Residents from Connecticut traveled to New Hampshire in hopes of swaying undecided voters.
Connecticut voters made the trip north to support their candidates in New Hampshire's presidential primary on Tuesday.
It was a last effort to sway the support of undecided voters in the nation's first primary this election season-- an important second step on the road to the White House after the Iowa caucuses.
Some of these supporters, both Democrat and Republican, joined WNPR Tuesday on Where We Live.
Kiernan Majerus-Collins of West Hartford was a Martin O’Malley supporter. He was forced to choose a new candidate after O’Malley withdrew from the race after Iowa's caucus. He chose to support Hillary Clinton.
“What did it for me was Hillary Clinton’s experience. I don’t think we ever had a non-incumbent presidential candidate who is better prepared to be commander in chief than Secretary Clinton,” said Majerus-Collins.
Although the experience was a selling point for him, Majerus-Collins said he would support any candidate who earns the party’s nomination.
But experience does not always translate to the best judgment, according to Bernie Sanders supporterDebra Cohen of Wethersfield.
“I think [Sanders] is absolutely the best candidate to come down the pike in years,” said Cohen.
Unlike Majerus-Collins, Cohen said that if Clinton earns the Democratic nomination, she will not cast a vote for her under any circumstances.
“I don’t trust her. I think that her position today may be very different from her position tomorrow,” said Cohen. “I just don’t have the faith that she’s going to represent the things that are important to me the way Bernie Sanders would.”
According to recent polls, Sanders had the advantage in the New Hampshire primary, but remains an underdog for the Democratic nomination nationwide.
Former gubernatorial candidate for governor Joe Visconti of West Hartford is a Trump supporter who made the trip to Amherst, New Hampshire.
“Money doesn’t grow on trees. We’re $19 trillion going on $22 trillion in debt,” Visconti said. “If you think that’s okay, and you think this is just going to go away, then Trump’s wrong. If you have a brain, and you’re using common sense you realize, financially first-- forget about all of those other issues-- we may go down the tubes.”
Nutmeggers were eager to support their candidate’s efforts in pursuit of the oval office, even if it required them to brave inclement weather across state lines, like Visconti, Cohen, and Majerus-Collins did.
The next scheduled stop in the road to the White House is February 20 in Nevada for Democrats, and South Carolina for Republicans.
Connecticut's primary is scheduled for April 26.
Daniel Keith is an intern at WNPR.
