New Hampshire
Housing, Abortion, and Ayotte Are Top Topics at NH Dem Candidates' Forum in Exeter – NH Journal
When New Hampshire’s Democratic candidates for governor gathered for a forum at Exeter Town Hall Sunday afternoon, the top topics were affordable housing, abortion rights, climate change, Education Freedom Accounts, and Republican gubernatorial candidate Kelly Ayotte.
Left unmentioned?
Inflation, illegal immigration, anti-Israel protests roiling Granite State college campuses, and the other GOP candidate for governor, former state Senate President Chuck Morse.
The topics were selected in part by the organizers, students from New Hampshire high schools like Oyster River High, Raymond High, and Phillips Exeter Academy. But the three candidates were able to add their own topics, and it was clear they wanted to talk about Ayotte.
“We have to call Kelly Ayotte out for what she stands for,” former Manchester Mayor Joyce Craig said. “She is the most dangerous threat to New Hampshire that we have ever seen.”
And, Craig added, “We need to make sure we put forward a candidate who can beat her, and I’m telling you, I can.”
Craig, the current primary frontrunner according to the most recent polling, fielded students’ questions in front of a crowd of around 100 people, along with Executive Councilor Cinde Warmington and former New Market town councilor Jon Kiper.
Kiper, the least well-known of the three candidates, was the first to speak. He said his campaign is “all about housing.”
“Every year that we don’t focus on housing as Democrats, we are losing young people and that’s our base,” Kiper said.
Asked by student about laws affecting the transgender community, Kiper said he opposed any restrictions on sex-change medical procedures and called the issue a GOP “smoke screen so we don’t talk about the real issues of property taxes and housing and homelessness and opioid addiction.”
NH Democratic candidate for governor Cinde Warmington speaks at a candidate’s forum in Exeter, N.H. on May 5, 2024
Warmington was the second to speak. She took the opportunity to promote her political bona fides as the lone Democrat serving on the state’s Executive Council. Asked about updates to New Hampshire abortion laws under GOP Gov. Chris Sununu, Warmington said she has gone “toe-to-toe” with him “on the danger of his abortion ban.”
(Sununu signed a law in 2022 allowing abortion for any reason during the first six months of pregnancy, and bans them — with exceptions — after that.)
Warmington also claimed “Republicans have made it perfectly clear that they do not want to run against me.”
“In fact, when the governor was asked about this race on the radio, and asked about the Democratic primary, his answer to the question was ‘Warmington will be formidable,’” she said. “He knows that because I am the only person in New Hampshire who ever goes toe-to-toe with Gov. Sununu.
“He doesn’t go down and talk to the legislature. He only talks to the press when he wants to. But every two weeks, at that council table, there I am asking the tough questions.”
Warmington also said public education “is under assault” by Education Freedom Accounts, a New Hampshire program offering families state funding should they choose to enroll their children in a non-public school.
Warmington was later quizzed about her time in 2002 working as a lobbyist representing Purdue Pharma, producers of the opioid painkiller Oxycontin. She defended her work and said she “argued that doctors should be the ones to make the decision about what patients receive.”
Craig focused much of her remarks on her time serving as the city’s mayor and said her chief concern as
NH Democratic candidate for governor Joyce Craig speaks at a candidate’s forum in Exeter, N.H. on May 5, 2024
governor, like Warmington and Kiper, would focus on affordable housing.
She told the roughly 100 attendees at Sunday’s town hall that Manchester “today has one of the hottest job markets in the entire country.”
She also expressed her opposition to the state’s EFA program.
“As governor, I will ensure that our public tax dollars go to our public schools and on day one,” Craig said. “I’m not opposed to parents having a choice of where they send their kids to school.
“What I don’t agree with is providing public dollars to go to private or religious schools.”
Craig later pivoted back to her experience as Manchester mayor, and her 2017 win over former Mayor Ted Gatsas.
“I also took on a very popular four-term incumbent Republican when I became mayor of Manchester, so I know what it takes to get through the tough elections,” she said. “I’ve done it, I have a roadmap, and I plan on doing it again.”
While it didn’t appear to make much impact on the audience, Kiper had a proposal that’s likely to get some attention in Concord. He wants to pay the legislature.
“What I propose is 500 bucks a week for just the six months that the legislature is in session,” Kiper said. “This will enable working class folks to run and serve as state representatives if they want to.
“It is really less than $5 million a year.”
New Hampshire
Missing Berlin Motorcyclist Found Dead After Route 2 Crash: New Hampshire State Police Roundup
06/19/2026 02:16, EAST KINGSTON, BOLDUC, NATHAN RICHARD (22); ASHFORD, CONNECTICUT, 635:1,I (BURGLARY-NIGHT / HOME / WEAPON), 635:1,V (BURGLARY TOOLS-POSSESSION), 637:7 (RECV STOLEN PROP; $1501+), 637:7 (RECV STOLEN PROP; $1501+), 634:2,II (CRIMINAL MISCHIEF).
06/15/2026 19:49, RAYMOND, KETCHEN, DANA CANNEY (63); BROOKLINE, 265-A:2,I(A) (DUI-IMPAIRMENT), 264:25 (CONDUCT AFTER ACCIDENT), 265-A:2,I(B) (DUI; ADULT>.08; MINOR>.02), 172-B:3 (PROTECTIVE CUSTODY-ALCOHOL), 265-A:44 (TRANSPORTING ALCOHOLIC BEVERAGES OR MARIJUANA).
