Gov. Chris Sununu’s been clear for months that he doesn’t like the once-in-a decade redistricting maps being pushed through the Legislature by fellow Republicans who control the state House of Representatives and Senate.
With a final vote in the Senate fast approaching on the maps, which dramatically alter New Hampshire’s two congressional districts, the corner office tells the Monitor that the governor has talked with GOP leaders in the chamber and that “the conversations are ongoing.”
Republicans in the House earlier this year approved a redistricting plan that would tilt the state’s First Congressional District toward Republicans while further cementing the Democrats’ advantage in the Second Congressional District.
The First District, which currently stretches from the Manchester area east to the Seacoast and north through the Lakes Region to the White Mountains, was last won by a Republican in 2014, when former Rep. Frank Guinta reclaimed the seat. The Second District, which covers the western half of the state – including Concord – and stretches through the North Country to the Canadian border, has been controlled by the Democrats for a decade.
The maps proposed by Republican lawmakers would create a First District that climbs up from the southeast corner through the middle of the state, with the 2nd District reaching up and around it. GOP strongholds in southern New Hampshire including Salem, Hudson, Windham and Atkinson would move into the First District, while heavily Democratic areas in the Seacoast – including Portsmouth, Dover and Durham – would shift to the Second District.
The governor for months has raised concerns about his party’s maps, saying he believes that Republicans can still win in the Second District.
“What you have to appreciate is that New Hampshire is a purple state. I think both seats are always in play,” Sununu told WMUR this week.
“I don’t like the maps. That’s been made clear I think time and again,” the governor emphasized. “I’m still very hopeful they can be changed … we’ve offered some general suggestions to them.”
The governor and his team have noted that the current bill can be altered through floor amendments when the Senate’s back in session on Thursday and expected to vote on the House-passed redistricting bill.
But Sununu hasn’t threatened to veto the current maps if they’re passed by the Senate.
“I’m still really hopeful they’re going to make some changes,” the governor told WMUR’s Adam Sexton when asked specifically about a veto.
State House Democrats and the state Democratic Party have urged the governor to veto the GOP maps, which they argue are gerrymandered and unfair. And they also point out that the state wouldn’t be in the current situation if Sununu hadn’t vetoed a bill passed in 2019 by the then-Democratic controlled legislature that would have created an independent redistricting commission to replace the current legislative controlled process.
A handful of outside groups have also weighed in and urged the governor to veto the maps, which also alter the current districts in both chambers of the Legislature.
“The proposed maps would increase the number of seats in both the State House and Senate that lean toward the majority party (Republican), creating an environment where elections are less competitive and where every voter’s voice does not count equally,” Lily Jackson of the ACLU of New Hampshire wrote last month. “We urge Governor Sununu keep his word and veto these gerrymandered maps.”
While Sununu was optimistic that GOP senators would be receptive to making alterations, Republican Sen. William Gannon of Sandown said he is happy with the maps drawn up by GOP lawmakers.
Gannon, who said he’s talked to some of his colleagues, told the Monitor that “we feel that all of the redistricting, be it congressional, be it the state Senate, everything is fair and balanced.”