AARP Eye Center
New Hampshire voters will choose a new governor on Nov. 5, deciding between former U.S. Sen. Kelly Ayotte (R), who also served as New Hampshire attorney general, and Joyce Craig (D), the former mayor of Manchester.
The two candidates spoke with AARP about issues affecting older Granite State residents. This transcript has been edited for brevity and clarity.
AARP research shows that in New Hampshire 168,000 family caregivers provide $2.8 billion in unpaid care a year, many helping older loved ones continue to live independently. If elected, how would you support family caregivers, many of whom are juggling work and family?
Ayotte: When I was a U.S. senator, I founded a bipartisan family caregiving caucus to help bring greater attention to family caregiving and to help people live independently. As governor, I certainly will take that experience and the work that I did and apply it as we look at the state budget to ensure that we’re not only elevating caregiving ... but then also look for ways that we can help with their expenses.
Craig: I am one of those caregivers. My father passed away at the end of December. My mother has early onset dementia, so I am taking care of all of her finances.... [I] feel strongly that we need a governor who does understand these [issues] and will connect our caregivers to resources that they need to help them navigate these very challenging processes.... A key thing as well is to support ... the state’s paid family leave program.
Like many states, New Hampshire is struggling to retain and grow its health care workforce. What steps would you take as governor to make sure the state has a sustainable health care workforce as its population ages?
Craig: It’s making sure that we do everything we can to encourage individuals to go into these [health care] services ... whether it is increasing pay, [or] providing college incentives to enter into these programs.... As mayor, I allocated $3 million dollars toward a program where students from Manchester high schools—who were graduating but couldn’t afford to go to college—[were] provided debt free college education.... Health care and nursing are two of the main majors that these students are following.
Ayotte: I would leverage our community college system and our university system ... to make sure that we have the right training programs—and also to really expand programs to make that education and training and health care affordable and accessible.
Research from AARP found that about 36 percent of New Hampshire’s private sector employees work for an employer that does not offer either a traditional pension or a retirement savings plan. What steps would you take to help workers save for retirement?
Ayotte: In our state, we are eliminating the interest and dividends tax.... The reason for that is that hits a lot of seniors who make income off their investments.... Making sure that we have the tax climate that makes it more favorable for retirees is important for our state.... In addition to that, as I look at our state policy, I would want to look for ways to incentivize savings.
Craig: It’s really important that we encourage individuals to save for their future.... And, as governor, I [would be] focused on decreasing costs for everyone, including our seniors—whether it’s addressing the increase in energy costs, housing costs or prescription drug costs.
As New Hampshire’s population ages and home and rent prices continue to climb, the need for affordable housing options for older middle and low-income adults becomes increasingly critical. If elected, how would you make sure that older New Hampshire residents have access to housing that is safe and affordable?
Craig: As mayor of Manchester, I worked extremely hard to address this and made significant progress working with developers, providing [about] $30 million toward affordable housing initiatives. And today, we have [about] 2,000 housing units in development.... I feel strongly that that’s what’s needed at the state level.
Ayotte: As governor, I would make sure that it is easier to develop and build more housing opportunities at the state level. And that means streamlining our permitting process. To build [large residential developments], you’ve got to get, at a minimum, DOT, DES, Fish and Game and other agencies to approve your project. And that is not operating with a level of efficiency it should.
New Hampshire consumers reported losing $27.5 million to fraud in 2023—everything from identity theft to impostor scams. What can be done to combat fraud in the state?
Ayotte: I come at this as a former prosecutor, and I would like to see those cases prosecuted vigorously. I want us to go after them. And I also think that we [need to] have a public information campaign. We should be telling people whenever we hear about one of these frauds. We should be getting the news out, we should be getting the word out, so that others don’t become victims.
Craig: What’s really important is education for our seniors. As soon as something is hitting our local communities, to make sure we’re getting the word out to caregivers, to others, that there’s a potential scam happening.
If elected, what else would you do to improve the lives of older Americans and their families?
Craig: Having been mayor of Manchester ... I worked to merge the senior center into the health department, and we put together a new Healthy Aging Branch ... that has been very successful. We hired a healthy aging specialist, community health workers to actually do outreach to seniors in their homes. We also are working toward an age friendly communities plan.
Ayotte: New Hampshire’s population has been one of the fastest growing among New England states in recent years. That means keeping our economic advantage— keeping our tax burden low on our seniors. That means working as hard as I can to make life more affordable for our seniors.
—Interviews by Donna Liquori
*Find more on the candidates at kellyfornh.com and joycecraig.org.
As a nonpartisan, nonprofit organization, AARP does not endorse candidates or make political donations.
More on the 2024 Elections:
- How to Vote in New Hampshire's 2024 Elections
- Older Voters Will Decide the 2024 Elections
- 8 Things to Know About Election Disinformation in the Age of AI
Need to Vote Early? — AARP
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