State Senate District 12 includes Nashua (Wards 1, 2 and 5) and Brookline, Greenville, Hollis, Mason, New Ipswich and Rindge.
The incumbent, Republican Kevin Avard, faces Democratic challenger Carryl Roy.
Kevin Avard
Party affiliation: Republican
What town/city do you live in? Nashua
Political experience: Senator, NH Senate (2014 – 2018, 2020 – present); Representative, NH House of Representatives 2010-2012
Professional experience: Small Business owner. I own a small cleaning business.
Community service experience: Serving in the NH Legislature. I have served on zoning boards, planning boards, as a church deacon, in various music ministries, an organization called Music Matters where we raise money to provide musical instruments to local students.
Policy Positions
Should NH legalize recreational marijuana use and possession? No
What is the No. 1 action the Legislature should take to address the housing shortage? Lift state regulations on development.
How involved should NH government and law enforcement be in immigration enforcement? NH should proactively seek opportunities to assist with immigration enforcement.
Do you support the Education Freedom Accounts program? Yes
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? I strongly believe that the NH Legislature has historically done a tremendous job representing the will of Granite Staters, largely due to the fact that we have one of the largest legislative bodies in the world. Every bill gets a hearing and an up and down vote. We do not pass laws without fully vetting them. While I do not always agree with every bill that becomes law, I am fully confident that the laws on the books are representative of the will of the people.
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. NH has consistently been one of the most responsible states when it comes to our budget. While other nearby states run large budget deficits and endlessly raise taxes, we pass balanced budgets and do it without a statewide income tax. We have found ways to encourage economic growth by cutting the taxes and onerous regulations on businesses and this has led to massive growth in business enterprise and profits tax base. Other states and politicians think that raising taxes is the only way to increase revenue. Here in NH we know that there is a better way.
As people across the state struggle with their local school tax bills, what role should the state play in funding education? The state has been consistently increasing our portion of the overall school funding over the past years. Our state ranks near the top of all states with an overall per pupil education funding of nearly $23,000 and the state portion is in line with the average of states in general. We need to continue to fund education without bringing back donor towns or allowing court rulings to force us into a state income tax.
Aside from those mentioned above, what do you believe is the biggest issue facing the state today? Affordability is absolutely the biggest issue Granite Staters are facing today. This includes municipalities, especially the school boards, continuing to raise property taxes at an unsustainable pace, but also the cost of energy. As the chairman of the Energy and Natural Resources Committee, I have made it my priority to work to lower costs with an all-of-the-above energy policy that brings all energy sources to table.
Find more information at the candidate’s website: KevinAvard.com
Carryl Roy
Party affiliation: Democrat
What town/city do you live in? Hollis
Political experience: Chair, Hollis School Board
Professional experience: For my day job, I work as a customer success manager for a cybersecurity company. I have also owned my own entertainment company for 20 years where I am an event DJ at events all over NH, from cheer competitions to community events.
Community service experience: I ran in the Boston Marathon in support of the Dana Farber Cancer Institute from 2017-2021.
Policy Positions
Should NH legalize recreational marijuana use and possession? I believe more research needs to be done into how legalization in other states have affected children, instances of mental health and impaired driving. Legalization provides an opportunity for an additional state revenue source, but I would want to make sure we take a deliberate approach to avoid unintended consequences.
What is the No. 1 action the Legislature should take to address the housing shortage? I believe that we need to get rid of unnecessary or overly burdensome regulations and red tape that are standing in the way of development, while still ensuring necessary health, safety, and environmental standards. I also believe that we need to find smart ways to incentivize development in communities that want it. We have seen some progress towards this with the bipartisan Housing Champions program and I would look to fund and expand the program.
How involved should NH government and law enforcement be in immigration enforcement? I believe we need a sensible, orderly and humane immigration system; however, immigration enforcement is a federal responsibility and not something that I think the state government should be involved in. This is not an issue that the state should be spending resources on.
Do you support the Education Freedom Accounts program? I believe that the Education Freedom Account — school vouchers — program started with pure intentions to provide children from low-income families a pathway to private education; however, the program has gotten out of control and we need to reinstall the guardrails. The costs have ballooned to tens of millions of dollars a year and is a serious cost for our state. We need to reinstitute the income eligibility caps, enrollment number caps and have strong oversight to prevent fraud and ensure the funds are used correctly.
To what extent should NH restrict abortion, if at all? I believe the decision to have an abortion belongs to a woman and her doctor, not politicians. NH’s current 24-week limit needs clear exceptions for the life and health of the mother and for fatal fetal diagnoses. No woman should be forced to carry a nonviable pregnancy or to risk her health because the law left her doctor no room to act.
What is one law currently on the books in NH that you would repeal, and why? I would repeal the expansion of Education Freedom Accounts that removed the income limits and enrollment caps. Since that change, the cost of the program has ballooned, and the state is now sending public dollars to wealthy families whose children were already in private school. Many of our public schools are underfunded, and we should fund them first, before we subsidize private school tuition for the wealthiest families.
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. One way that we can raise revenue for the state is to restore the business enterprise tax and business profits tax rate to pre-2015 levels. These cuts have disproportionately gone to the largest corporations like Amazon and Walmart. We need a tax code that prioritizes working people and small businesses, not large multinational corporations. One opportunity to cut expenses in the state budget is to reinstate enrollment and income eligibility caps on education freedom accounts to ensure they are being used by families who need them most. We also need to ensure there is strong oversight and transparency of government spending to root out fraud, waste and abuse.
As people across the state struggle with their local school tax bills, what role should the state play in funding education? The state should ensure adequate education funding for all schools and students in the state as they are required to do under the state constitution. The Supreme Court of NH has made clear with the Claremont decision that the state has a base level of funding they need to provide to ensure adequate education. In addition to meeting the obligation outlined by the Claremont decision, the state must restore their levels of special education and pension support. The state not living up to its responsibilities has contributed directly to the stark rise in property taxes.
Aside from those mentioned above, what do you believe is the biggest issue facing the state today? The biggest issue is affordability. Costs for groceries, gas, and housing keep rising, and working families’ property taxes are climbing while the legislature cuts corporate taxes. Instead of tax breaks for corporations like Walmart and Amazon, we should fully fund public schools to lower local property taxes, while ensuring New Hampshire never has a sales or income tax.
Find more information at the candidate’s website: carrylroyfornh.com
