New Hampshire Business Community Backs Ayotte In Governor's Race

By Leonard Robinson, NH Journal

Ask Josh Reap, head of the state’s Associated Builders and Contractors, why his organization is endorsing Gov. Kelly Ayotte, and he says, “It’s simple. Under her leadership we had a re cord number of new housing bills get passed and signed into law this year.”

John Reynolds with the National Federation of Independent Business, whose New Hampshire chapter also endorsed Ayotte this month, has a similar answer.

“Having a competitive small business tax climate is essential for economic growth in this state, and the small business tax relief that she signed into law this year exempts another 4,500 or so small businesses from having to pay payroll tax. That means that they can pay their workers more. It makes it easier to hire. It makes it easier to grow.”

Unlike in 2024, when there was a split among Granite State business leaders between supporting Ayotte and Democrat Joyce Craig, the first-term Republican has emerged as the clear favorite of the state’s business community.

While Democrat Cinde Warmington has consolidated support from high-profile Democrats, such as former President Barack Obama and former Vice President Kamala Harris, her public support from business groups is thin. She has gotten the endorsements of some traditionally Democratic unions, including the New Hampshire branch of the AFL-CIO, Teamsters Local 633, and the teachers unions.

But she has struggled to gain traction among business owners.

For example, 60 business leaders spanning the hospitality, construction, real estate, and health care sectors backed Ayotte’s reelection bid as part of a “Business Leaders for Kelly” coalition.

“Her focus on helping businesses grow, invest and create good-paying jobs reflects her commitment to keeping New Hampshire the best state in the nation to own and operate a business,” Crews Holding CEO Andy Crews said.

Ayotte has also been endorsed by the New Hampshire Home Builders Association.

Warmington has not received any comparable endorsements. The one notable business endorsement comes from Jim Jalbert, the owner and chief executive of C&J Bus Lines. He’s backing Warmington, but based on his public comments, it’s largely a reaction to Ayotte’s decision to veto the 10-year highway plan. Jalbert, who operates a bus company, wants to see higher taxes and tolls to fund more transportation projects.

“New Hampshire froze its gas tax in 1991 and its tolls in 2007, then acts surprised when the plan comes back underfunded,” Jalbert wrote in an op-ed this summer. “The cost doesn’t disappear. It shifts to residents through rougher roads and slower repairs, while the ‘no new taxes’ headline survives on a policy that never touched a New Hampshire driver.”

One area where the two gubernatorial candidates agree is their opposition to raising business taxes. And both say housing is a priority, particularly workforce housing for younger people who can find a job (unemployment remains below 3%) but can’t afford a nearby place to live if they take it.

“We have a housing shortage in the state,” Ayotte said during a Greater Nashua Chamber of Commerce debate on Tuesday. “We need to be in a position to increase the supply of housing in this state and that means you need a leader who can work with the business community, who can also work with the nonprofit community, can work across party lines, can get things done and can advocate and fight for federal dollars.”

Warmington has criticized Ayotte for not supporting more direct taxpayer subsidies for new housing.

“This governor has also not funded the Housing Champions program, which was responsible for nearly half of our housing starts last year,” Warmington said during the Nashua debate.

“We did not defund the Housing Champions Fund,” Ayotte responded. “There was $5 million put into it. $2.5 million were spent. Those $2.5 million were carried into this biennium and were gotten out into people to use.”

However, the contractors involved in one of the state’s biggest housing construction projects, The Village on Technology Hill in Londonderry, told NHJournal that subsidies aren’t nearly as important as the legislative changes Concord has made.

“Permitting reforms, some of the DOT curb cut reforms that happened to been very good to see for our industry, and some some developers are starting to take advantage of them,” Reap said.

“We need a governor who wants to be a partner, not not dictate policy, but collaborate, and that’s what we’ve had from the second floor.”

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This story was originally published by the NH Journal, an online news publication dedicated to providing fair, unbiased reporting on, and analysis of, political news of interest to New Hampshire. For more stories from the NH Journal, visit NHJournal.com.