In 2023, various special elections were held throughout the year in New Hampshire, mostly to the state's House of Representatives. At 400 members, the state house is the largest state legislative body in the United States, and the fourth largest lower house in the English-speaking world. As members are only paid $100 per year plus travel costs,[1] turnover tends to be frequent, as members resign or die mid-term, resulting in a special election to replace them. According to the Constitution of the State of New Hampshire, if there is a vacancy in the New Hampshire General Court, a special election must be called to fill the vacant seat within 21 days of receiving proof of a vacancy or a request that a vacancy be filled.[2]
In the 2022 State House election, Republicans won 201 seats, Democrats won 198, and one seat resulted in a tie. The closeness of the result attracted additional attention to the special elections, as it raised the probability of a mid-session flip.
The special elections were largely marked by strong overperformances by the New Hampshire Democratic Party. Democrat Chuck Grassie won a special election in February to a seat that had tied the previous November, and Democrat Hal Rafter won a Republican-held seat in September.
State House district Strafford 8
 | ||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||
The November 2022 election to this seat in the city of Rochester ended in a tie of 970-970 between Democrat Chuck Grassie and Republican David Walker. Despite rumors that the Republican-controlled state House would vote to seat Walker anyways, a special election was called for February 21.[3]
This race was notable for a race receiving national attention due to the small size of the district; both candidates live on the same street within half a mile of each other. Walker based his campaign of combatting the 2021-23 inflation increase and what he described as “reckless spending” from Democrats. Grassie, a prominent progressive in the New Hampshire legislature, focused on marijuana decriminalization and tax relief.[3]
Democrats heavily outspent Republicans in the election, with national groups such as the Democratic Legislative Campaign Committee pouring money into the race in the hopes of a mid-session flip of the state house similar to what happened in the Washington State Senate in 2017.[4]
The eastern New Hampshire district voted 51%-47%for Democrat Joe Biden in 2020.[5] In the end, Chuck Grassie won with over 55% of the vote, a 4% over-performance for Democrats.[6]
First election to State House district Hillsborough 3
| ||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||
This is a multi-member district in the city of Nashua. One of the representatives, Democrat Stacie-Marie Laughton, was arrested on November 12, 2022, shortly after winning re-election. She was charged with one charge of stalking and violating a court order.[7] She resigned on December 22, 2022.[8]
A special election to replace her was scheduled in January 2023. Democrat Marc Plamondon and Republicans Joost Baumeister and David M. Narkunas filed to run. A primary was held on March 28, where Narkunas defeated Baumeister. Only 22 people voted in the Republican primary, with Narkunas winning 13-9. Meanwhile, 39 people voted for Plamondon, who was running unopposed in the Democratic primary.[9]
The general election for this 63%-35% Biden seat[5] was held on May 16. In another low-turnout election, Plamondon defeated Narkunas with almost 72% of the vote, a 9 point over performance for Democrats.[10]
State House district Grafton 16
| ||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||
Democratic representative Joshua Adjutant resigned on April 1, 2023, after receiving a head injury while working as a security guard. In an effort to ensure that Democrats could quickly retake the seat representing the town of Enfield, he resigned immediately.[11]
During the filing period from June 19–23, Democrat David Fracht and Republican John Keane were the only candidates who filed to run. Due to this, no primary was held, and the special election was held on August 22, 2023.[12]
This seat voted for Biden by a margin of 64%-33%.[5] As Fracht won with almost 72% of the vote, this was an 8 point over performance for Democrats.[13]
State House district Rockingham 1
| ||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||
Republican representative Benjamin Bartlett resigned on April 26, 2023 for health reasons after missing over 130 votes due to illness.[14]
After two Republicans, James Guzofski and Jessica Sternberg, filed to run, a primary election was held on August 1. Guzofski won by a margin of 230-184. Meanwhile, Democrat Hal Rafter won his party's nomination with 245 votes while unopposed.[15]
Following his nomination, Gozofski came under fire for previous comments claiming that abortion-rights activists were making blood sacrifices to Molech and claiming that the COVID-vaccine was "literally infecting people with the virus."[16]
The district, representing the towns of Northwood and Nottingham, is highly competitive, voting for Trump by less than 0.5% in 2020.[5] Democrats invested a sizeable amount of money in an attempt to flip this seat. In the end, Rafter and outspent Guzofski by a margin of $46,000 to less than $500, and easily won the race by a margin of 11.8%, an 11.4% Democratic overperformance.[15]
The race garnered national attention, with Newsweek calling it a "warning sign for Trump"[17] and FiveThirtyEight remarking on how it continued an "impressive streak" of Democratic overperformances in special elections.[18]
The election put the New Hampshire House on track to become an exact tie between Democrats and Republicans by the second Hillsborough 3 election in November until Democratic representative Maria Perez switched to independent on October 2.[19]
Second election to State House district Hillsborough 3
| ||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||
Democrat David Cote easily won the November election to be one of the members in this multi-member seat in the city of Nashua, but had been unable to serve due to health reasons since march 2020. As such, Republicans refused to seat him, making his seat technically vacant. That action was the subject of lawsuits under the Americans with Disabilities Act. After several months in limbo, Cote resigned on July 5, 2023.[20]
The filing deadline was July 28, 2023. Democrat Paige Beauchemin and Republicans Joost Baumeister and David M. Narkunas, both of whom had ran in the previous election in May, filed to run. A primary was held on September 19, 2023. Narkunas again defeated Baumeister in a low turnout election, this time by a margin of 41 votes to 12 votes. Beauchemin received 84 votes and was the Democratic nominee.[21]
The general election was held November 7, 2023. Beauchmin defeated Narkunas, but with about 3% of the vote less than Joe Biden had gotten in 2020, the first Republican overperformance in this series of elections.[22]
Coos County district 6
Democrat William Hatch resigned on September 18, 2023.[23] A special election to replace him will be held on January 23, 2024, with a primary on December 5, 2023, concurrently with the election to Coos County District 1. Democrat Edith Tucker and Republicans Don Lacasse and Michael P. Murphy filed to run.[24] The district, representing the towns of Gorham, Randolph, and Shelburne, voted for Joe Biden by a margin of 55%-43%.[5]
Coos County district 1
Republican Troy Merner resigned on September 19, 2023.[23] A special election to replace him will be held on January 23, 2024, with a primary on December 5, 2023, concurrently with the election to Coos County District 6. Democrat Cathleen Fountain and Republicans Sean Durkin and Pamela Kathan filed to run.[25] The district, representing the towns of Lancaster, Northumberland, Dalton, and Stratford, voted for Donald Trump by a margin of 53-45.[5]
References
- ↑ Square, The Center (2019-11-20). "New Hampshire legislators make base annual salary of $100, lowest compensation in U.S." The Center Square. Retrieved 2023-10-27.
