Vice President Kamala Harris may not like it, and Durham Democrats can put an asterisk on it, but Monday is Columbus Day in New Hampshire, in every corner of the state.

Earlier this year, a new law went into effect with an amendment from Senator Lou D’Allesandro (D-Manchester) that required every city, town and school district to celebrate the same holidays as the state. That means, as much as Portsmouth Mayor Deaglan McEachern might not like it.

In 2022, Portsmouth City Council ended the tradition of celebrating both Columbus Day and Indigenous People’s Day on the second Monday in October. “It is unjust and cruel to continue celebrating Christopher Columbus, who committed serious atrocities and massacres among the indigenous people he encountered,” one opponent complained.

Harris is also not a fan of Columbus Day. While campaigning for president in New Hampshire during the 2020 primaries, she told the Portsmouth Town Hall audience to “count on me for support” for efforts to kill Columbus Day and replace it with Indigenous Peoples Day.

She wasn’t the only one. Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass) of Massachusetts told the Concord Monitor that she also supported the New Hampshire legislation.

“I think we need to honor those who were here first and the extraordinary sacrifices they had to make,” Warren said.

Donald Trump is trying to make it an issue in the current presidential race.

“Kamala Harris is your stereotypical leftist. Not only does she want to raise taxes and defund the police, she also wants to cancel American traditions like Columbus Day,” Trump campaign spokesperson Karoline Leavitt told NHJournal. “President Trump will ensure that the great legacy of Christopher Columbus is honored and protect this holiday from radical leftists who want to erase our nation’s history, like Kamala Harris.”

And as Patrick Ruffini of Echelon Insights noted on social media: “For the past three years, Vice President Harris has tweeted about “Indigenous Peoples Day,” but not about Columbus Day. Will that continue (Monday)?”

In New Hampshire, progressives like Harris continue to complain about Columbus Day.

The City of Durham has dutifully changed its calendar to call Monday “Columbus Day,” but added: “Also designated locally as Indigenous Peoples Day by City Council Resolution #2017-28.”

In Concord they turned that around, calling Monday “Indigenous Peoples Day” and putting Columbus under the asterisk.

Manchester have never let Columbus Day down, but not for lack of trying. Proposals to make Indigenous Peoples Day a city holiday were regularly considered during Joyce Craig’s tenure as mayor. Craig supported the idea, telling the Board of Aldermen in 2020: “I agree that this would add a new level to (Columbus Day) and provide an opportunity to learn from history and open up dialogue in the community things that we have never had before. ”

Opponents of Columbus Day often bring up the alleged atrocities of the Italian explorer, but they rarely mention the established historical record of slavery, ritual human sacrifice and cannibalism practiced by the indigenous people of the Americas long before Europeans arrived.

But the real debate is whether any of this will matter on Election Day. Fewer than one in ten Granite Staters are of Italian descent. And while in many places the Italian and Catholic communities overlap considerably, in New Hampshire there is no significant, organized Catholic vote. If so, Harris’ anti-Catholic rhetoric could be a problem. It’s not.

Last year, Harris gave a speech on the eve of Indigenous Peoples’ Day, saying America “must not shy away from this shameful past” and “shed light” on the explorers who “ushered in a wave of destruction” ” among the indigenous peoples.