Frequently Asked Questions About Wendy Larson

Wendy Larson for New Hampshire State Representative, Rockingham District 19, serving Kensington and Hampton Falls

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About Wendy

Who is Wendy Larson?

Wendy Larson is a longtime Kensington resident and proud Granite Stater who has lived in Kensington for more than 40 years. She graduated from Portsmouth High School and the University of New Hampshire, where she earned a Bachelor's degree in Business Administration. She spent more than 40 years in marketing and sales, helping New Hampshire businesses grow and solve hard problems.

How is she involved in the community?

Since retiring, Wendy has continued her commitment to public service. She:

  • Serves on the Kensington School Board

  • Is Treasurer of the Kensington Historical Society

  • Volunteers with the Exeter-area Special Olympics pickleball program

What office is she running for?

Wendy is running for New Hampshire State Representative in Rockingham District 19, which serves Kensington and Hampton Falls. The election is on November 3, 2026.

Why is she running?

Wendy says her business career taught her that the best solutions start with really listening. What she hears from neighbors is that the costs of groceries, gas, and health care are crushing families. She is running for the State House to lower everyday expenses and to put Kensington and Hampton Falls families first. She believes the time for change in Concord is now.

What are her guiding values?

Wendy's campaign is built on honesty, integrity, and transparency. She believes strong communities are built through service, collaboration, and responsible leadership, and she wants New Hampshire to remain a place where families, seniors, and future generations can succeed.

What are her major priorities?

  • Lowering property taxes

  • Advocating for public schools and teachers

  • Protecting local control

  • Prioritizing affordability and access

  • Defending our water, land and air

Property Taxes

What is Wendy's position on property taxes?

Wendy believes lower property taxes start with Concord paying its share. Her idea is simple: when the state pays what it owes, local taxpayers pay less. She pays the property tax bill too, and as a member of the Kensington School Board she sees exactly why it keeps climbing.

Why does she say property tax bills keep going up?

Not because local school or select boards are careless with money, but because the state keeps handing its bills to towns.

  • The state pays $4,266 per student toward the basic cost of school. The New Hampshire Supreme Court has said the real minimum is at least $7,356. The difference, about $3,090 per student, lands on local property taxpayers.

  • The state used to pay 35% of retirement costs for local teachers, police, and firefighters. It walked away from that promise, and towns picked up the cost.

  • The typical homeowner now pays about $9,400 a year in Kensington and about $10,700 in Hampton Falls.

What will Wendy do to lower property taxes?

  • Bring back the Interest and Dividends Tax. It raised about $184 million a year, and roughly 90% of it was paid by the top fifth of earners. When it ended in 2025, that burden moved toward homeowners.

  • Say no to new business tax cuts that leave a hole for property owners to fill.

  • Keep New Hampshire free of a tax on wages and free of a sales tax. She opposes both.

  • Vote to raise state school aid to the level the court set.

  • Bring back a state share of retirement costs for teachers, police, and firefighters.

  • Make sure new state money shows up as a lower school tax rate on residents' bills, not as extra spending.

Does Wendy support an income tax or a sales tax?

No. Wendy opposes both a tax on wages and a sales tax.

How would she pay for it?

With 40 years in business, Wendy knows a promise needs a budget behind it. She would:

  • Restore the Interest and Dividends Tax

  • Return Education Freedom Accounts to families who need the help

  • Keep cannabis dollars in New Hampshire through licensed private stores

What would residents notice?

A smaller school line on their tax bill, town and school budgets that are easier to pass because fewer costs are pushed down from Concord, and a representative who explains plainly where their money goes. Wendy says she is not going to Concord to ask for favors; she is going to ask the state to keep its word.

Public Schools

What is Wendy's position on public schools?

Wendy supports strong public schools, with decisions made close to home. About 84% of New Hampshire children attend public schools, and she sees them as our future neighbors, nurses, electricians, and business owners. As a Kensington School Board member, she knows local schools from the inside: the teachers who stay late, the budgets that get stretched, and the pride the community takes in its kids.

Does she believe every child belongs in a public school?

No. Wendy is clear that one size does not fit every child. Some students learn better in a different environment, and she supports helping families of modest means find the right fit.

What challenges does she say schools are facing?

  • The state pays $4,266 per student toward the basic cost of school, while the state Supreme Court has said the minimum should be at least $7,356. Local taxpayers make up the difference.

  • The Education Freedom Account (EFA) program dropped its income limit in 2025. In one year it grew from about 5,300 students to 10,000, and its cost is projected to reach about $50 million. Most of those students were already outside public schools.

  • Taxpayers are paying for these students to attend private school or home school, and the money can be used for things like music, dance, and ski lessons.

  • Students using EFA funds can also take up to three classes at public schools with no contribution going to those schools.

  • Question Two on the November 3 ballot would cap school budgets and administration for two years, starting with the 2027-2028 school budget.

What will Wendy do for public schools?

  • Fight for the state to pay its fair share, so great schools and reasonable tax bills can go together.

  • Return Education Freedom Accounts to their original purpose: helping lower and middle income families whose children need a different setting, with clear reporting on how the money is spent.

  • Support legislation to put the administration of EFAs out to bid to save taxpayers money.

