfoa.ed a chemical called one of them involve the air foam, it was in the fire used in that area. so i have worked strongly with senator shaheen in making sure the epa is stepping up and the department of defense is

stepping up to ensure the well water is clean, proper systems are in place and that people who cank they've been exposed get tested, so we understand if long-term health impacts and they can get the need.hey this is an area on some examples in new hampshire where i have been working with senator shaheen to address them. >> thank you. what would you do about tackling the current deficit and debt? sen. ayotte: as the mother of two children, 9-year-old and 12-year-old, and i see many parents in this room, this is a very big issue for us. we are $19 trillion in debt. if you look at the federal spending pie, we have to take two big steps. it would be, for me, us coming together on a bipartisan basis to come to a sort of grand deal where we're working at the big picture.

that means tax reform because we have a tax code right now that is actually not doing a service to the united states. we are not competitive in the global economy, especially with keep jobsss taxes, to here and investment here. we've got trillions of dollars overseas. let's have a simpler, more competitive rate for all revenuees to help the side. that needs to be done. on the spending side, we need to look at some of the programs that need to be preserved and strengthened -- social security goes into a deficit in 2034 if we don't act. 2028 for medicare. and also, that's two-thirds of medicaid,ng pie, for medicare, social security. this is one that calls out for bipartisanship that ronald reagan and tip o'neil did we can work together and strengthen and make sure we're position.ger every committee i serve on i dollars.ways to save

on the armed services committee, theinating programs like missile to nowhere that was not going to get us a result. working on a bipartisan basis, i have a bill that i worked with to make sure that all of the audits that are done of duplication, waste, and fraud, we actually act upon them. so i'm always looking for ways differently because this is about all of us. if we don't work together on the fiscal issues and the debt we have, we will be passing this burden onto our children and they deserve us to act on this now on their behalf. [applause] >> relations between the united states and israel seem to be strained at the moment. what would you recommend to improve relations between our countries? sen. ayotte: what i would recommend is that i would ask the president to make clear that as he is going out of office, he will not take any action in the

u.n. or support any action that would undermine israel or its right to determine its own future in negotiations. there's been a lot of concern about it recently. yuneski take aaw number of actions that i think are of concern in terms of that we're taking in terms of recognizing israel's the temple mount. i think the administration has to be clear we do not support those measures and that we stand with israel. that the parties are going to have to determine this. otherwise, you won't have a peaceful determination going forward. i also believe we need to reauthorize the iran sanctions act and i hope we do that before the next administration comes into office. because we want those measures ensure that the legal authority is there to address any of the violations iran may have.

i also believe that in terms of the memorandum of understanding, i've introduced legislation to is strongthat there support for israel, both security cooperation and foreign aid. and i think we can be strong on these issues. one final point. i think we should be clear on the bdf movement as well. that we do not support it, and that is something that i've also on.orted legislation the administration has an opportunity going out here to be clear about our relationship with israel. and they've given mixed signals. and i would like them to be this.on [applause] >> the next question pertains to donald trump. could you please explain your position with respect to supporting, endorsing, and voting for donald trump? sen. ayotte: yes. as a republican, i wanted to be able to support our republican nominee. because i would like us to go in a different direction than we're

now. right unfortunately, i am a former prosecutor, and the information that came out in those tapes, for me, that crossed the line into criminality. and that was something -- a deal breaker for me. so i'm not going to be voting for him. nor am i voting for hillary clinton. i will be writing in mike pence. but, you know, for me, this is bigger than an election. a daughter.er of in terms of where i stood on this issue, this was important for me. i know as she gets older, to understand where i stood. this room everyone in to know, whoever's elected to from eitherice side, i will stand up for new hampshire. if i think they are going in the wrong direction, i have done this in the senate already, even when my own party i thought was going in the wrong direction on things like the government shutdown, i will stand up for what i think is right for our state and the country. but i also have one of the most

partisan records and i will look for common ground. because if we don't work together to solve our problems, movewe're not going to forward on issues like the debt, economy, on making sure our country is secure in a dangerous world. [applause] >> one final follow-up question someone asked, do you believe our elections are rigged and will you accept on behalf of your party the results of the elections? sen. ayotte: no, i do not. i am a former attorney general. if there is an allegation of election fraud, we should fully investigate it and handle it under our laws. but i have respect for our process and i will accept the will of the people of new hampshire. [applause]

thanks for being here this morning and listening. it is a privilege to serve you. again, i will stand up on behalf of the people of new hampshire to either party, if they are going in the wrong direction. we need to work together to find common ground. that is why i do have a bipartisan record and i look for common ground to make sure that we can be in a stronger position for our small businesses that are creating good jobs. we've got some big problems that need to be addressed. regulatory issues, health care costs, in terms of the debt, we have to address those issues. and finally without security, we can't have prosperity or freedom. this is an area i've worked on in the armed services committee. i want to assure you i will stand up to make sure our men and women in uniform are supported and also that our strength of our relationship with israel remains strong.