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New Hampshire House of Representatives

The New Hampshire House of Representatives is the lower house in the New Hampshire General Court, the bicameral legislature of the state of New Hampshire. The House of Representatives consists of 400 members coming from 203 legislative districts across the state, created from divisions of the state's counties. On average, each legislator represents about 3,300 residents, which is the smallest lower house representative-to-population ratio in the country.

New Hampshire has by far the largest lower house of any American state; the second-largest, the Pennsylvania House of Representatives, has 203 members. The House is the fourth-largest lower house in the English-speaking world (behind the 435-member United States House of Representatives, 543-member Lok Sabha of India, and 650-member House of Commons of the United Kingdom).[2]

Districts vary in number of seats based on their populations, with the least-populous districts electing only one member and the most populous electing 10, not counting floterial seats.[3]

Voters are allowed to cast as many votes as there are seats to be filled in the district. For instance, in a two-member district, a voter can vote for up to two candidates, in a ten-seat district, for up to ten candidates. Plurality block voting often results in one party winning all of the seats in the district, as the (cross-sectional) results below for the current representation attest. Like in the districts elected by First-past-the-post voting, proportionality of party represention is not generally produced.

Some municipalities are in multiple districts, including floterial districts, so as to achieve more equal apportionment by population.

Unlike in many state legislatures, there is no single "aisle" to cross per se, as members of both parties sit partially segregated in five sections. The seat section and number is put on the legislator's motor vehicle license plate, which they pay for if they wish to put one on their personal automobiles, or in the case of the chairpersons and party leaders, their title is put on the legislative plate. Seating location is enforced, as seating is pre-assigned. Although the personal preference of the legislator is asked, usually chairmen and those with special needs are given the preferred aisle seats. The sixth section is the Speaker's seat at the head of the hall.

The House of Representatives has met in Representatives Hall of the New Hampshire State House since 1819. Representatives Hall is thus the oldest chamber in the United States still in continuous legislative use.[4] Large arched windows line the walls. On the rostrum hang portraits of John P. Hale, Abraham Lincoln, George Washington, Franklin Pierce, and Daniel Webster.

Composition

Leadership

The current leadership of the house is as follows:

Committees

The current committee leadership in the New Hampshire House of Representatives is listed below.[38]

The chair is the presiding officer of the committee, responsible for leading hearings, maintaining order, and enforcing committee rules. In the absence of the chair, the vice chair becomes presiding officer for the hearing. The clerk is responsible for all administrative matters for the committee, including attendance, minutes, and recording votes. The ranking member is the chief representative of the minority party on the committee, and is traditionally appointed chair when the majority changes hands. Chairs and vice chairs are appointed by and serve at the pleasure of the speaker, while ranking members are appointed by the speaker on recommendation of the minority leader. The committee clerk is selected by the committee chair. The speaker can unilaterally remove or reassign any committee member, chair, vice chair or clerk.

List of members (2022–2024)

Belknap

Carroll

Cheshire

Coös

Grafton

Hillsborough

Merrimack

Rockingham

Strafford

Sullivan

Past composition of the House of Representatives

See also

References

  1. ^ "The General Court of New Hampshire | 404" (PDF). www.gencourt.state.nh.us. Retrieved October 31, 2023.
  2. ^ Ross, Elizabeth (March 21, 1994). "Bigger Is Sometimes Better For Largest US Legislature". Christian Science Monitor.
  3. ^ "NH House of Representatives - Elected Officials | Citizens Count". www.citizenscount.org. Retrieved May 9, 2024.
  4. ^ "New Hampshire House of Representatives "NH House Facts"". Archived from the original on June 18, 2007.
  5. ^ "New Hampshire Update Office of the House Clerk Resignations, Deaths, Special Elections" (PDF). Office of the House Clerk. October 1, 2020. Archived from the original (PDF) on November 10, 2020. Retrieved October 29, 2020.
  6. ^ Strafford District 8 resulted in a tie after the 2022 New Hampshire House of Representatives election. [1]
  7. ^ Democrat Stacie-Marie Laughton (Hillsborough 3) resigned prior to the start of the session. [2]
  8. ^ "Grassie defeats Walker in Rochester election: What it means for NH House balance of power". Foster's Daily Democrat.
  9. ^ "Enfield state rep resigns seat following head injury". Valley News.
  10. ^ Republican Benjamin T. Bartlett IV (Rockingham 1) resigned [3]
  11. ^ Democrat Marc Plamondon elected to succeed Laughton. [4]
  12. ^ Democrat Shaun Filiault (Cheshire 7) left the Democratic party and re-registered as an Independent. [5]
  13. ^ Republican Dan Hynes (Hillsborough 2) left the Republican party and re-registered as an Independent. [6][7]
  14. ^ Democrat David Cote (Hillsborough 03) resigned. [8]
  15. ^ Democrat David Fracht elected to succeed Adjutant (Grafton 16). [9]
  16. ^ Democrat William Hatch (Coös 6) resigned. [10]
  17. ^ Republican Troy Merner (Coös 1) resigned. [11]
  18. ^ Democrat Hal Rafter elected to succeed Bartlett (Rockingham 1). [12]
  19. ^ Democrat Maria Perez (Hillsborough 43) left the Democratic party and re-registered as an Independent. [13]
  20. ^ Democrat Paige Beauchemin elected to succeed Cote (Hillsborough 3). [14]
  21. ^ Democrat Hoy Menear (Strafford 11) died. [15]
  22. ^ Democrat Robin Vogt (Rockingham 21) resigned.[16]
  23. ^ Republicans Sean Durkin (Coös 1) and Michael Murphy (Coös 6) elected to succeed Merner and Hatch, respectively.
  24. ^ Matthew Coker (Belknap 2) left the Democratic Party and re-registered as a Republican.[17]
  25. ^ a b Independent Dan Hynes (Hillsborough 2) resigned.[18]
  26. ^ a b Democrat Sharon Nordgren (Grafton 12) died.[19]
  27. ^ Democrats Jennifer Mandelbaum (Rockingham 21) and Erik Johnson (Strafford 11) elected to succeed Vogt and Menear, respectively.[20][21]
  28. ^ a b Democrat Art Ellison (Merrimack 28) died.[22]
  29. ^ a b Republican Tina Harley (Rockingham 30) resigned.[23]
  30. ^ a b Republican Ross Berry (Hillsborough 39) resigned.[24]
  31. ^ Sherry Gould (Merrimack 8) left the Democratic Party and re-registered as a Republican.[25]
  32. ^ a b Republican Jeffrey Greeson (Grafton 6) resigned.[26]
  33. ^ a b Republican Robert Healey (Hillsborough 12) resigned.[27]
  34. ^ a b Independent Shaun Filiault (Cheshire 7) resigned.[28]
  35. ^ a b Democrat Cecilia Rich (Strafford 12) resigned.[29]
  36. ^ a b Democrat Damond Ford (Hillsborough 40) resigned.[30]
  37. ^ a b Republican Zachary Nutting (Cheshire 11) resigned.[31]
  38. ^ "NH House Standing Committees". The General Court of New Hampshire.

External links