Democratic candidates for governor Cinde Warmington and Joyce Craig, along with several other candidates for state positions, met constituents from Dublin, Jaffrey and Rindge during a campaign kickoff event hosted by the three towns’ Democratic committees on Sunday at the American Legion post in Jaffrey.

Issues like access to abortion, protection of public education and the state’s ongoing shortage of housing were among the most-prevalent discussed.

Republican Gov. Chris Sununu has announced he will not be running for re-election this year, and Craig, a three-term mayor of Manchester, touted her experience running the state’s largest city, and turning a red seat blue. She said that many of the problems of the state are the same problems she faced in a microcosm in Manchester.

Warmington, who is currently the only Democrat sitting on the state’s Executive Council and whose district includes Dublin, Hancock, Peterborough and Sharon, called it “four years of on-the-job training” for the governor’s seat. She said that the state has to address affordable housing if it wants to address other underlying issues, including homelessness and workforce shortage.

“We have to fix our priorities,” Warmington said.

Craig said she had the skills to work with developers, and that Manchester was in the midst of building more than 2,000 housing units, and in September broke ground on the state’s largest affordable housing development. She said that innovation needed to happen across the state.

“We need to address the housing crisis in our state, so our children, our seniors and our hardworking families can afford to live here,” Craig said.

Both candidates said codifying Roe vs. Wade in the state and protecting access to abortion would be a key issue, and pointed to Republican candidate Kelly Ayotte’s stance on supporting a national abortion ban as a threat to access. While in the U.S. Senate, Ayotte backed a bill that would ban most abortions after 20 weeks

Warmington said abortion is a top issue driving voters to the polls, saying a woman’s freedom starts with the ability to decide when to have children.

“The polling tells us this is the winning issue,” Warmington said.

Regarding public education, both candidates promised to make the ousting of current Education Commissioner Frank Edelblut a priority.

Warmington referred to public education as the “bedrock of our democracy,” creating a level playing field.

Craig decried the school voucher program, saying it was eroding the public system.

“As governor, I will ensure our public tax dollars go to public schools,” Craig said.

Other candidates who spoke  Sunday included state Rep. Richard Ames, who currently represents Cheshire District 13 in Dublin and Jaffrey. Ames spoke of the need to defend democracy, pointing to Republican state Rep. Matthew Santonastaso, who sponsored an unsuccessful bill seeking for the state to secede from the United States and this year sponsored a bill to study secession.

Also included at the event was candidate for state Senate District 9 Matt McLaughlin, who unsuccessfully ran for the seat representing Greenfield, Jaffrey, Lyndeborough, Sharon and Temple in 2022. McLaughlin said that the Democratic Party ran on a philosophy of governing “for the collective good,” and that for him, his top issue was climate change.

“If we don’t get a handle on it, in 20 years, nothing else is going to matter,” McLaughlin said.

McLaughlin also spoke about the need for better gun control laws, specifically about an unsuccessful effort to implement a three-day waiting period in the state. McLaughlin also spoke the impact of “education freedom accounts,” or vouchers, on the public school system, along with the need to protect access to abortion and rights for LGBTQ populations.

Donovan Fenton, who is running for re-election in state Senate District 10, which includes Dublin, Hancock and Peterborough, was not able to attend Sunday’s event. He sent a statement, read by Ames, saying that if re-elected, his priorities would include codifying abortion rights, reimplementing interest and dividends tax and “moving the needle” on the state’s renewable energy investment and minimum wage.

District 12 Senate candidate Ben Ming spoke on his beliefs in the importance of public education, the need to enact laws to curb gun violence in the state and that health care, including access to reproductive care and abortions, should follow the individual and not be dictated by the state. District 12 includes Greenville, Mason, New Ipswich and Rindge.

Ashley Saari can be reached at 603-924-7172, Ext. 244, or asaari@ledgertranscript.com. She’s on X @AshleySaariMLT.