EXETER, N.H. – If there’s one word to describe Russell Prescott would use to describe himself, it’s experienced…or maybe it’s conservative…. or entrepreneurial…or maybe even consensus-builder if hyphenated words count. Yes, there are many words to describe Russell Prescott, but for the next few months one word definitely describes him: candidate.
Last August, Prescott announced his candidacy for the Republican nomination in New Hampshire’s First Congressional District, looking for the chance to challenge incumbent Democrat Chris Pappas this fall.
Prescott served as a state senator from 2000 to 2004 and 2011 to 2017 as well on the New Hampshire Executive Council from 2017 to 2022. He says there he obtained results and obtained re-election by following principles he used while running his family’s business, R.E. Prescott Company, for nearly 40 years.
“I made sure I listened to everyone. We have two ears and one mouth,” he said. “Common sense, take care of people, treat others the way you’d like to be treated.”
Prescott wants to bring this collegial approach to Washington, and also believes that approach combined with conservative values is the key to victory as he seeks to reach out to every New Hampshire Republican voter and other New Hampshire voters as well.
“What I am (hearing on the campaign trail) is the message I’ve been saying from the beginning: ‘your message is good Russell, your experience is good Russell, how do we get to winning in November against Chris Pappas?’ (My answer is) making sure I talk to every single person in the Republican Party and ask for endorsements early from all spectrums of the Republican Party,” he said. “They respect the fact that I am a common-sense Republican and that I do not worry about what might be a squabble with them today because tomorrow I might need them to help out on another piece of legislation, so I never got into the habit of trying to force someone into a corner and demand something.”
“People need to know how winnable this district is for Republicans with the right message and a Republican like myself that have common sense and a proven track record,” he added. “I’ve tried to make sure that during the primary process I’ve been as disciplined as I was during my time in the State Senate and Executive Council to not be offensive and make sure it’s a positive campaign treating others as you’d like to be treated.”
Prescott says that the impact of inflation as well as energy costs have been something he’s need to help his employees deal with running a business, making those issues a key priority if elected, also stating that he seeks to increase support to law enforcement and border security agents, enforce existing immigration laws and supporting American allies as well as avoiding excessive debt and damaging social security.
“Right now in Congress we’re talking about aid Taiwan and Ukraine and Israel, our greatest ally in the Middle East. And I’m all for that, but you also need to consider with those aid packages that we still address inflation and we don’t have another bloated budget,” he said. “There are two or three trillion dollars’ worth of spending (in our federal budgets) that we don’t have right now so we have to borrow it, and that will saddle future generations with debt and harm our credit rating. So, you have to have a balance.”