- ↑ "New Hampshire State Constitution - Section 661:8". General Court - State of New Hampshire. Retrieved October 27, 2023.
- 1 2 Russell, Jenna (December 12, 2022). "After an Election Tie in New Hampshire, a Do-Over Without the Drama". New York Times.
- ↑ Porter, Steven. "Democrats spend big on tie-breaker election for N.H. House seat - The Boston Globe". BostonGlobe.com. Retrieved 2023-11-03.
- 1 2 3 4 5 6 "DRA 2020". Daves Redistricting. Retrieved 2023-11-03.
- ↑ West, Nancy (2023-02-22). "Grassie Wins Ward 4 Rochester House Seat in Special Election". InDepthNH.org. Retrieved 2023-11-03.
- ↑ Tony Schinella (November 13, 2022). "Nashua Democrat State Rep. Arrested Again, Accused Of Stalking". MSN.com. Retrieved November 21, 2022.
- ↑ Staff, Paul Feely Union Leader (2022-12-23). "Nashua state Rep. Laughton resigns House seat". UnionLeader.com. Retrieved 2023-11-03.
- ↑ "Hillsborough County District 3 (Nashua Ward 4) (May 16, 2023)". New Hampshire Secretary of State. Retrieved 2023-11-03.
- ↑ Staff Report (2023-05-16). "NH House GOP majority shrinks after Dems special election win". UnionLeader.com. Retrieved 2023-11-03.
- ↑ Doyle-Burr, Nora. "Enfield state rep resigns seat following head injury". Valley News.
- ↑ "Grafton County District 16 (Enfield) (August 22, 2023)". New Hampshire Secretary of State. Retrieved 2023-11-03.
- ↑ Kisluk, Jessica (2023-08-23). "Democrat David Fracht wins special election in Enfield for New Hampshire House". WMUR. Retrieved 2023-11-03.
- ↑ "Nottingham state rep steps down, citing poor health". New Hampshire Public Radio. 2023-04-27. Retrieved 2023-11-06.
- 1 2 "Rockingham County Dist. 1 (Northwood & Nottingham) (Sept. 19, 2023)". New Hampshire Secretary of State. Retrieved 2023-11-06.
- ↑ "'Blood sacrifices to Molech': Meet the GOP's new nominee for a key swing seat". Daily Kos. Retrieved 2023-11-06.
- ↑ Reporter, James Bickerton US News (2023-09-20). "Democrat triumphs in Republican stronghold in warning sign to Trump". Newsweek. Retrieved 2023-11-06.
- ↑ "Democrats have been winning big in special elections". ABC News. Retrieved 2023-11-06.
- ↑ Kisluk, Jessica (2023-10-03). "State Rep. Maria Perez leaves Democratic Party, will serve remainder of term as 'undeclared'". WMUR. Retrieved 2023-11-06.
- ↑ "After extended health-related absence, Nashua state lawmaker who sued for remote participation resigns". New Hampshire Public Radio. 2023-07-05. Retrieved 2023-11-06.
- ↑ "Hillsborough County District 3 (Nashua Ward 4) (November 7, 2023)". New Hampshire Secretary of State. Retrieved 2023-11-06.
- ↑ "Full election results for 2023 municipal races in Nashua, New Hampshire". WMUR. 2023-11-08. Retrieved 2023-11-10.
- 1 2 "RESIGNATIONS, DEATHS, SPECIAL ELECTIONS" (PDF). New Hampshire General Court. September 2023. Retrieved September 19, 2023.
- ↑ "Coos County District 6". New Hampshire Secretary of State. Retrieved 2023-11-06.
- ↑ "Coos County District 1". New Hampshire Secretary of State. Retrieved 2023-11-06.