In a competitive district, an incumbent Democratic senator will face a Republican looking to step up from the House of Representatives – and both campaigns are the center of financial questions.

District 11, which includes Wilton, Amherst, Milford and Merrimack, has flip-flopped in recent years. Currently, Sen. Shannon Chandley from Amherst holds the seat. She first beat the incumbent Republican, Gary Daniels, in 2018. In 2020, he ousted her, and she reclaimed the seat in 2022. She’ll face Tim McGough, a three-term state representative, also from Amherst.

A report from The Boston Globe details financial questions of both candidates. McGough failed to completely pay his federal taxes on time for 18 different years and contributed a large sum to his own campaign without properly disclosing it, the Globe found. McGough told the Globe the tax liens “are all cleared up,” and he raised questions about Chandley’s wealth, as her husband previously worked for a real estate investment company with aggressive eviction tactics, according to the Globe.

Aside from finances, the candidates are focused on a number of issues but agree on one – the need for accountability and regulation of perfluoralkyls, or PFAS, which are harmful chemicals. Some towns in District 11 have struggled with PFAS-contaminated water.

Shannon Chandley (D)

Chandley, who has lived in Amherst for several decades, served three terms in the state House of Representatives before moving to the Senate. As a senator, she has focused on clean water and the remediation of PFAS contaminants. At least two of her towns, Merrimack and Amherst, have struggled with PFAS pollution, she said.

“I will certainly be working to support clean environment and protect our water supply for future generations,” Chandley said.

She also said she supports reproductive rights, access to birth control and lowering costs for housing and child care.

“The state needs to not downshift costs to the property tax-payers,” Chandley said. “We need to make sure the state is responsible for the areas in which we have an obligation.”

Those areas, Chandley said, include education and child care. She pitched a child care workforce education fund, which she said could help recruit and retain workers.

She has also worked on safety and infrastructure improvements to state Route 101, which she said has a dangerous stretch in the district with no buffer space or dividers between the lanes.

Outside of the Legislature, Chandley has worked with and served on the boards of several community organizations such as the New Hampshire Coalition Against Sexual and Domestic Violence.

Tim McGough (R)

McGough is a state representative from Merrimack, having returned to the House in 2022 after serving two prior terms, from 1996 to 2000. He works in the medical device industry and as a paramedic in the Nashua, Manchester and Boston areas.

In that same vein, health care is one of his main priorities in the Legislature. He’s focused on industry transparency, a competitive commercial insurance market and prescription drug costs.

“Those aren’t partisan issues by any means,” McGough said. “Everybody needs health care, and everybody’s entitled to good health care.”

McGough served on the Commerce and Consumer Affairs Committee and the Resources, Recreation and Development Committee, which he said has given him insight to regulatory issues, including PFAS chemicals. He said he’ll prioritize clean water.

Other values include protecting the right to privacy and advocating for sportsmen’s rights. Hunting, fishing and other sports are part of New Hampshire’s culture and tourism appeal, he said.

Overall, McGough said he’s running to keep costs low for taxpayers.

“We really need a strong voice in the state Senate to represent, well, everybody, but of course the working-class folks, the folks that are struggling to pay the bills, struggling with grocery and heating bills, and just tired of inflation and the increasing cost of living,” McGough said. “I think that our district needs somebody to stand up for that, and I’m willing to do that.”

Charlotte Matherly is the State House reporter for the Monadnock Ledger-Transcript and Concord Monitor in partnership with Report for America. Follow her on X at @charmatherly, or send her an email at cmatherly@cmonitor.com.