The new Kid Governor of New Hampshire will be officially inaugurated at the State House Tuesday. Boscawen Elementary School fifth grader Liv Crete-Sayer was elected by thousands of her peers across the state in November.
The program began in 2018 and is led by NH Civics and the NH Institute of Politics. A new Kid Governor and a six-member Kid Executive Council is chosen every year. It’s an affiliate of a national Kid Governor program created by the Connecticut Democracy Center.
Crete-Sayer spoke with NHPR’s All Things Considered host Julia Furukawa about her platform and what she’s looking forward to in her new position.
Transcript
So, congratulations on winning your election. How did you feel when you heard the news that you had won?
Well, I was actually very excited. My sister told me. We were just sitting on the couch, and my mom comes downstairs and she told Zoey, my twin sister, to go over. [My mom’s] whispering into [Zoey’s] ear and [Zoey’s] saying, after her, “I stand here today as Liv's twin sister, announcing that she will be New Hampshire's 2026 Kid Governor.”
What feelings were going through your mind when you heard that?
I was very excited. Confused. Happy.
Why were you confused?
It was just…I don't know. It was big competition. I felt like I wasn't expecting to win.
But you did, congratulations.
Thank you.
So this is also the first time that your school, Boscawen Elementary, nominated someone for this. What was your school's response to your election? What did your classmates say?
Well, the first couple announcements when I won the primary election at school, they were all in my classroom, and my teacher was in the middle of talking, and they just all screamed. Then when I made it to the top seven kids, they also screamed, except, even more excited. Then when they found out that I actually was Kid Governor, it hurt my ears.
So you ran on a platform to educate New Hampshire kids on the dangers of smoking, vaping and drugs. Why is this issue important to you?
Because I personally don't like seeing cigarettes on the ground and hearing about anyone who's been damaged or hurt by any of them.
Do you feel like it's kind of a big problem here for young people?
Yeah, because it's when they become more aware to this problem.
Can you tell me a little bit about your plan? Part of your campaign is a three-point plan to address this issue. What is the plan?
So my first one is to partner with police, doctors and dentists to present at schools about the dangers of smoking, vaping and drugs. So I'll go around to schools and have police, doctors and dentists, and we’ll present to schools about it, the dangers and how it can affect your life.
And then the second one is: I will create a course called DFS, Drug-Free Students. And they will go through a course where they learn about the dangers of drugs and how it can affect you.
The third one, I'm going to provide posters, activities and lessons to bring awareness to kids.
What are you most looking forward to as New Hampshire's Kid Governor?
I'm looking forward to presenting with the police, doctors and dentists at schools.
Anything else that you want people to know about you as Kid Governor?
I just want to tell people that drugs can have an immediate negative effect, and if you just try them the first time, it can end your life. Same with smoking. They can just ruin your lungs and get up to the point where it's not good for you anymore. Well, it was never good for you from the start.
Watch Liv Crete-Sayer’s campaign video here.
