EXETER — The New Hampshire state primary is Sept. 10, more than four months away, but Democratic voters filled the historic Town Hall Sunday to hear the party's three gubernatorial candidates answer questions from a panel of high school students.

Joyce Craig, former Manchester mayor, Executive Councilor Cinde Warmington and Jon Kiper, a small business owner and former Newmarket town councilor, spent nearly two hours answering questions from students and the audience on many of the pressing issues the next governor will face.

The candidates appeared one at a time, with Kiper leading off, followed by Warmington and Craig.

Reducing gun violence

Kiper: "I think it's very important that we expand background checks. But I think it's important for Democrats to realize that every time we elect a Democratic president gun sales skyrocket. So the conversation around guns needs to change. We need to speak with gun owners and ask: 'What laws do you want to make guns safer?' Because most gun owners want common sense gun laws. But when they hear gun bans proposed they just go and buy more guns. So we've really got to change how we talk to gun owners and have them help us make the laws so that they will vote for them."

Warmington : "I am calling for a comprehensive gun violence prevention program to include a three-day waiting period, universal background checks, gun free zones for schools, no ghost guns, no large capacity magazines and a ban on the sale of assault weapons. We need to do this and we need to do it now."

Warmington described finding common ground with a Republican lawmaker in the wake of the Lewiston, Maine, mass shooting about removing guns from those experiencing a mental health crisis who pose a danger to themselves or others. "That's what it's going to take in New Hampshire is the person who can reach across that aisle and talk to the other side. That's how we're going to make it happen."

Craig: The former Manchester mayor described her daughter being caught in a lockdown at Manchester High School. "I understand firsthand the impact of this. 'We need to make sure we are moving forward with bills to be protective of families in our state. What we saw in Lewiston made me and many of us realize that we are not immune to extreme gun violence and we have to take action. I did put forward a comprehensive, common-sense gun prevention plan, and we did implement a policy plan in Manchester and we saw results. In order to do that we need to find common ground. We need to listen to people and we need to explain that these laws we are suggesting are not going after responsible gun users."

Education Freedom Accounts

Kiper: "(EFAs) were supposed to cost $126,000 in the first year and they wound up costing $8 million. I called up the Department of Education and I said, 'Do you guys know you went way over budget on this program?' And this person I spoke to said, 'I don't know what you're talking about,' and I said 'Maybe you should look at the memo the department just put out.' (Education Commissioner Frank) Edelblut called me and he was trying to defend this program and I said, 'If a fire chief in Exeter said a fire truck was going to cost $126,000 and it would up costing $8 million, he would be fired on the spot.' That's fiscal mismanagement and it's money coming out of all of our education funds. I would end that program and do away with education freedom vouchers."

Warmington: "When Frank Edelblut came to the legislature with his voucher program the first time and said it was going to cost $130,000. We're now up to $30 million. We're looking at $66 million next year. This is nothing but an effort to drain money from our public schools, put it in the hands of people who already decided not to send their children to public schools, it's just a subsidy for private schools and it needs to stop."

"We are going to put someone in the Department of Education who actually believes in public education and do away with this voucher plan and put those dollars into public education so that every single kid in New Hampshire gets their shot at the future no matter their zip code."

Craig: "As governor I'll ensure that our public tax dollars go to our public schools and on Day 1 I will be asking for Frank Edelblut's resignation."

"I am adamantly opposed to the voucher program. I don't agree with increases that have been happening. My priority is to fund public education. .... I don't agree with providing public dollars to go to private or religious schools."

Climate change

Kiper: "The biggest thing I want to do is sue Exxon Mobile. They knowingly cause greenhouse house gas emissions. They knowingly cause global warming and I think it's really important that we hold them accountable for what they've done. I think we can sue them. A lot of other municipalities have sued them and I think we can sue them the same way we sued Purdue Pharma."

