Four candidates are running to represent Peterborough and Sharon in the New Hampshire House of Representatives next term.

The race pits Democratic incumbents Jonah Wheeler and Peter Leishman against Amanda Allen, a Democrat who narrowly lost the primary to Wheeler but has waged a substantial write-in campaign, as well as Republican nominee Kimberly Thomas. Hillsborough County District 33 has two seats up for grabs.

This is Allen’s first time running for office and Thomas’s second, while Leishman has served 26 years and Wheeler has served four.

In interviews with the Ledger-Transcript, they shared their stances on top issues like housing, education and gun safety.

Housing

While all four candidates agreed affordable housing is an issue in Peterborough and Sharon, their solutions varied.

If elected, Allen, who sits on Peterborough’s affordable housing committee, said she would focus on creating a friendly development environment and offering options to renovate or reuse residential buildings. She supports green energy tax credits and possibly a special financing opportunity for first-home buyers.

“My goal would be to diversify housing options,” Allen said.

On the other hand, the incumbents said they plan to focus on infrastructure.

Leishman said the state needs to invest in water and sewer systems to foster more opportunities for development.

“You can’t have affordable housing without municipal water and sewer,” he said.

Wheeler uses similar logic, with goals to address infrastructure and property taxes to improve the housing situation.

“Addressing our property tax system, our education system and the basic functions of government: roads, bridges, dams and infrastructure, I think, is a huge part of what will help address the housing situation,” he said. He also wants to bolster protections for apartment tenants.

Thomas said she’s heard how hard it is for young people to find affordable housing in New Hampshire and said one of her key focuses is bolstering the U.S. border.

“We need to have border security so that we can keep our own community safe and have proper housing in the community,” she said.

Education

Education Freedom Accounts are another hot topic in the state — the Republican-led Legislature enacted and expanded them in recent years over Democratic opposition. The state program gives money to families who pursue alternatives to public education, like homeschooling or private school.

Thomas supports it.

“I feel as though the money should follow the child wherever they choose to go,” Thomas said. “If parents are unhappy with their children’s education at the public level, then the public schools need to up their game.”

The rest of the candidates all staunchly oppose it.

Wheeler argued that the state doesn’t need to create a new education system; instead, it should refine the current one.

“We need to centralize our focus on this system that is directly raising people’s property tax rates and lowering the outcomes for our students in school,” he said. “We need to be collaborating on a way to make sure that we fund properly and sensibly our public education system.”

Allen said she would vote to repeal the program, arguing that those tax dollars should be going to public schools. Leishman shared the same sentiment.

“I think that money would be more appropriately put into our traditional public school system, which our public schools are suffering now with a lack of funding,” Leishman said.

Gun safety

When asked about gun safety legislation, both Allen and Wheeler said they rely on common sense.

Allen said she’s against so-called “campus carry” laws, which allow firearms on college campuses, and supports red flag laws, which are civil orders allowing temporary removal of guns and a ban on purchase for individuals who pose a threat to themselves or others.

Wheeler and Leishman both voted down a red flag law, House Bill 106, in 2023. Wheeler said that bill didn’t pass muster.

“I support common sense gun safety legislation, and that means common sense, and so when there are nationally funded bills that come before us to do nothing more than throw spaghetti on the wall, then I’m going to vote against those,” Wheeler said. He added that he supports commercial background checks and the right to self-defense.

Leishman also said he supports background checks for gun sales.

Thomas said she fully supports the Second Amendment but wants firearm owners to be better prepared.

“I do believe that people need to be trained in gun safety,” Thomas said.