By Granite State Report
In Concord today, Governor Kelly Ayotte talks like she’s solving New Hampshire’s problems — but the reality for everyday Granite Staters tells a different story. Ayotte may have deep experience and a long résumé in public service, but there’s a growing gap between her policy focus and the very real economic pressures, housing challenges, and public-service concerns that people are facing across the state.
There’s no question Ayotte’s biography reflects a lifetime in law and politics. A Nashua native, she’s been New Hampshire’s Attorney General, a U.S. Senator, and now the state’s governor. But experience doesn’t automatically translate into alignment with the needs of working families, small business owners, farmers, and people struggling with cost-of-living pressures.
One of the most glaring disconnects is on the issue of housing — a crisis Granite Staters feel in their wallets every day. Despite signing a suite of 2025 laws aimed at stimulating housing construction, many residents report that affordability remains out of reach and inventory remains painfully low. Ayotte’s approach has largely been top-down deregulation: limit local zoning control, speed permitting, and let the market figure the rest out. That may please developers, but it does little to help young families priced out of starter homes or seniors on fixed incomes watching property taxes climb.
Meanwhile, gas and grocery prices aren’t abstract talking points for voters — they’re a weekly household budget line that keeps going up. Ground beef, a classic Granite State staple, has seen major price increases over the past decade, squeezing budgets already stretched thin. When political leadership appears more comfortable debating zoning over immediate relief for families at the grocery store, it feeds a sense of detachment.
On education and public services, the disconnect continues. Recent poll data shows that while people in New Hampshire broadly support reasonable policies like curbing student phone use in schools, they’re much less enthusiastic about cuts to health and human services or funding declines for the University System of New Hampshire. These are bread-and-butter issues for communities, yet they haven’t been front and center in Ayotte’s agenda.
Ayotte also finds herself at odds with Republicans in the Legislature on key issues like the state budget and contract transparency, underlining an ongoing struggle to build consensus even within her own party. When leadership is ultimately more focused on internal political negotiation than addressing tangible economic anxiety throughout the state, voters notice.
There’s an enduring narrative that Ayotte is a devoted public servant with Granite State roots. Yet governing isn’t about names in a bio or titles on a résumé — it’s about solving problems that hit people where they live. Too many Granite Staters still feel unheard: they’re wrestling with housing insecurity, wage stagnation, rising basic costs, and vital services that feel stretched thin. Policy tweaks aimed at developers and headline legislation are not the same as relief for a family choosing between heating their home or putting food on the table.
Leadership means bridging experience with empathy, and policy with urgency. Right now, there’s a clear sense that New Hampshire’s leadership is talking past the very struggles that define daily life for many of its residents. Granite Staters deserve more than speeches — they deserve solutions that meet life as it actually is.
