Chris Cogswell
Running for: NH House Sullivan County District 06
Completed our 2026 State Candidate Survey
Position on Issues
Against| Read My Position
Citizens Count Issue Survey, 2026
Do you support the “Education Freedom Account” program, which gives students access to the per-pupil share of state school funding to spend on private school or home school expenses?
"The system as it exists now does nothing but siphon money out of "bad" districts and into "good" districts. However, the good districts are often better off financially, have better local social services, and other advantages which is why they are better in the first place. It does nothing to actually fix the problem (that some public schools in NH are significantly better than others), and actually makes it worse (by leaving behind only the kids whose parents cannot afford to/don't have the time to fight to send their kid to another program somewhere else). It's a "jump the ship" mentality that does not work for governments, businesses, or really any large group trying to work together."Against| Read My Position
Citizens Count Issue Survey, 2026
Should New Hampshire’s anti-discrimination law allow segregation based on biological sex in some settings, such as bathrooms and locker rooms?
"This is a mean spirited attack on an extremely small and vulnerable population in New Hampshire. People should frankly mind their own business when out in public about what "biological sex" someone was assigned at birth, stop the moralizing, and try to solve problems actually impacting New Hampshire residents."Against| Read My Position
Citizens Count Issue Survey, 2026
Should New Hampshire ban abortions during the first trimester (e.g. after 6 weeks gestation)?
"Abortion should not be up to the state, but should be a medical decision made by a doctor and a patient. Less than 1% of Abortions happen after 24 weeks of gestation, and when they do it is for extremely complex and often traumatic reasons for the patient and their family. If an abortion has to happen past this point, it always includes a medical professional. I see no reason why we should limit the tools available for doctors to save and care for patients, and trust that our doctors in New Hampshire would have the ethical and professional standards to know when this is an appropriate medical decision."Against| Read My Position
Citizens Count Issue Survey, 2026
Should New Hampshire ban abortions during the second trimester (e.g. after 15 weeks gestation)?
"Abortion should not be up to the state, but should be a medical decision made by a doctor and a patient. Less than 1% of Abortions happen after 24 weeks of gestation, and when they do it is for extremely complex and often traumatic reasons for the patient and their family. If an abortion has to happen past this point, it always includes a medical professional. I see no reason why we should limit the tools available for doctors to save and care for patients, and trust that our doctors in New Hampshire would have the ethical and professional standards to know when this is an appropriate medical decision."Against| Read My Position
Citizens Count Issue Survey, 2026
Should NH add an income tax on earned income?
"A broad based tax on earned income would not be my first choice for dealing with the economic inequality and fiscal reality NH residents deal with. I do believe we need to make the taxation system more fair. This would have to include increasing taxes targeted to the ultra wealthy and mega corporations which operate or reside in New Hampshire. But anyone earning less than $250k a year or under as a household should not be paying to bail out billionaires and the corporations killing our mom and pop stores."Against| Read My Position
Citizens Count Issue Survey, 2026
Should New Hampshire lower business taxes?
"New Hampshire already has a tax system that benefits businesses and corporations over families and residents, and it has done absolutely nothing to increase entrepreneurship, new small businesses opening, or made the quality of life for the average NH family any better. In fact in the last 10 years the average NH citizen has seen their actual income decrease by about $17,000 a year, while the states economy has nearly doubled. Where did that money go? Our residents and small businesses are taken advantage of to give huge tax breaks and handouts to corporate interests. For example most big box stores which operate in New Hampshire do not actually reinvest the majority of that money into the communities in which they operate. In fact, on average only 10-20% of their revenue goes back into the local community in the form of salaries, benefits, charitable giving, or taxes. The vast majority of the money they make from shoppers in New Hampshire (and those who come here because of our unfair tax system) instead is siphoned out of New Hampshire and into other states. We see no benefit from the tax system as it exists now, since we still have to pay for all of the things that we need to live in a modern society. Our prices are as high as they are in the majority of the United States. So what benefit have we received from lower business taxes? More big box stores killing local shops? Worse benefits and rising health insurance premiums? I would support increasing business taxes to a level where more of the benefit from the business generated in New Hampshire actually goes back into our local communities."For| Read My Position
Citizens Count Issue Survey, 2026
Should the state do more to encourage municipalities to remove zoning barriers to housing development?
"We need to increase affordable housing for growing New Hampshire families. I believe that how those policies are enacted needs to be decided at the local municipality level, since there are a lot of different sizes and types of communities in New Hampshire. However, incentivizing municipalities to increase home building by removing blighted properties, creating grant programs for first time home buyers and builders, and other similar programs are a good idea."Other| Read My Position
Citizens Count Issue Survey, 2026
Should New Hampshire do more to encourage the development of nuclear power, including small modular reactors (SMR), in the state?
"New Hampshire is currently a net energy exporter in our region. While I am very hopeful that nuclear energy can one day become a safe energy source in the United States, there are a lot of places where the placement of nuclear reactors makes significantly more sense than in the state of New Hampshire."Undecided| Read My Position
Citizens Count Issue Survey, 2026
Do you support legislation to expand the net energy metering system capacity cap from 1 MW to 5 MW for all residential and commercial customers in New Hampshire?
"Undecided"For| Read My Position
Citizens Count Issue Survey, 2026
Should New Hampshire restore funding for the Office of the Child Advocate?
