MANCHESTER, NH – On Tuesday, Mayor Joyce Craig announced her campaign for Governor of New Hampshire, promising to defend reproductive freedom and bring her significant executive experience to create jobs, increase affordable housing, strengthen public education, promote public safety, and support local communities across the Granite State.
“I’m running for Governor to ensure that everyone in New Hampshire has the opportunity to succeed by strengthening our public schools, creating good-paying jobs, building more affordable housing, and protecting access to abortion. 

“As I’ve had discussions with Granite Staters across New Hampshire, it’s clear that the same challenges we’re facing in Manchester are faced by communities across the state. Granite Staters deserve a Governor that will partner with cities and towns to tackle our shared challenges and deliver for families. 

“As Mayor of Manchester, we’re addressing the needs of our community by bringing people together to get results for our residents and grow our city. We’ve added thousands of new jobs and hundreds of affordable housing units, decreased class sizes, increased teacher pay, and reduced violent crime by 38 percent – and we’ve sent a message that Granite Staters’ reproductive rights are not up for grabs.

“The stakes in this election couldn’t be higher. If we’re going to defend reproductive freedom, invest in public education, and create opportunities for families across this state, we need a leader with a record of delivering results and winning tough elections.”

Currently serving in her third term after making history as the first woman elected mayor of Manchester in 2017 — and being re-elected twice since then by residents — Mayor Craig has led New Hampshire’s largest city to unprecedented progress. Under Mayor Craig’s leadership, the city has created thousands of jobs, decreased violent crime by 38%, is developing over 2,000 new housing units, reduced class sizes, and protected reproductive freedom by supporting the state’s largest Planned Parenthood, located in Manchester.

Mayor Craig has a proven record of winning tough elections, having beaten a four-term Republican Mayor of Manchester in 2017 to become the city’s first Democratic Mayor since 2005. In every election since Mayor Craig took office, Democrats have gained more seats on Manchester’s aldermanic and school boards, creating legislative majorities to deliver for Granite Staters on the issues they care about most — from creating opportunity and affordable housing to strengthening public education, defending reproductive freedom, and more. 

Back in May, Mayor Craig announced her exploratory campaign for Governor with the support of 70 New Hampshire leaders. She has since received the endorsement of the New Hampshire Building and Construction Trades Council, and shared a strong campaign finance report for the first filing deadline showing that Joyce is leading the field in fundraising — raising over $361,000 in just over a month.