Independent candidate Jon Kiper has ended his bid for New Hampshire governor after falling short of the signature minimum, choosing instead to shift his efforts toward creating a political action committee based around the Community First movement he launched earlier this year.
Kiper announced his withdrawal in a video on August 8, thanking his campaign volunteers for their support over the past few months. Though he did not provide a specific number, he said his petitioning effort ultimately failed to collect the 3,000 valid signatures required of gubernatorial candidates seeking to qualify by nomination papers.
Kiper said he had initially believed more voters “understood the failures” of the New Hampshire Democratic Party and that voters who generally supported Democrats but identified as independents or backed anti-establishment candidates such as U.S. Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont would be open to supporting his candidacy. “They didn’t,” Kiper acknowledged, adding that he simply didn’t have the coalition his campaign had hoped to mobilize.
Kiper originally entered the 2026 gubernatorial race as an independent before returning to the Democratic Party, then left the Democratic primary in April to launch another independent bid. At the same time, he announced the Community First Party, which he intended to use as his political designation on the November ballot if he successfully completed the petitioning process. This was Kiper’s second gubernatorial campaign after previously placing third in the 2024 Democratic primary.
A website launched alongside Kiper’s announcement of the Community First Party presented the organization as a working-class-oriented alternative with an outlook it described as closest to “libertarian socialist.” Its platform focused primarily on housing affordability, property taxes, and the cost of living in New Hampshire, while also calling for stronger small businesses and keeping more wealth circulating within local communities.
Rather than continue organizing the Community First Party as he initially envisioned, Kiper said he and his volunteers will instead focus on building a political action committee called the Community First Coalition. That new organization is being led by now-former campaign volunteers Charles Lockwood as director and Matt Bean as chair, while Kiper said he instead choose to serve as another member of its board.
“This is not about me,” Kiper said. “This is about putting our community first.”
Kiper said the work of organizing supporters and helping elect working-class candidates would have remained necessary even if he had successfully qualified for the ballot. He further acknowledged that his gubernatorial campaign lacked the volunteer and financial support necessary to mount what he considered a successful campaign.
Regarding next steps, Kiper said the Community First Coalition intends to organize across existing partisan lines, including Democrats, independents, and Republicans who share its priorities. He argued the change will further remove any concern that an independent Community First candidacy would draw votes away from the Democratic nominee.
“This is the best outcome,” Kiper said. “The Democrats can’t blame us for being spoilers in the election.”
Kiper also said the coalition will remain active after the November general election and continue working to build a working-class political coalition in New Hampshire and elsewhere in New England. Prior to his exit, the Community First Party had already begun establishing relationships outside the region.
In May, the Community First Party entered into an interstate cooperation agreement with the Ohio United Party, a similarly new organization chaired by independent Ohio gubernatorial candidate Timothy Grady. The agreement called for both organizations to cooperate on messaging, organizing practices, party development, and membership growth while otherwise remaining independent of one another. It’s unsure what will happen to that agreement now that the former party has been rebranded as a PAC.
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