House committee set to vote on new congressional district proposal Wednesday 

The governor’s proposal for a congressional district map, made public in late March, got its first public hearing Friday before the House Special Redistricting Committee. The committee is scheduled to vote on it Wednesday – but changes are expected ahead of that vote.

The governor was not present at the hearing to comment on the map or explain the rationale for his proposal. Instead, members of the committee lobbed questions at the committee chair, Rep. Barbara Griffin, a Goffstown Republican, who introduced the legislation by tacking it onto an unrelated bill about district commissioner elections in Haverhill, Senate Bill 200.

“Representative, even though it came from (the governor’s office), you submitted it. So you’ve had no conversations at all with the governor about the map?” Rep. Connie Lane, a Concord Democrat, asked.

Griffin said she had not spoken with the governor. “As the committee chair, I viewed it as my obligation to the state to continue the process to work on the map,” she said. 

The Legislature proposed its own map, which the governor has said he will veto because he doesn’t believe it is competitive; it would make one district more solidly Republican and the other more Democratic.

Committee Republicans questioned why Sununu’s proposal split four counties into different districts and why, except for the Seacoast, economic communities like the Greater Manchester area and the Lakes Region were separated.

 “I think we can do better,” Griffin said, when asked whether she supported the proposal. She opened the door for committee members to adjust the map.

“Since we have another executive session, I’m hoping that members will feel free to bring forward further amendments and get them into the body in order that they can be noticed online at least a day before our executive session next week,” she said. According to that timeline, amendments would be available on the House Special Redistricting Committee website on Tuesday. 

Public testimony on the map during Friday’s public hearing ranged widely. It won the reluctant support of Rep. Timothy Horrigan, a Durham Democrat. Liz Tentarelli of the League of Women Voters New Hampshire called it an improvement over the map previously passed by the Legislature but added that it could be better.

Olivia Zink of Open Democracy Action, presented one idea for doing that: Group Belknap, Carroll, Strafford, and Rockingham counties in one district plus the cities of Manchester and Pelham. Sununu’s proposal groups Strafford and Rockingham counties together with most of Belknap County, a southern part of Carroll County, and a chunk of Merrimack and Hillsborough counties. 

Corinne Dodge of Derry said she was disappointed and angry that lawmakers have ignored input from the public. 

“At each of these public hearings, large numbers of voters showed up with an overwhelming call for district maps that represent all voters of New Hampshire, and which do not give unfair advantage to one political party over another,” she said. “In reply, you have presented us with one map after another which gives an unfair advantage to one political party.”  

The legislative action comes as a lawsuit on the congressional district maps is making its way through the courts.