Contact: Ryan Mahoney, ryan@amplifynh.org
On Town Meeting Day, Granite Staters Are Noticing As Trump, Ayotte, & NH Republicans Create An Economic Hellscape
CONCORD, N.H. — As New Hampshire’s Town Meeting Day elections are upon us, the stock market is taking a nosedive, living costs are skyrocketing, taxes are spiking, and reckless tariffs threaten to tank New Hampshire jobs and small businesses. Last night, a new Saint Anselm College poll confirms that the economy is Granite Staters’ number one concern—and they overwhelmingly opposed to Trump's tariffs while they disapprove of his job as president, and diametrically oppose Elon Musk and his DOGE initiative that Kelly Ayotte is trying to replicate.
The poll, announced yesterday evening, shows that New Hampshire voters reject these devastating tariffs by a margin of 57% to 41%, a 16-point disapproval gap on Trump’s signature issue. A 23% plurality of New Hampshire voters said that the economy/inflation is the most important issue facing America. 53% of voters disapprove of DOGE while 54% disapprove of Elon Musk's close involvement with the U.S. government.
“While Granite Staters sound the alarm, Governor Ayotte and New Hampshire Republicans are nowhere to be found. What is Kelly Ayotte doing about skyrocketing costs, a tanking economy thanks to Trump’s reckless tariff disaster, and local tax hikes?” said Amplify New Hampshire Executive Director Ryan Mahoney. “Instead of being vocal or taking action, she is sitting on her hands and hoping Granite Staters forget she exists. Meanwhile, New Hampshire faces a state budget shortfall and Ayotte is trying to solve it by putting costs back onto working families. If this is what she thinks fighting for New Hampshire looks like, she will certainly be a one-term governor.”
Cost of Living Increases
Cost of Health Insurance: Reports indicate that Governor Ayotte’s budget proposal would force some Medicaid recipients to pay $3,396 per year in premiums after no premium costs in years prior. At the same time, proposed federal cuts to Medicaid funding could trigger New Hampshire’s automatic elimination of expanded Medicaid, leaving 60,000 Granite Staters without health insurance. Ayotte expressed “uncertainty” about the future of expanded Medicaid instead of providing certainty.
Cost of Groceries: While the price of eggs was a campaign flashpoint, Egg prices under Trump and Ayotte hit record highs on March 3rd — an $8.17 average compared to a low of $2.11 as recently as October 2024, and grocery prices across the board have show signs of budging. Meanwhile, Trump is telling Americans to “shut up about egg prices.”
Cost of Energy: The average retail price for electricity (cents/kWh) increased 34.5% under Sununu, making New Hampshire the 5th most expensive state in the country for energy costs, even before the latest tariffs threaten to increase costs.
Cost of Housing: The median price of a single-family house in the state rose over 80% from 2018 to 2024 and average rent for a 2-bedroom apartment in New Hampshire rose by 46% during Sununu’s time as governor from $1,206 in 2016 to $1,764 in 2023, 1.5 times faster than the national average. Meanwhile, Ayotte has been cashing checks for millions of dollars sitting on the board of Blackstone, the “nation’s largest landlord,” which “has a history of buying distressed properties, raising rents, evicting tenants and managing some apartment complexes with deplorable conditions.” Meanwhile, home prices set a new record for the month of February according to a Union Leader report.
Tariffs
Trump’s decision to announce sweeping and expanding tariffs on Canada, Mexico, and China has resulted in retaliatory 25% tariffs from Canada.
New Hampshire exports $1.4B in goods to Canada, making up nearly 19% of all New Hampshire exports and resulting in 182,000 New Hampshire jobs.
The tariffs and retaliation are expected to cost middle-class Granite Staters $1,100 per year, including $375 more in winter home heating oil, our largest import.
Semafor predicts that New Hampshire is bound to face gas price increases of 20-40 cents as a result of the tariffs.
New Hampshire Tax Hikes
Under Republican leadership, statewide property taxes increased by $100.7 million in FY2024, a 38.3% jump.
Republican Mayor of Manchester, Jay Ruais, who campaigned on tax cuts, just raised property taxes by 3.82%—the city’s largest increase in over a decade. Even conservative talk show host Rich Girard, a frequent advocate for Republican policies in Manchester, condemned Ruais for “betraying” New Hampshire taxpayers and “sabotaging” the GOP aldermen’s efforts to block the tax increase.
Lebanon residents are bracing for an 11.9% municipal property tax increase, and Gorham property owners face a crushing $3.74 increase per $1,000 valuation, leaving residents furious about disappearing services and rising costs.
Concord Monitor readers are reporting “panic” and frustration at tax hikes they are seeing at the local level.
Stock Market Nosedive
In the days since President Trump announced renewed 25% tariffs on Canada, Mexico, and China and in the wake of retaliatory tariffs, the Dow Jones Industrial Average, the S&P 500, and the NASDAQ have plummeted, erasing the gains made since Trump took office and even the gains dating back to the November election.
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About Amplify New Hampshire
Amplify New Hampshire is a 501(c)4 nonprofit organization founded to keep Granite Staters informed of the decisions made in local, state, and federal government that will impact their lives and empower them to enact change. For more information, visit amplifynh.org.