Joyce Craig

Joyce (née Hopkins) Craig was born on March 30, 1967 into a Jewish family{{Cite web |last=Sexton |first=Adam |date=2024-08-19 |title=Joyce Craig, D, 2024 candidate for New Hampshire governor |url=https://www.wmur.com/article/joyce-craig-new-hampshire-2024/61889861 |access-date=2024-09-12 |website=WMUR |language=en}} and is a fourth-generation resident of Manchester, New Hampshire. She grew up in the South End of the city, near Crystal Lake in Ward 8. Hopkins was an only child. Her parents, Janet (née Hoffman) and Thomas Hopkins,{{Cite web |date=2024-01-02 |title=Thomas "Tom" Arthur Hopkins |url=https://www.legacy.com/obituaries/name/thomas-tom-hopkins-obituary?pid=206020761 |access-date=2024-09-12 |website=Connor-Healy Funeral Home - Manchester Obituary |language=en}} both attended college but did not graduate and pushed her to succeed.{{Cite web |last=Feely |first=Paul |date=September 27, 2015 |title=The Interview: In Joyce Craig's mayoral run, the talk is education, heroin |url=https://www.unionleader.com/news/politics/local/the-interview-in-joyce-craigs-mayoral-run-the-talk-is-education-heroin/article_75eb8860-2c6b-5ea9-b6a0-e13b182879b6.html |archive-url=https://archive.today/20231019150726/https://www.unionleader.com/news/politics/local/the-interview-in-joyce-craigs-mayoral-run-the-talk-is-education-heroin/article_75eb8860-2c6b-5ea9-b6a0-e13b182879b6.html |archive-date=19 Oct 2023 |access-date=2024-09-12 |website=Union Leader |language=en}}

Craig attended Green Acres Elementary, Southside Middle, and Memorial High School. After graduating from high school, she attended the University of New Hampshire, where she earned a Bachelor of Science degree in business administration.

After college, she moved to Boston to work at the advertising agency Hill Holiday. She started in the message center and worked her way up to an account executive position. Later, she worked for Cynthia Fisher's ViaCord, a Boston-based cord blood stem banking company. She then worked for herself as a property manager.

File:Craig_swearing_in.jpg and U.S. Senator Maggie Hassan.]]

Craig's first political campaign came in 2007, when she was elected to the Manchester School Board. In 2009, she was elected to the Board of Mayor and Aldermen, where she represented Ward 1 from January 3, 2010 to January 3, 2016, until her first campaign for mayor in 2015, which she narrowly lost.{{cite web |url=https://www.wmur.com/article/new-hampshire-primary-source-joyce-craig-tells-wmur-shes-running-again-for-mayor/9138574 |title=Updated NH Primary Source: Gabby Giffords gun control group to air radio ads hitting Sununu on carry law |last=DiStaso |first=John |publisher=WMUR |date=March 21, 2017 |access-date=May 8, 2019}} Craig finished second in the nonpartisan blanket primary, thus advancing to face incumbent mayor Ted Gatsas in the general election, where she lost in a recount by 64 votes.{{cite web |url=https://www.wmur.com/article/manchester-city-clerk-predicts-about-20-percent-turnout-in-primary-election/12276939 |title=Manchester mayoral primary: Craig finishes first, Gatsas second; both advance to general election |last=DiStaso |first=John |publisher=WMUR |date=September 19, 2017 |access-date=May 8, 2019}}

In 2017, Craig again challenged Gatsas, this time finishing first in the nonpartisan blanket primary and defeating Gatsas in the general election 53% to 46%. In doing so, Craig became the first woman ever elected as mayor of Manchester.

Craig was sworn in as the 56th mayor of Manchester on January 2, 2018, promising in her inauguration to focus on improving school quality, combating the opioid epidemic, and promoting the creation of high-tech jobs in the city. On March 16, 2023, Craig announced that she would not seek a fourth term as mayor.{{Cite web |date=March 16, 2023 |title=Joyce Craig announces she will not run for reelection as mayor of Manchester |url=https://www.wmur.com/article/joyce-craig-not-run-reelection-mayor-manchester-new-hampshire/43330167 |access-date=March 16, 2023 |publisher=WMUR |language=en}}

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In May 2023, Craig formed an exploratory committee for a potential bid for governor in the 2024 election.{{Cite web |url=https://www.wmur.com/article/craig-exploratory-committee-new-hampshire-governor/43750981 |title=Manchester Mayor Joyce Craig forms exploratory committee for run for New Hampshire governor |publisher=WMUR |last=Sexton |first=Adam |language=en-US |date=May 1, 2023 |access-date=May 1, 2023}} She announced her bid for the Democratic nomination on July 12.{{Cite web |date=2023-07-12 |title=Joyce Craig, the Democratic mayor of Manchester, launches bid for governor of New Hampshire |url=https://apnews.com/article/joyce-craig-new-hampshire-governor-manchester-sununu-7d25a2ae9324f634a94be2384465890c |access-date=2023-08-03 |publisher=Associated Press |language=en}} She became the Democratic nominee on September 10, 2024, narrowly defeating New Hampshire Executive Council member Cinde Warmington in the primary. Craig lost the general election by a vote of 436,122 (54%) to 360,149 (44%) to Republican Kelly Ayotte, a former U.S. Senator, in the general election.

Craig and her husband, attorney Michael Craig, have three children. She enjoys running and has completed 14 marathons, including 10 Boston Marathons.{{cite web |last1=Niroula |first1=Tilak |title=Wishing Joyce Craig good luck in her second term as mayor of Manchester |url=https://manchesterinklink.com/wishing-joyce-craig-good-luck-in-her-second-term-as-mayor-of-manchester/ |website=Manchester Ink Link |date=November 6, 2019 |access-date=December 18, 2019}}

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• {{Official website|https://joycecraig.org/|Campaign website}}

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{{s-ttl|title={{nowrap|Mayor of Manchester}}|years=2018–2024}}

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{{s-ttl|title=Democratic nominee for Governor of New Hampshire|years=2024}}

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Category:Living people

Category:21st-century American women politicians

Category:21st-century mayors of places in New Hampshire

Category:Mayors of Manchester, New Hampshire

Category:New Hampshire Democrats

Category:University of New Hampshire alumni

Category:Women mayors of places in New Hampshire

Category:Candidates in the 2024 United States elections

Category:1967 births