06/15/2026 21:05, GILFORD, SEXTON, JALEN R. (26); ALTON, 263:64,VI (DRIVE AFTER REV/SUS-SUBSQT), 263:64,IV (DRIVE AFTER REVOCATION/SUSPENSION; RECKLESS DRIVING), 263:1,II (LICENSE REQD; OP W/EXPIRED LICENSE W/IN 12 MONTHS OF EXPIRATION), 265:60 (SPEEDING 25 MPH OVER LIMIT OF 55 OR LESS).
06/16/2026 02:40, PORTSMOUTH, LANE, MICHAEL CORY (29); HUBBARDSTON, MA, 631:3 (RECKLESS CONDUCT), 265-A:2,I(A) (DUI-IMPAIRMENT), 265:79,I (RECKLESS OPERATION).
06/16/2026 17:16, GILFORD, COSTARELLI, ROBERT L. (55); EAST BRIDGEWATER, MA, 631:2-B,I(A) (DV; SIMPLE ASSAULT; BODILY INJURY OR PHYSICAL CONTACT), 634:2,III (CRIMINAL MISCHIEF).
New Hampshire
Concord City Manager Receives ‘Satisfactory’ Review, 2.5% Raise, But Sabbatical Request Gets Trimmed
Schultz said she “highly respects” Aspell, too, but there was a “dissonance between reality” when eyeing what the public and city employees were earning.
Ward 6 City Council Aislinn Kalob, too, would not be voting for the increase, saying it had been “heavily on my mind since we’ve had our nonpublic sessions,” which lasted about six hours of work. She appreciated Kretovic clearly outlining the job of city manager. But people were frustrated with the city manager, and she saw that in the comments in online forums.
“I do feel, after really digging into this, and learning about his job,” she said, “and thinking toward the future when, eventually, at some point, somebody new will be sitting in that seat, we are the ones who direct policy and he is the one that implements it… there is anger out there that should be directed more toward us.”
Kalob said, too, a room full of firefighters, upset about their contract, also made voting for the wage increase something she could not consider.
Michele Horne of Ward 2 echoed similar concerns to Schultz, saying there was significant “wage disparity” between the public and staff and the city manager. She also agreed with Kalob’s point that previous councils created this contract.
Sunflowers are my absolute FAVORITE flowers. I truly feel like they have magical uplifting abilities. Hence, why I’ve always kept fresh sunflowers in my house, brightening up my kitchen table or even my TV stand.
Obviously, it was a dream of mine to have my maternity photos taken in a sunflower field. They reflect sunshine and exude happiness.
Not to mention, one of my favorite quotes is about sunflowers! “Keep your face to the sunshine and you cannot see the shadow. It’s what sunflowers do.” Helen Keller
A beautiful reminder to keep an optimistic outlook on life and not dwell on the negative.
So, you can imagine the joy I felt when I learned that New Hampshire had its very own Sunflower Festival at Coppal House Farm in Lee!
About the Sunflower Festival:
During the summer, the farm transforms into a sea of golden blooms, giving visitors the chance to wander through thousands of sunflowers, snap photos, enjoy local food vendors, artisan crafts, listen to live music, and experience one of New Hampshire’s most beautiful summer traditions.
Other unique activities on the itinerary? Sip-n-snip! Guests can enjoy a cocktail or mocktail of their choice and cut their own fresh bouquet of flowers.
Or maybe you’re a yoga fan? You can join a 60-minute sweat session from Lee, New Hampshire yoga instructors right in the heart of the flower field.
And because the farm grows oilseed sunflowers for culinary oil (which they harvest in the fall months), the flowers only stay at their peak for a brief window, making the festival a limited-time experience, according to the festival organizers…
What makes this event even more special is the reason behind it. The festival started as a way to share the beauty of the sunflower fields, but it has grown into something much bigger. Organizers say the event has raised more than $90,000 for Make-A-Wish New Hampshire over the years and now shares a portion of its proceeds with several local nonprofit organizations serving the Seacoast community.
Anyone who knows me knows that paying it forward is something that’s incredibly important to me. It’s right up there with my love of sunflowers because both fill my cup in the best way. So, when I found out this festival celebrates my favorite flower and gives back to the community, I knew I had to share it.
Sunflower Festival Details:
This festival only runs from Saturday, July 25th until Sunday, August 2nd. You can get the full list of activities and more on the Coppal Farm website.
Daily Field Hours
10:00 AM – 6:30 PM
(last admission at 6PM because fields close at 6:30)
Weekend Tickets (prepurchased online – day before)
$12 per person ages 13 & older
$10 per person ages 5-12
$10 per person Seniors (65+) & Military
4 yrs & under are always free
Weekend Tickets (purchased day of – online or at farm):
$16 per person ages 13 & older
$14 per person ages 5-12
$14 per person Seniors (65+) & Military
4 yrs & under are always free
includes: access to sunflower fields, craft fair, food vending area, tented shade area, picnic area, farm animals, & live music
Weekday Tickets (prepurchased online – day before)
$8 per person ages 13 & older
$6 per person ages 5-12
$6 per person Seniors (65+) & Military
4 yrs & under are always free
Weekday Tickets (purchased day of – online or at farm)
$12 per person ages 13 & older
$10 per person ages 5-12
$10 per person Seniors (65+) & Military
4 yrs & under are always free
What tickets include:
Access to sunflower fields, food vending area, tented shade area, picnic area, and farm animals
READ MORE: A Classic Fairy Tale Comes To Life At Portsmouth’s Prescott Park This Summer
This festival might just leave you smiling long after you leave the fields!
What Flowers Thrive in New England
See what flowers thrive in New England weather: Maine, Massachusetts, and New Hampshire.
Gallery Credit: Logan
14 of the Best New Hampshire Farms Offering Locally Grown Strawberries
14 of the Best New Hampshire Farms Offering PYO Strawberries
Gallery Credit: Sarah Sullivan
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