  • Oppose any bill that dictates how or what teachers teach, including book bans.

  • Keep decisions about budgets and enrollment with the voters of each school district.

Where does she stand on book bans?

Wendy opposes book bans and any legislation mandating how and what teachers teach. She considers these local issues.

What would residents notice?

Schools that depend less on the property tax bill, teachers who can focus on teaching, a school board that answers to local voters, and a clear public accounting of where state education dollars go.

Local Control

What does Wendy mean by local control?

Wendy believes the best decisions for our towns are made locally, not in Concord. In Kensington and Hampton Falls, neighbors still gather every March to vote on their own school budgets, serve on their own planning boards, and know their roads, wells, and kids by name. Wendy has been part of that tradition for more than 40 years and believes it is worth protecting.

Why does she say local control is at risk now?

She says Concord is increasingly reaching into decisions that belong to towns:

  • One recent bill would have capped school budgets statewide, even when local voters approved more. The House rejected it 346 to 9, but its supporters plan to try again.

  • Another would let students enroll in any district, with the home district required to send $15,000 to $30,000 per student along with them.

  • Others would have the state decide which books belong in a school library.

What will Wendy do to protect local control?

  • Stand against state caps on budgets that local voters have approved. If a town wants a cap, it can adopt one itself.

  • Keep enrollment policy in the hands of each district's voters.

  • Oppose state mandates on what teachers teach.

  • Vote no on any bill that hands towns a new duty without the money to pay for it.

  • Support town authority over where large facilities such as data centers can be built.

  • Hold regular office hours in both towns and report back after every session.

How will Wendy stay in touch with voters?

  • A weekly update email on the most important legislation discussed and how she and the District 36 representative voted.

  • Two hours every Saturday at either the Hampton Falls or Kensington library to answer voters' questions and help constituents.

How does she decide whether the state or the town should make a decision?

Wendy asks one question of every bill: who is closest to this decision? Budgets, schools, and land use belong to the people who live with the results. The state's job is to protect everyone's rights and to look after what crosses town lines, like aquifers and the electric grid.

How would she have voted on 287(g) agreements with ICE?

Wendy would have voted no. She points to the current representatives allowing police chiefs to enter 287(g) agreements with ICE, with no input from the Select Board or residents, as an example of a surprise bill from Concord.

What would residents notice?

When residents vote at town meeting or school district meeting, their vote decides the matter, with no surprise bills from Concord, and a representative who shows up, listens, and carries their decisions to the State House.

Affordability and Access

What does Wendy mean by affordability and access?

Wendy hears the same concerns at every door: the cost of a home, child care, the electric bill, and seeing a doctor. She will always support legislation that matters most to working families, focusing on workforce housing, child care, and energy costs, and helping the most vulnerable get quality, affordable health care. She measures every bill by one question: does it make life more affordable for the people who live here?

What is her position on housing?

The typical New Hampshire home now costs close to $600,000, and buying one takes an income of about $160,000, far above what the typical household earns. Too many young people cannot afford to come back, and too many older neighbors cannot find a smaller place in town. Wendy:

  • Supports the state doing more to help towns add homes for working families

  • Is open to good ideas wherever they come from

  • Sees accessory dwelling units (ADUs) bringing generations together in both towns as a great step forward

  • Supports bringing back the NH Housing Champions program, which encouraged cities and builders to develop more affordable housing

  • Would support more funding to the NH Housing Finance Authority for more affordable loans to NH families

  • Supports accessing federal funds to help working families

What is her position on child care?

A New Hampshire couple with two young children spends about a quarter of their income on child care, and more than 120 licensed programs have closed since 2017. Wendy supports:

  • More state funding for child care providers

  • A higher minimum wage to help recruit more child care workers

  • Steady state dollars behind child care scholarships, so help does not depend on federal funds

What is her position on energy and electric bills?

Electric rates jumped again in August, adding about $22 a month for a typical Unitil household. Wendy is putting solar on her own home this fall. She will:

  • Help more families and businesses install solar and get a fair return for the power they produce

  • Offer incentives to bring large solar and wind projects to New Hampshire, which lags behind its New England neighbors

  • Expand opportunities for homeowners to make their homes more energy efficient

Where does she stand on AI data centers?

Wendy will seek a statewide moratorium on AI data center construction in New Hampshire. She wants the state to create guidelines that include local input and make clear that electricity costs and the use of land and water do not come at the expense of our towns.

What is her position on health care?

Wendy believes no one in New Hampshire should have to choose between a prescription and a grocery bill. She will stand up for neighbors who rely on Medicaid and on children's health coverage.

What would residents notice?

More ways to stay in town at every stage of life, more child care openings and more help paying for them, and an electric bill with fewer surprises.

Water, Land and Air

What is Wendy's position on the environment?

Wendy and her family moved to Kensington for its natural beauty. She will:

  • Defend the state and our towns from encroachment on our aquifers

  • Promote responsible land use

  • Support a statewide moratorium on AI data center development

Endorsements

Who has endorsed Wendy Larson?

These organizations work to strengthen communities, support public education, protect the environment, advocate for working families, and keep New Hampshire families safe.

How to Learn More

Where can voters learn more or get involved?

Sources: