Current New Hampshire Government (Raymond: house, school, assess)

[rmcewan]

For out of state and prospective NH residents (and to enlighten some existing residents) about the political affiliation of the principal elected officials, offices, and bodies of New Hampshire, I present the following quick reference :
[Note: graphics are distributed from wiki commons. Sources are NH.GOV and Wikipedia]

STATE GOVERNMENT
Governor:
John Lynch (D) is seeking a 3rd, 2-year term in 2008.

Factoid: Only NH and Vermont still elect governors to 2-year terms.

Executive Council:
District 1: Raymond Burton (R)
District 2: John Shea (D)
District 3: Beverly Hollingworth (D)
District 4: Raymond Wieczorek (R)
District 5: Debora Pignatelli (D)

Factoid: The Executive Council advises the Governor on all matters and provides a check on the governor's power. It is made up of 5 councilors elected for two-year terms by their respective districts. The General Court divides the state into five districts by population (shown above), as needed for the public good, with each district containing approximately 247,000 citizens.

New Hampshire House of Representatives:
400 members from 103 state districts. Currently comprised of 232 Democrats, and 159 Republicans.

Factoid: The NH House of Representatives is the 3rd largest legislative body in the world, behind the British House of Commons and the US House of Representatives. The House was controlled by two factions of the Republican Party (the conservative Republican House Alliance and the moderate Mains Street Republicans) until 2006 when a significant Democrat majority was gained.
A list of members can be downloaded from here: NH House of Representatives

New Hampshire Senate:
24 members representing Senate districts based on population. Currently, there are 14 Democrats and 10 Republicans.
A list of Senate members can be found here: http://www.gencourt.state.nh.us/sena...atemembers.asp

FEDERAL REPRESENTATION
U.S House Delegation:
1st District: Carol Shea-Porter (D), the first Congresswoman for New Hampshire was elected in 2006 and is seeking a 2nd term in 2008.


2nd District: Paul Hodes (D), the first Jewish congressman for New Hampshire was elected in 2006 after being defeated by the incumbent Charlie Bass in 2004. He is seeking a 2nd term in 2008.


U.S Senate Delegation:
Senior Member: Judd Gregg (R), an ex-Governor of the state, was elected in 1992 and is currently serving his 3rd term.


Junior Member: John E. Sununu (R), elected in 2002 and running for a 2nd term in 2008. He is the son of former New Hampshire governor John H. Sununu and is the youngest member of the US Senate.


Please post corrections or questions, but please please try to keep this thread informative by not posting political commentaries or opinions.

[Verseau]

Great thread and very informative, rmcewan. I agree that we should keep the political commentary out of it.

Just to add, here's a map of State House representation by party:

[motoracer51]

Thanks for this post. My wife and I are seriously looking to move to NH, but the upcoming elections are really pivotal to the move. I'd hate to see the state slide further to the left, with increased spending and social programs; and the possibility of gun control measures comes with any (D) elected.

If the more politically astute that are following the elections, both past and present, could give us a synopsis, that would be great!!

[rmcewan]

Originally Posted by motoracer51

Thanks for this post. My wife and I are seriously looking to move to NH, but the upcoming elections are really pivotal to the move. I'd hate to see the state slide further to the left, with increased spending and social programs; and the possibility of gun control measures comes with any (D) elected.

If the more politically astute that are following the elections, both past and present, could give us a synopsis, that would be great!!

Left of where Moto? One state's left if another's center.

But not to worry: I don't think NH is never going to be a shoe-in for either party in the long run. To many independent thinking voters (must be the clean air). The current situation here seems to be more Bush-effect than anything else - the dems only really gained control in 06. No matter the result next week, once W has left office and the people start forgiving and forgetting, the Dems will need to work very hard to stay in charge.

You should also be very aware, that your day-to-day life in NH may well be more affected by your town-level politics, finances, and ordinances than the state level.

On candidates and gun control, try this:
http://www.gonh.org/uploads/270/Offi...heets_rev1.pdf
Obviously not a balanced assessment, but it's probably what you're looking for

[GregW]

With Democrats like me in the party there will never be any restrictive gun control measures in State government. Many Dems are less willing to even suggest restrictions on gun ownership than I and I will only tolerate keeping guns out of the hands of children, the insane and the criminal.

[OCCASparky]

Originally Posted by GregW

With Democrats like me in the party there will never be any restrictive gun control measures in State government. Many Dems are less willing to even suggest restrictions on gun ownership than I and I will only tolerate keeping guns out of the hands of children, the insane and the criminal.

Unfortunately, Greg, there are too many Democrats who are NOT like you and would restrict our Second Amendment rights.

[sgthoskins]

Originally Posted by OCCASparky

Unfortunately, Greg, there are too many Democrats who are NOT like you and would restrict our Second Amendment rights.

+1 from what I have read of Greg he is an old school dem. The party is well left of him now.

[maestramommy]

You know, this is great, and thanks for posting it. Any chance you could post the names and pics of people running against the incumbents?

[motoracer51]

Originally Posted by GregW

With Democrats like me in the party there will never be any restrictive gun control measures in State government. Many Dems are less willing to even suggest restrictions on gun ownership than I and I will only tolerate keeping guns out of the hands of children, the insane and the criminal.

What's your idea of "criminal"?

Keeping existing laws on the books, or expanding the definition of criminal to include other offenses?

[rmcewan]

Originally Posted by motoracer51

What's your idea of "criminal"?

Keeping existing laws on the books, or expanding the definition of criminal to include other offenses?

doesn't committing a criminal offense make you a criminal?

really? did you think he meant parking tickets? why look for a fight with an obvious advocate?

This isn't the topic at hand.