NORTH HAMPTON, New Hampshire — Kamala Harris traveled to the “Live Free Or Die” state yesterday, the perfect place to deliver her message of freedom… and tax cuts for small businesses.
The New Hampshire event at women-owned Throwback Brewery in North Hampton was pulled together quickly and scheduled for the middle of a Wednesday afternoon. Still, over a thousand supporters turned up for the presidential candidate, including a large showing of younger people.
“I love Gen Z. I just love Gen Z,” said Harris later in her speech.
There were Boomers, too, including Catherine Johnson, 65, a self-described “campaign junkie” who claims she had traveled over 15,000 miles across the tiny state to attend over 200 political events in her lifetime. She recalled that in 2020, she saw then-senator Harris speak “in a lot of apple fields and farm stands.”
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The Boomer men also showed, most looking like variations on Ed Begley, Jr. I stopped one Begley impersonator who was wearing a cap with the name of his country club embroidered on the brim. I asked if he was there to support Harris.
“Yep,” he said, tersely.
I mentioned a recent poll that showed that when Harris replaced Biden, women voters shifted toward her while men shifted away. I asked what he thought might explain that shift.
“Well,” he said with a perfect New England pause, “I don’t believe polls from the get go.”
A moment later, a woman (his wife?) joined him and he used the interruption as a reason to escape further questioning.
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Maine State Representative Tiffany Roberts was enjoying some shaved ice when I approached. As chair of the Maine Legislature’s Innovation, Development, Economic Advancement and Business Committee, Roberts was eager to hear Harris lay out her policy.
“Trump doesn’t realize that New England has a strong tradition of small businesses: farmers, fishermen, local breweries,” she said. “It’s not like New York City. These businesses are actually for the people who live here.”
Democratic presidential nominee and U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris speaks with supporters.
Brian Snyder/Reuters
Roberts touted a new agreement between New England states that allowed credentialed workers to be accredited by other states with the same requirements. “If you’re a social worker or electrician in Massachusetts, you can become (snaps her fingers) a social worker or electrician in Maine,” she said.
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The New Hampshire congressional delegation kicked off the show at Wednesday’s rally. U.S. Rep. Chris Pappas spoke first, ushered in with the song, “Ain’t No Mountain High Enough” which suited the venue.
Senators Maggie Hassan and Jeanne Shaheen followed. Hassan referred to Trump’s proposals to raise tariffs as “a sales tax” and “a backwards idea from a backwards candidate.” Then she added, “We are not going back!,” knowing that the crowd from a state with no sales tax would pick up the chant.
Shaheen piled on, saying Trump had “the worst job record since Herbert Hoover.” (She did not explain that Hoover was the president during the Depression so her point may not have landed with the proper impact for the younger crowd.)
After Shaheen, there was a pause in the speakers. The temperature flirted with 80 degrees and campaign staffers handed out Gatorade while the brewery sold drinks with cutesy names like “Kamala Femininomenon” (lemonade) and “Coach” (unsweetened ice tea.)
“Hydrate,” Dover-based DJ Mam told the crowd. “And then make a plan to vote.”
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Throwback Brewery in North Hampton sold campaign-themed drinks during Wednesday’s rally.
Nell Scovell/The Daily Beast
Right on schedule, Harris took the stage to Beyoncé’s anthem “Freedom.” The vice president greeted the crowd with a big smile. Someone in the crowd must have mentioned her husband, prompting her to announce, “Doug sends his love to everyone as well.”
Then the tone changed. Harris had come to talk about freedom, but after a morning of tragedy, she was forced to stand outside the women’s-owned Throwback Brewery in North Hampton and talk about gun regulations.
Earlier in the day, a 14-year old student in Georgia had slaughtered two students and two teachers while leaving dozens more injured. So before Harris could talk about small businesses, she had to address the dead elephant in the room.
Harris spoke of the “senseless tragedy.” She recalled that as a child in California, her school had earthquake drills and fire drills and how wrong it is that today’s K through 12 students are subjected to active shooter drills.
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“It does not have to be this way,” she repeated several times.
Later in the speech, Harris clarified her position for the firearm-friendly New Hampshire crowd. “It is a false choice to say you’re either in favor of the Second Amendment or you want to take everyone’s guns away,” Harris said. “I’m in favor of the Second Amendment and I know we need reasonable gun safety laws in our country.”
Turning to the economy, Harris offered a list of proposals, including a tax deduction of up to $50,000 for startups, low-interest or no-interest loans, and reducing red tape to make it easier for small businesses to file taxes. She boasted about how the Biden administration had seen over 17 million applications for new businesses since taking office. Then she set a goal of seeing 25 million new applications by the end of her first term. She admitted that was “ambitious,” but, “I think we should admire ambition in each other.”