Warmington : "There is a bright and beautiful clean energy economy out there just waiting for us to grab it. That is why I introduced a comprehensive clean energy economy plan that involves combatting climate change and being net zero by 2040, by leading on the electrification of our transportation sector, the largest source of emissions in our state, by investing in renewable and clean energy, by adding jobs to our economy. Those jobs are there. Other places are taking them right now and by nurturing innovation. .... We have an investment coming up on wind in the Gulf of Maine, one of the best sources of wind in the world, and we are not at the table. We need to be at the table."

Craig: "As mayor, I took climate change seriously and we have to act with urgency at the state level. In the city of Manchester we built the largest municipal solar array in the state, saving our residents money. Because of that solar array and other initiatives we put in place we were able to cut (municipal) carbon emissions by 60%. This is an example where leadership matters. We need leadership who understands that we need to promote renewable energy and create clear goals of transitioning away from fossil fuel. It's the right thing to do to save this incredible state we live in and the smart thing to do to save residents money."

Reproductive health care

Kiper: "I don't think the government should play any role in reproductive health care at all."

Warmington: Reproductive freedom is under attack. I have been the lone voice on the Executive Council on this, going toe to toe with [Gov. Chris] Sununu on the danger of his abortion ban, really shaping the narrative around abortion in the statehouse, making sure that people understand that the abortion ban is dangerous, that it undermines our entire maternal fetal healthcare system in the state and that it is an assault on women. We do not need Governor Sununu, we do not need Kelly Ayotte or any other politicians to make our own health care decisions, thank you very much. Women can be trusted to do that.

Craig: "We have to do everything we can to protect reproductive health care in our state and it is under attack right now. I believe in women making their own health care decisions. When I think about the Dobbs decision and that New Hampshire is the only state in New England that hasn't codified Roe v. Wade I think about my two daughters and all of our daughters and granddaughters and the fact that they have less control over their bodies than we did at their age and that is wrong. You have my word that I will do everything to codify access to abortion. But it won't stop there. I think we need to think more about not just protecting but expanding access to reproductive health care."

Housing

Warmington: "There is no one in New Hampshire government accountable for how many housing units we have in this state and that is a problem that has has resulted in us being 60,000 units behind by 2030. We need to get busy. There is only one way out of this problem, it's build, build, build. The lack of affordable housing is underpinning our homelessness crisis, our workforce shortage and so many of our young people can't afford to stay in our state."

Warmington also spoke about zoning being a major impediment to the building of affordable housing in the state and the potential of building housing on surplus land owned by the state.

"The community that builds the housing first wins."

Craig: Craig described several large affordable housing projects built while she was mayor, discussed the lack of water and sewer infrastructure in small towns and a lack of support from the state to help smaller communities amend their zoning to encourage affordable housing.

"We need to make sure that communities understand that the affordable housing we're talking about is for our kids and for our seniors and hard-working families so that they can stay in our state and take the good-paying jobs that are available to them."

Bonus quotes

Kiper when asked if there is a border crisis: "I'm much less concerned about poor people coming here to work than I am about rich people coming here to retire and not work because that's actually a much bigger threat to us."

Warmington on her role on Executive Council: "From the council table I see everything that is happening in the executive branch. I am a member of the executive branch of government. It is my job as an executive councilor to serve as a check on the governor and that keeps me pretty darn busy with this governor."

Craig: "I'm the only candidate in this race who flipped a seat from red to blue and I'm ready to do it again. I took on a popular four-term Republican when I became mayor of Manchester. So I know what it takes to get through tough elections. I've done it. I have a roadmap and plan on doing it again."

More: Craig and Warmington seek Democratic nomination for governor. What voters need to know.

Who were the student panelists?

The student panelists were: Aliyana Koch-Manzur, senior, Phillips Exeter Academy; Siena Schaier, senior, Oyster River High School; Lily Rampe, sophomore, Phillips Exeter Academy; Anna Karcz, junior, Raymond High School; Riley Ward, junior, Phillips Exeter Academy; Eliyas Loch-Manzur, freshmen, Phillips Exeter Academy; Rishi Gurudevan, junior, Phillips Exeter Academy and Alex Ma, sophomore, Phillips Exeter Academy.

The program was presented by New Hampshire High School Democrats, Exeter Democrats, Rockingham County Democratic Committee and New Hampshire Young Democrats.