Education Freedom Accounts, reproductive rights and trans children in sports were the hot issues at Wednesday night’s candidates night sponsored by the Antrim Lions Club at Antrim Town Hall.

About 50 people attended the event. Democrat Steve Ullman and Republican Tim Morehouse moderated.

Incumbent representatives for Hillsborough County District 30 Jim Creighton of Antrim, Jim Fedolfi of Hillsborough and Riché Colcombe of Hillsborough, all Republicans, answered questions from the audience alongside Democratic candidates William Bryk of Antrim, Michael Schamel of Hillsborough and Marjorie Porter of Hillsborough.

Creighton, a retired Army colonel, is running for his third term in the House and cited his record on veterans’ affairs and the environment. Colcombe, a former business owner, has advocated for business owners and housing. Fedolfi, a retired disabled veteran, had a career in Army intelligence and owned and operated Value Mart stores.

Bryk, an attorney and author, serves as one of Antrim’s two representatives to the ConVal School Board and is a supervisor of the checklist. Porter, who previously served as state representative for 12 years, is a retired educator from Hillsborough. Schamel, a single parent and small-business owner in Hillsborough, has never run for office.

On the topic of trans youth athletes, Fedolfi said he was against trans athletes playing on teams of the gender with which they identify.

“It is grossly unfair to girls,” he said. “What they should do is put all the trans kids on the same teams, and they can have their own league.”

Porter said the issue is “rare” in local schools and that it is complex.

“There are children who know they are in the wrong body from the time they can talk. Imagine if you are a 12-year-old child trying to figure this out? These young people are very fragile. When I think back on sports in my high school, there were girls who were 4-foot-8, and there were girls who were 6-feet tall playing on the same teams. It was the same for the boys,” Porter said. “This issue is not black and white.”

In a discussion of property taxes, Colcombe recounted her experiences in Connecticut.

“Connecticut added income and sales tax, and it did not help. With the additional income tax, people were no longer able to pay their property tax, and they started to leave the state,” she said. “Adding new taxes does not always work out the way people think it will.”

All candidates said that they support New Hampshire’s current abortion law, which allows for abortion up to 24 weeks and provides exceptions for medical conditions after that date.

“I am personally pro-life, but I support New Hampshire’s law. We worked very hard on that law three years ago,” Creighton said. “Planned Parenthood provides other vital and necessary services, but I do not believe tax dollars should support abortions.”

Porter pointed out that New Hampshire’s abortion law is not codified and can be changed at any time.

“This year in the Legislature, two bills were introduced, one proposing a 15-day abortion ban, one proposing a six-week ban, and they were narrowly defeated,” she said. “There is no protection for these rights in New Hampshire.”

Candidates differed widely on the state’s Education Freedom Account program, which allows parents to receive $4,100 in unrestricted funds to put toward their child’s education.

Creighton said he had heard from constituents who had used the funds to place their children in independent schools.

“Most people are happy with our public schools, but we need to do the best we can for our kids,” he said.

Bryk said his biggest concern is that the use of EFA funds is unregulated.

“This is your taxpayer money being spent, and it is not being audited by the state. According to the law, all taxpayer money needs to be audited,” Bryk said. “You have the right to know where this money is being spent. Right now, our commissioner of education will not allow auditing of EFAs. People are taking the money, and we don’t know how it is being spent, and we don’t know how those children are being educated.”

Colcombe agreed that EFAs need to be audited.

“People need to be accountable for how our taxpayer dollars are being spent,” she said.

Porter noted that EFA accounts, which were originally estimated to cost the state a few hundred thousand dollars, cost the state of New Hampshire $24 million last year. She noted that EFA funds can be used to support schools from any existing religious organization.

“Just so people are aware, that included the Flying Spaghetti Monster religion. That is an official religion in the United States,” she said.

In closing statements, all candidates expressed gratitude to the Lions Club for hosting the event and to the public for attending, and expressed their hopes and concerns for the people of New Hampshire.

“We need to build up the New Hampshire economy for homeowners, for small business owners. We need housing for young people,” Schamel said. “We need to move forward.”