Vice President Kamala Harris approaches the stage at a rally in New Hampshire Wednesday, where over a thousand supporters turned up for the presidential candidate, including a large showing of younger people.
Brian Snyder
The crowd cheered loudly. They also cheered loudly when Harris called for a “fair tax” on billionaires. (According to Forbes magazine, New Hampshire only has one billionaire: Rick Cohen.)
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Still, nothing received bigger approval from the group than when Harris brought up protecting a woman’s right to determine her own health care. The Supreme Court’s overturning of Roe is clearly the accelerant to Harris catching political fire. And it’s not just affecting women.
“I think people are underestimating the male vote on the issue of choice,” Johnson, 65, told the Daily Beast. “They don’t want their sisters, wives, and daughters being told what to do with their bodies.”
Johnson plans to vote for Harris for President and Republican Kelly Ayotte for governor. She suspects mainly will follow that same path and keep New Hampshire purple.
On the drive along Exeter Road, houses seemed to alternate between Trump and Harris signs. One block had two small houses that flanked a long driveway to a mansion. The two small homes had Harris/Walz signs. The people who lived up the long driveway were going with Trump.
Democratic presidential nominee and U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris applauds as she attends a campaign stop in North Hampton, New Hampshire.
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Brian Snyder/Reuters
A group of Trump supporters—seven people and one dog—had gathered by the driveway that led to the brewery at noon as people filed in for the Harris speech. The group waved Trump flags and “Take America Back” banners. One had a sign that read: “Krazy Kommie Kamala. Another woman kept shouting into a megaphone, “Kamala, go home!”
The Trump contingent was gone by the time people filed out at four. I guess they went home.
‘New Hampshire Outright’ began more than 30 years ago, founded by a group of parents at the University of New Hampshire. It’s the only LGBTQ+ organization in the state with a dedicated focus on young people, their allies, and their families.
ERROL, N.H. (WHDH) – One person is dead and five others have been hospitalized after a head-on crash in Columbia, New Hampshire on Friday night, officials said.
Officers responding to a reported crash on Route 3 around 9 p.m. determined a Chevrolet Silverado heading southbound was struck head-on by a Chevrolet Camaro that was heading northbound and crossed the centerline, according to New Hampshire State Police.
Two adults and three children in the Silverado were taken to Upper Connecticut Valley Hospital in Colebrook. Two had non-life-threatening injuries and three had life-threatening injuries. All five were later transferred to Dartmouth Hitchcock Medical Center.
The driver of the Camaro, Courtney Diamond, 25, of Pelham, New Hampshire, was pronounced dead at the scene.
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Anyone with information that may assist in the investigation is asked to contact Trooper Jacob Ingerson at (603) 846-3333 or Jacob.J.Ingerson@dos.nh.gov.
(Copyright (c) 2026 Sunbeam Television. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)
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Recently published data reflect the ongoing increases in the price of child care and decreases in access to care in New Hampshire, placing additional economic strain on Granite State families seeking affordable and high-quality care for their children. The price of child care for a family with an infant and a four-year old seeking center-based care averaged about $30,000 in 2025, up from $22,500 in 2017, while the number of licensed center and home-based child care providers has declined by 120 since 2017.
The national organization Child Care Aware of America (CCAoA) released its 2025 annual report on May 13, 2026. The report outlines the state-by-state early childhood education landscape, including both the price of care and provider supply within each state. In New Hampshire, these data were collected through the CCAoA’s New Hampshire Child Care Resource and Referral Agency and the New Hampshire Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS). Together, these data provide valuable, and updated, insights into the state’s early childhood care landscape and the challenges Granite State families face in accessing and affording child care services.
Rising price of early childhood education in NH
Based on analysis conducted by CCAoA, the average price of child care in New Hampshire in 2025 remains high for Granite State families. The average price of care for an infant and toddler in center-based care was $16,462 and $15,262, respectively, in 2025. For home-based care, the 2025 average price was $12,017 for an infant and $11,732 for a toddler. Furthermore, for a family with an infant and toddler making approximately the median income for a married couple with two children under age 5 in New Hampshire, the price of center-based care for their children would amount to approximately 25% of their family income. This financial burden is even greater for a single or unmarried mother, earning the median income of approximately $52,000 in New Hampshire, as paying the full average price of center-based child care for an infant and toddler would consume 61% of family income.
