Gov.-elect Kelly Ayotte assumes office on Thursday as she’s inaugurated at the New Hampshire State House.

The former state attorney general and former U.S. senator will succeed fellow Republican Gov. Chris Sununu in the Corner Office, after defeating Democratic gubernatorial nominee and former Manchester Mayor Joyce Craig in November’s elections.

“My number one priority is being a governor for everyone in New Hampshire, for all the people, and being accessible to the people of New Hampshire,” Ayotte said in an interview ahead of her inauguration.

Ayotte added that “making sure that we continue to grow our economy, our prosperity, our freedom here in New Hampshire, having a responsible budget where we live within our means but serve the people of New Hampshire effectively, those will be my priorities on day one.”

A top item on Ayotte’s to-do list is putting together the state’s next two-year budget, which she’ll present to state lawmakers in February. New Hampshire faces fiscally leaner times ahead, partially due to the sunsetting of federal dollars to the state from COVID relief funding.

“Certainly, the federal money, that was a very significant amount of money that’s expired, and business revenues aren’t coming in where they have the last few years. So, we’re going to have to do like families have done, live within our means,” Ayotte emphasized.

The incoming governor said that “what we’ll be doing is looking across state government. I’ve already met with many of the commissioners. How can we do things better for the people of New Hampshire with fewer dollars?”

Ayotte said a priority is “that we protect those that are most vulnerable, those that are most in need, but that we look for new, efficient ways to do things better and serve taxpayers.”

A crucial issue on the gubernatorial campaign trail last year was the state’s housing crunch.

“We have a housing challenge, so I’m going to be advocating for overhauling the permitting process to a 60-day process,” Ayotte highlighted. “I’ve already been meeting with state commissioners on this issue and convening the private sector on this issue so that we can make sure that we can move projects quickly when people want to build and develop in our state, so that we can have more housing.”

Ayotte’s election was far from the only major victory for New Hampshire Republicans.

They expanded their majority in the state Senate to 16-8 over the Democrats, and to 222-178 in the state House of Representatives. Among the items the incoming legislature with larger GOP majorities may send to the corner office are a parental bill of rights, which went down to defeat in 2021 and 2023, and expanding the state’s Education Freedom Accounts.

“This is certainly something I heard a lot about on the campaign trail,” Ayotte said when asked about EFAs.

She said that as a mother, she knows that “every child learns differently, so I want to make sure that every child in New Hampshire reaches his or her full potential. The education freedom accounts have given families opportunities where their children where it wasn’t the right fit in the public schools.”

“Public schools are also very important too. I’m the product of public schools, but we will be looking to strengthen the education freedom accounts and to expand them, along with strengthening and backing up our teachers and the curriculum in our public schools,” the incoming governor added.

Asked if there’s enough state funding to accomplish both goals, Ayotte answered, “I believe there is actually.”

“If you look at our education funding and combine the state and the local funding, we’re in the top 10 funding in the nation,” she said. “What we need to do is make sure that we’re spending those dollars effectively, that we’re listening to our teachers.”

The incoming governor, noting that her husband Joseph Daley, a retired Air Force pilot who flew combat missions in Iraq, teaches middle school math, added that another education priority is “that we have a strong curriculum and that we are prioritizing making sure that we don’t leave any child behind.”

Ayotte, who made history nearly two decades ago as the state’s first female attorney general, made history again in November as the first Republican woman to win election as New Hampshire governor.

“We have so many strong women that have served in this state, a great history. We lost two of them this year, Ruth Griffin, Nancy Sununu. There are so many examples of women who have led and great men who have led too,” Ayotte said.

She noted that “having been someone who served as the first woman attorney general and now being elected governor, here’s what I hope. My hope is that every young girl out there understands that whatever position she strives to attain, it’s available to her, and that we aren’t even having these discussions about whether a woman’s elected or a man’s elected, because it’s just equal for everyone to understand that those opportunities are there, and I think that’s what’s happening in New Hampshire.”