Newmarket restaurant owner running for governor to solve housing crisis
Jon Kiper says he wants to legalize cannabis to pay for housing
NEWMARKET, N.H. — A restaurant and bar owner in Newmarket is running for governor with a singular focus: solving New Hampshire's housing crisis.
Jon Kiper said that at his restaurant in Newmarket, he's all about finding a fresh perspective.
"I'll take a normal or sort of a familiar food like a Reuben, right? And then we'll just tweak it," he said. "So, for our Rueben, we have pulled pork and kimchi instead of sauerkraut and corned beef. And so, it's like a familiar flavor, but at the same time, it's different enough that there's a new sense to it."
He said he's taking a similar approach to running for governor, with a singular focus on affordable housing.
"After being on the Newmarket Council and the (Zoning Board of Appeals), I felt that there was not a lot of immediacy, not a lot of urgency to the housing crisis," Kiper said. "And I felt like the people that were in control just owned homes that were kind of like dealing with the issue like, 'We can't do this apartment building. There's not enough parking.' There's always an excuse."
Kiper has developed his own plan: Legalize cannabis and channel all state revenues from marijuana sales into housing. He said he also wants to bring more young people into the trades.
"There's just not a simple way to sign up to join the trades, to be a plumber, electrician, a carpenter," he said. "So, I think we need to simplify that and make it so that anyone can get in. And then also, I'd like to use those schools to literally build tiny homes for homeless veterans and disabled elderly folks."
In a Democratic primary against two more well-known, well-funded candidates, Kiper said he knows he faces an uphill battle.
"I'm hoping that people will see me as an outsider and see that as an asset," he said.
Kiper said he wants to bring change, and he said his own family has something at stake, too.
"If I don't become governor and nothing meaningful happens with the housing crisis, it's likely I'm going to be priced out of the state in the next decade," he said. "The other people running for governor in this race, this is not the same for them."
Watch the video on WMUR.