Additionally, these prices in care have increased substantially over time. From 2017 to 2025, the average enrollment price of center-based care and home-based care increased 32% and 30%, respectively. The largest increase in tuition prices during this period was 33% for toddlers and 4-year-olds in center-based care, as well as for 4-year-olds in home-based care. These increases in tuition prices outpaced inflation during the same period.
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For many Granite State families, the price for child care tuition will represent their greatest annual expense, particularly for families with multiple children and those living in rural regions of the state. According to Economic Policy Institute’s Family Budget Calculator, a family with two adults and two children living in Coos County, the New Hampshire county with the lowest cost of living, would spend on average 2.5 times more for center-based care for an infant and toddler than they would on housing. As affordability challenges and the overall cost of living continue to rise, some families may have to contend with difficult tradeoffs among essential household and family expenses, including child care services.
Although care for infants and toddlers are often the most expensive forms of care, child care-related expenses do not end once children enter kindergarten. Many families continue paying for before- and after-school programs, summer care, and school vacation coverage for years afterward. As a result, the costs outlined in this analysis likely represent only one portion of the broader child care expenses many Granite State families face.
Childcare supply challenges persist
While the price of child care tuition in New Hampshire remains high, the number of licensed providers has declined over time. The CCAoA’s report indicated that, in 2025, there were 613 licensed center-based programs and 104 home-based programs across New Hampshire. However, since 2017, the number of licensed center-based and home-based programs decreased by 10% and 32%, respectively. The greater closure rate in home-based programs across the State may have a disproportionate impact on families with low and moderate incomes seeking more affordable care options, as well as families in rural regions, communities of color, and families seeking non-traditional hour care, who rely more on this type of care to fill the gaps in available care from other providers. This decrease in number of providers, particulars those in home-based settings and in rural regions of the State, has likely placed further strain on family’s access to care, as they may have to travel longer distances for child care services.
Alongside the overall decline in child care providers during this period, the number of center-based programs participating in the New Hampshire Quality Rated Improvement System, or Granite Steps for Quality (GSQ), a statewide program designed to assess and improve the quality of care services in early childhood education settings, has decreased 16%. Of the remaining 99 providers that participated in the GSQ in 2025, only four reached the highest level of quality, or step 4 of the GSQ. These findings suggest that, as families navigate New Hampshire’s shrinking child care supply landscape in the State, they are encountering fewer options that offer recognized high-quality care services.
Families and providers continue to face growing financial pressures
The average tuition prices reported in the CCAoA’s analysis of the New Hampshire Early Childhood Education landscape do not necessarily reflect the cost of care all families pay for enrollment, or the cost providers pay for delivery of care services. Many families with low and moderate incomes qualify for the New Hampshire’s Child Care Scholarship Program (NHCCSP), a federal-State fiscal partnership that helps Granite State families afford child care through a tiered voucher system. Families who are eligible to participate in the NHCCSP may pay a weekly “cost share” of anywhere from $0 to 7% of their family income, with different tiers of eligibility depending on those family income levels. Families enrolled in the NHCCSP may also be charged a “co-payment” by the provider if tuition exceeds the weekly standard rates set by DHHS. In 2024, State policymakers expanded NHCCSP income eligibility for families, resulting in a significant increase in the number of families enrolled in the program, though this growth has slowed in recent months.
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Beyond the increase in eligibility for families in the 2024 expansion, policymakers also increased reimbursement rates for participating providers. While the provider reimbursement rates are set through the State’s Child Care Market Rate Survey, the prices only account for enrollment tuition prices. Consequently, these rates only capture what providers estimate families are willing and able to pay, but do not necessarily account for the provider costs for delivering high-quality care services and operating costs, including facility expenses, workforce and staff compensation, staff training, professional development training, as well as other costs. To supplement this gap in revenue, some providers turn to additional revenue streams such as grants, donations, and fundraising initiatives.
The rising price of child care tuition, coupled with the declining supply of providers in recent years, reflects the growing financial pressures families and child care providers face in New Hampshire. While programs such as the NHCCSP have an important and necessary role in reducing these barriers, additional State funding initiatives and policy strategies may be needed to more adequately address these challenges and provide meaningful financial relief for families seeking to access child care.
The New Hampshire Fiscal Policy Institute is sharing these articles with the partners in The Granite State News Collaborative. NHFPI is an independent nonprofit organization that explores, develops and promotes public policies that foster economic opportunity and prosperity for all New Hampshire residents. For more information visit nhfpi.org. These articles are being shared by partners in The Granite State News Collaborative. For more information visit collaborativenh.org.
