The creation of a new fraud unit at the state Attorney General’s office has stalled again. Thursday, the Legislative Fiscal Committee voted to table a request to approve funding for it.
The governor and Executive Council have approved the unit, which would be funded by the state’s mortgage settlement with big banks. But the Republican-dominated committee has resisted allocating money to it, saying it would ultimately add staff to the government payroll. But the AG’s Consumer Protection Bureau Chief James Boffetti says a fraud unit is needed.
Former House Speaker Terrie Norelli will run again for the job, but will face a strong opposition from David Campbell, D-Nashua. Current House Speaker Bill O'Brien has announced he will not run for mintority party leadership
There was a big surprise waiting for New Hampshire politicos this morning. As the final votes were tallied in the four hundred races for the State House of Representatives, the Democrats had won a 221 to 178 majority with one race still undecided.
Prospects of a divided state legislature has both sides singing about bipartisanship.
Given that many of the races for the NH House are decided by fewer than a hundred voters, there will likely be a couple dozen recounts.
Here’s what happened in Coos County on Tuesday, according to a tally by the Associated Press. Official counts from the Secretary of State are not yet available.
* Jeff Woodburn of Dalton was elected senator, defeating Debi Warner of Littleton. He takes the place of Republican John Gallus who chose not to run.
* In District 1 with all ten precincts counted Republican incumbent Duffy Daugherty of Colebrook lost to Democrat Larry Enman of Errol by 20 votes.
Races for State House and Senate were still wrapping up early this morning. Republicans lost some ground in the House, but we’re still learning how many seats were gained by Democrats.To start with, the Speaker of the House, Bill O’Brien, was reelected. He finished second to a Democrat in a two-member district.
The second in a series of polls out this week from WMUR and the UNH Survey Center predicts that Democrats will win the governorship and majorities in both the House and Senate.
This is the fourth poll in a row that shows a widening lead for Democrats in the “generic ballot” question: that’s to say “will you be voting for the Democrat or the Republican in your local House or Senate race?”
A proposed constitutional amendment on the ballot this November would give the legislature final say over judicial rules and procedures. That has some in the legal community incensed over what they consider to be a power grab by the legislature. But others in that same legal community think it simply restores authority appropriately to the people’s representatives.
The latest WMUR Granite State Poll predicts that if the election were held tomorrow, New Hampshire Democrats would win a majority in the State House and the Senate.
UNH survey center pollster Andy Smith says his model predicts 14 Democrats and 10 Republicans in the Senate, and 204 Democrats to 196 Republicans in the House.
The Legislature has overridden Governor Lynch’s veto of a voter ID law. The bill allows a variety of forms this fall—including student IDs. Starting next year, only government issued identifications, including driver’s licenses, military ID’s and passports will be accepted.
Representative David Bates of Windham told colleagues that tighter restrictions are needed to ensure fair elections.
With 15 vetoes, the most ever by a Governor in a single session, John Lynch hasn’t been shy about wielding his power. Now, Republicans will work to override some of those measures when they gather in Concord on Wednesday.