"We should not be choosing to shut needed public services that benefit all of us in the long run to help out of state businesses get more government handouts and tax breaks."For| Read My Position
Citizens Count Issue Survey, 2026
Should New Hampshire guarantee the right to access abortion before 24 weeks?
"Abortion should not be up to the state, but should be a medical decision made by a doctor and a patient. Less than 1% of Abortions happen after 24 weeks of gestation, and when they do it is for extremely complex and often traumatic reasons for the patient and their family. If an abortion has to happen past this point, it always includes a medical professional. I see no reason why we should limit the tools available for doctors to save and care for patients, and trust that our doctors in New Hampshire would have the ethical and professional standards to know when this is an appropriate medical decision."For| Read My Position
Citizens Count Issue Survey, 2026
Should New Hampshire reinstate the interest and dividends tax?
"The primary people who paid the interest and dividends tax were the ultra wealthy and those with extremely large investment portfolios. In other words, those who have enough income and money that they can invest it instead of using it for the everyday cost of living squeezing the average NH family to the brink. Most NH residents with any investments have them in an employer sponsored retirement account, which are structured in such a way that they were not subject to this tax at all. The repeal of this tax therefore only benefited the very rich, who have enough money to invest it into financial instruments which would be subject to this tax. This is another policy aimed at the wealthy retirees of Massachusetts and ultra wealthy families who seem to be the only demographic our current State Administration cares to listen too. We should bring back the interest and dividends tax and put it in line with other New England States, in order to be competitive with them in the open marketplace."Against| Read My Position
Citizens Count Issue Survey, 2026
Do you support New Hampshire’s current system of public school funding, with about two-thirds of total funding coming from local property taxes?
"It is clear that this system does not work in it's current state. Homes should not be treated like investments that can be sold off to pay for higher taxes, when the majority of New Hampshire home owners cannot and will not sell their homes to reap the benefits of rising home prices. I believe that we should find new revenue streams to make up for the fiscal shortfalls we are seeing, and actually fund public schooling adequately here. There are a number of options for this, including legalizing and taxing marijuana, reinstating the interest and dividends tax, increasing corporate taxes on business earning more than $500 million a year in revenue in New Hampshire, taxes on vacation homes for out of state residents, and other options."For| Read My Position
Citizens Count Issue Survey, 2026
Should New Hampshire legalize the recreational use of marijuana by allowing home-growing and private use without sales?
"Anyone in New Hampshire who would utilize marijuana is already doing so by going to surrounding states. This is another very short sighted and incompetent business/economic decision by those who would rather punish people they disagree with for moral reasons than mind their own business and let others enjoy the freedom they claim to support."For| Read My Position
Citizens Count Issue Survey, 2026
Should New Hampshire legalize the recreational use of marijuana by licensing growers and private retail locations?
"Anyone in New Hampshire who would utilize marijuana is already doing so by going to surrounding states. This is another very short sighted and incompetent business/economic decision by those who would rather punish people they disagree with for moral reasons than mind their own business and let others enjoy the freedom they claim to support."For| Read My Position
Citizens Count Issue Survey, 2026
Should New Hampshire legalize the recreational use of marijuana by establishing state-run cannabis stores?
"Anyone in New Hampshire who would utilize marijuana is already doing so by going to surrounding states. This is another very short sighted and incompetent business/economic decision by those who would rather punish people they disagree with for moral reasons than mind their own business and let others enjoy the freedom they claim to support."Against| Read My Position
Citizens Count Issue Survey, 2026
Should New Hampshire require new voters to provide proof of U.S. citizenship, such as a birth certificate or passport, when registering to vote?
"From studies about the impacts of policies like this it is clear they do nothing meaningful to protect elections but do make it harder for the average US citizen to vote. We should be finding ways to make elections easier and more meaningful for the average citizen so that we have true representative democracy in the United States as the founders intended."Against| Read My Position
Citizens Count Issue Survey, 2026
Should New Hampshire allow at least 10% of students in each school district to enroll in a different public school, regardless of where they live?
"We should work to ensure that every community has a school which is good enough that no parent should have to worry about sending their kid to another district to get an education."For| Read My Position
Citizens Count Issue Survey, 2026
Should New Hampshire repeal the ban on abortion after 24 weeks gestation?
"Abortion should not be up to the state, but should be a medical decision made by a doctor and a patient. Less than 1% of Abortions happen after 24 weeks of gestation, and when they do it is for extremely complex and often traumatic reasons for the patient and their family. If an abortion has to happen past this point, it always includes a medical professional. I see no reason why we should limit the tools available for doctors to save and care for patients, and trust that our doctors in New Hampshire would have the ethical and professional standards to know when this is an appropriate medical decision."Against| Read My Position
Citizens Count Issue Survey, 2026
Should state law cap how much local school districts can increase their budget each year?
"The primary driver of increased budgets is health insurance premiums going up and out of state vendors increasing prices. How would capping the budget do anything to fix that problem? If every year your insurance premium goes up 10%, then even if everything else stayed the same price (which it doesn't) the amount of money left over for all of the other important stuff a school does would go down each year."For| Read My Position
Citizens Count Issue Survey, 2026
Should NH pass stricter gun control laws?
"The majority of New Hampshire residents support common sense gun laws. I see no reason why we can't come to a compromise on this issue in a state with as much respect and understanding of guns as New Hampshire. That being said, the majority of gun deaths in New Hampshire are from suicide. I believe we can do significantly more good by building a better mental health care system with lower insurance premiums so that those most at risk for gun violence can receive the help they need."
