With days left until the general election on Nov. 5, New Ipswich residents had a last chance to hear from the slate of candidates vying to represent the town during a candidate forum on Tuesday.

Candidates from every seat on the ballot were invited, though some chose either not to attend or to send a statement to be read on their behalf. The entire forum was recorded can be viewed on the New Ipswich town website under the “Watch Video” tab, or the Town of New Ipswich YouTube page.

State Representative District 32

There are three available seats to represent Temple, Wilton and New Ipswich in Hillsborough House District 32. Currently, they are filled by Republicans Diane E. Kelley, Jim Kofalt and Shane Sirois, all three of whom are running for reelection. Of the incumbents, Kofalt was the only one to attend and speak at Tuesday’s forum.

Kofalt is finishing his second term in the House, and currently serves as the deputy majority leader. He said his political philosophy is that a limited government provides the most value and personal freedoms. He said in his time in the House, he has supported bills classifying people based on their biological sex for the purpose of bathroom, locker room, sports competitions and prisons, pushed back on vaccine mandates, was in support of the phase-out of the interest and dividends tax and supports Education Freedom Accounts, sometimes referred to as vouchers.

On education, Kofalt said, “If they know people have other options, there are some public schools that will step up their game.” When asked about education funding in the state, he said one area the state needs to do better on is supporting districts in regards to special education students, saying that a small number of students can have a large impact on small districts. In other ways, he said, the system is overbalanced with administrative positions that haven’t improved student outcomes.

Running on the Democratic ticket for the three available seats are Mike Pellerito, Jennifer Bernet and Kermit Williams. Williams and Bernet have served in the state House before, while it would be Pellerito’s first state office.

Bernet previously served for two years in the Hillsborough 4 district. A clinical social worker currently working in the field of mental health, Bernet said her priorities were health care access, education, affordable housing and a clean environment. If elected, she said her goals would be to work toward increasing state aid for education, and to craft bills to incentivize clean, renewable energy.

In her previous term in the House, Bernet said she worked on the bill to include a medicaid dental benefit.

Williams, who has served four previous terms, and is a selectman in Wilton, pointed to New Ipswich’s current tax rate of $25.70 per $1,000 assessed valuation, and said high property taxes, coupled with an estimated 30,000 housing stock shortage, mean that young people are struggling to find places to live. He said housing needs to be a top priority.

Williams said that the state has been downshifting taxes to landowners, and said it was time for “businesses to pay their fair share,” particularly large, multinational companies that send the majority of their profits out of the state. He, as did Bernet and Pellerito, said education funding was a way to make a significant difference in local tax rates, and said New Hampshire was falling behind in state aid, ranking dead last among the U.S. states in that area.

“There’s no reason a state as well of as New Hampshire can’t do a better job,” Williams said.

Pellerito agreed, saying that property taxes and better schools are the two issues he hears most about from constituents.

“We do not want to be 50th in the nation when it comes to school funding,” Pellerito said. “Education is the silver bullet.”

Executive Council

Incumbent Executive Council member Republican Dave Wheeler and Democrat Melanie Levesque each spoke at the forum.

Wheeler has been in the position for 14 years, and served as a state senator before that. He said one of the roles of the council is to be a “guardian of the treasury,” and praised the current council for building up a state “rainy day” fund, which he said was part of the reason the state now has a AA+ bond rating, the highest it has been in 40 years.

He spoke about several of the ways the council has stepped in to help individuals or towns resolve issues, including resolving dissatisfaction over a railroad crossing in Wilton, allowing snowmobiles on unused sections of railroad and helping a small-businessman be able to serve food at his establishment.

Levesque criticized Wheeler’s declining of federal funds for family planning institutions, despite those funds being separated from abortion care. She also spoke against Education Freedom Accounts, saying that alternatives from the public school system should be available, but not at the expense of public taxpayers, and that public schools need to be fully funded.

County positions

County Attorney John Coughlin did not attend, but had a statement read on his behalf by County Treasurer Dave Fredette. In his statement, Coughlin said since taking office in 2020, he has helped alleviate the extensive backlog of cases, and helped to stabilize what was a chaotic administration. His opponent, Kim Cossack, spoke about her experience as public defender for the past 18 years, and said that cases are still being dismissed and mistried under Coughlin's leadership, and that he was an “absent boss,” saying that a county attorney must be prepared to be in court and try cases.

For county treasurer, Fredette spoke about his long tenure in the office, having served for the past 20 years, as well as his experience as the city treasurer in Nashua for 22 years. He said that the treasurer’s roles include investing the county’s funds, and in the past year, the investments have netted the state $3.5 million. His opponent, Bev Cotton, did not attend, but had a statement read by Pellerito, which included her experience running a payroll and reconciliation group, an MBA in finance and her role as trustee of the trust funds in Weare.

For registrar of deeds, incumbent Mary Ann Crowell spoke of her 26 years of experience in the office, and her dedication to the job. Running against Crowell is Dennis Hogan, who has a degree in political science from University of New Hampshire and had a career with Allstate Insurance. He then received a law degree and opened a practice in Nashua. He said the processes at the Registry of Deeds is too slow, and that the county is not using modern technology. He said if elected, he would cut back on his law practice to accommodate the role.

For county commissioner, Suzanne Ketteridge spoke of her educational background, including a master’s in business administration, a law degree and experience running a multi-million budget and acting as a public defender. Republican Robert H. Rowe did not attend or send a statement.

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