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What election recounts mean for the next N.H. legislative session

Election recounts for State House races have been taking place in Concord this week and will continue into next week. Recounts take place every election season, but this year, with the closely divided state House of Representatives, outcomes could be crucial in determining policy and which party will hold the majority in the Legislature.

NHPR’s senior political reporter Josh Rogers joined All Things Considered Host Julia Furukawa to talk about what these results mean for the next legislative session. Below is a transcript of their conversation.


Transcript

Julia Furukawa: So on election night, results gave Republicans 203 seats in the 400-member New Hampshire House, and Democrats ended up with 197. That's as tight a margin as has been seen in Concord in more than 80 years. And results from these recounts are making the margin even tighter. So what happened?

Josh Rogers: Well, while several recounts affirmed election night results, there have been two that flipped seats won by Republicans on Election Day to Democrats. One was a race in Berlin and surrounding towns. Another was a contest out of Manchester's Ward 6. And then [on Wednesday], in a race for a seat in Rochester that a Republican, David Walker, had carried by a single vote over Democrat Chuck Grassie. That's now been ruled a tie.

Julia Furukawa: So the Secretary of State says if things remain as they stand, the Legislature will pick the winner. In this case, that could decide which party controls the House. So is there any precedent for that?

Josh Rogers: Not that I've been able to determine during the last couple of hours. But, you know, it's worth stressing that it may not come to that. The challenged ballots, those are ballots that partisan observers have flagged – They could have been poorly marked, or contain cross outs or have incompletely filled ovals. Those ballots will go before the Ballot Law Commission. Those commissioners will evaluate them and then vote on their sense of those voters' intent. So, you know, changes there could change outcomes pretty easily in a tied race. And, you know, this recount [on Wednesday] is not the final recount. There's still more than a dozen to go. So, you know, a lot could change before we're done in and outside of these recounts.

Julia Furukawa: What do you mean? What else could change?

Josh Rogers: Well, you know, the recounts could certainly change things. But until the House is seated and members are sworn in, you can't really be too sure. We're talking about a 400-member citizen Legislature. Sometimes people get on the ballot as candidates and run. They don't expect to win, may not really intend to serve, and so don't end up actually joining the Legislature. That happens. Lawmakers sometimes die. They may get a job that forces them to move. So, you know, numbers can bounce around a bit. And, you know, in one instance, a Democratic [representative] out of Nashua, Stacie Laughton, she was arrested last week on stalking charges. I'd say her status in Concord is a bit of a question mark, but whatever does happen in and out of these recounts, the House appears to be on track to be very narrowly divided for the next two years.

Julia Furukawa: Okay. Well, what will that mean in terms of policy this next legislative season?

Josh Rogers: Well, we'll see. It will certainly make it tough for whichever party ends up in the majority, assuming one party does hold a majority, to pass bills perceived as partisan. It will make attendance on session days in the House very, very important. I'm also going to be curious to see what kind of coalitions get built around issues. How does Gov. Sununu engage with the House, if he chooses to, and how it affects the Senate, which remains a 14-10 Republican majority, and the Senate's priorities and what happens with the state budget. [It's] the biggest policy in any legislative session [and] is going to be the first order of business. You know, and then before we even get to that, who can get elected House speaker? There really are a vast number of unknowns at this point.

Julia Furukawa: And there are still more recounts to complete.

Josh Rogers: Yes. And, you know, it's certainly worth emphasizing that recounts typically change vote counts a bit, but they don't often flip seats from one party to the other. So, you know, while we have a bunch more recounts to go, I wouldn't presume that more seats will be changing hands over the next week or so. But, you know, given what's happened thus far, I certainly wouldn't rule out that either.

Josh has worked at NHPR since 2000.
Julia Furukawa is the host of All Things Considered at NHPR. She joined the NHPR team in 2021 as a fellow producing ATC after working as a reporter and editor for The Paris News in Texas and a freelancer for KNKX Public Radio in Seattle.
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