Hillsborough District 30 includes Antrim, Bennington, Hillsborough and Windsor.
Voters will choose among six candidates to fill three seats. Republicans Larry Baker, Austin Cottle and Tim Morehouse will face Democrats William Bryk, Janet McEwen and W. Gordon Allen in the general election. The current incumbents are not running for reelection.
W. Gordon Allen
Party affiliation: Democrat
What town/city do you live in? Antrim
Political experience: Three terms in the NH House serving on the Finance Committee
Professional experience: Executive director of the Monadnock Worksource, NH Council on Developmental Disabilities, Granite State Association of Nonprofits (now the NH Center for Nonprofits); senior health policy analyst at the NH Department of Health and Human Services; NH licensed insurance broker; instructor in economics at Syracuse University and Franklin Pierce University.
Community service experience: 50 years serving my community including the ConVal School Board, Antrim Conservation Commission, Trustee of Trust Funds, the Antrim Community Board, and this year, playing the key role in saving our historic brown church for our community.
Policy Positions
Should NH legalize recreational marijuana use and possession? Decriminalize possession
What is the No. 1 action the Legislature should take to address the housing shortage? Pass Senate Bill 86-FN sponsored by a bipartisan majority of 14 senators in 2025. This provides a state guarantee for loans for developing affordable housing — up to $300 million in total. This can create thousands of new units we desperately need that will allow more families to live here and businesses to hire more employees. And SB 86 will require little or no state funding.
How involved should NH government and law enforcement be in immigration enforcement? Would recommend we provide no assistance until our seriously flawed immigration laws are fixed and until we get the partisan politics, corruption and cruelty out of their enforcement.
Do you support the Education Freedom Accounts program? Cannot consider supporting EFAs until there is accountability and measurement of the student performance for those who use them and financial standards and accountability for the private schools that received them.
To what extent should NH restrict abortion, if at all? It should not restrict abortion at all.
What is one law currently on the books in NH that you would repeal, and why? We should repeal the law that eliminated the NH interest and dividends tax, and then reinstitute it at 5% — but raise the exemption from $2,400 to $60,000 per person ($120,000 for joint filers). We had this tax on the books for 102 years before its total in 2025 — and it never bankrupted anyone or taxed them out of their home — all the while doing a century of good. This would likely raise more than $100 million per year, and the reality is that the loss of this state revenue means yet more costs are piled on to local property taxes.
The famous “NH State Pledge” for our legislators and Governor to veto any and all new state taxes (and its current version that adds the “Pledge” to reduce rates on existing taxes and eliminate existing taxes, such as with the Interest and Dividends Tax) is clearly incomplete. This is because when our elected state representatives take the “Pledge” at the state level, it means that at the same time, they are pledging that at the local level that “our property taxes will increase every year with no end in sight”.
NH consistently struggles with funding its government and services. What is one way you would raise state revenue, and what is one area you would cut expenses? Be specific. It’s clear that we have a serious problem with property taxes, and it’s time we did something about it. It’s no secret that they are out of control and that they impose an unaffordable, inescapable, and unacceptable and too often a cruel burden on so many of our fellow citizens, that are doing real damage to the social fabric of our communities and that are a major contributor to making of our housing increasingly unaffordable and businesses having difficult hiring the employees they need.
One way to solve this would be to implement a modest increase in taxes on second homes. This takes advantage of the fact that NH has the third highest percentage of our housing units as second homes and that many of these have high assessed value. This is large revenue base with the advantage that most owners have the ability to pay and many live out of state. I have not run the numbers since I authored a bill to do this a decade ago, but back then, an increase in the tax rate of $4.50 on second homes would bring in enough revenue to allow the state to double its share of funding for education and reduce local school property taxes by at least an average of 40%.
As people across the state struggle with their local school tax bills, what role should the state play in funding education? The state should pay at least 65% and preferably more.
Aside from those mentioned above, what do you believe is the biggest issue facing the state today? The biggest issue we face — and one that prevents us from passing our own common-sense solutions for our common good and with common civility — is the control of our politics by big money that pours in from out-of-state in larger amounts every year. And the effects of this on us is not rocket science. Big money spent our politics means big control, and the bigger the money, the bigger the control. That’s why they do it. Fortunately, by following in the footsteps of a law Hawaii passed, we now have a way to begin to get this big money out. In a nutshell, Hawaii prohibits any corporations and businesses that do business in their state from giving any money at all to political campaigns. Such a bill for NH should be a must for the next Legislative session.
Janet McEwen
Party affiliation: Democrat
What town/city do you live in? Antrim
Political experience: I am chair of The Antrim Democrats.
Professional experience: Former registered nurse for 30+ years / Monadnock Region realtor for 20+ years
Community service experience: Current Antrim ZBA Chair, Board Member Contoocook Housing Trust, always involved volunteering in my community.
Policy Positions
Should NH legalize recreational marijuana use and possession? Yes
What is the No. 1 action the Legislature should take to address the housing shortage? Provide funding to developers for new infrastructure and housing development.
How involved should NH government and law enforcement be in immigration enforcement? NH should not assist at all.
Do you support the Education Freedom Accounts program? I would support some relief for income-qualified families only.
To what extent should NH restrict abortion, if at all? It should keep the current law of restricting abortion after 24 weeks of pregnancy.
What is one law currently on the books in NH that you would repeal, and why? Removing the limit on the interest and dividends tax. If favors only the top 10%.
NH consistently struggles with funding its government and services. What is one way you would raise state revenue, and what is one area you would cut expenses? Be specific. Legalizing marijuana … cutting expenses I would need to evaluate.
As people across the state struggle with their local school tax bills, what role should the state play in funding education? Obligate the state to pay its fair share. We are 50th in the country in state support.
Aside from those mentioned above, what do you believe is the biggest issue facing the state today? Downshifting of the financial burdens on the towns.
Find more information at the candidate’s website: @McEwen4NHREP on Facebook
