The New Hampshire House voted Wednesday to give its Republican Speaker, Sherman Packard of Londonderry a third term with the gavel.
Packard’s reelection came after Rep. Kim Rice, a Republican from Hudson who had been mounting a challenge to Packard, instead took to the floor to support his bid to retain leadership of the 400-member legislature.
“After a rather lively conversation and assurances that I can live with and that I believe those that supported me can live with, I rise to second the nomination of Sherm Packard for speaker of the House,” Rice said.
Rice never spelled out what she meant by “assurances,” nor was it clear that her aborted bid for speaker ever threatened Packard’s chances. But Packard won election on the first ballot, beating House Democratic leader Alexis Simpson of Exeter by a 40-vote margin.
Packard told lawmakers they will face a tough two years, particularly when it comes to the state budget. He promised to maintain an “open-door” to all lawmakers, and urged them to be civil and avoid “name-calling” when differences arise.
“I wish Twitter and Facebook didn’t exist – it would be better for our society,” Packard said. “All I ask from all of you, on both sides of the aisle, is that we respect each other and we make sure that we can have a civil conversation.”
The 24-member Senate, meanwhile, quickly elected Republican Sharon Carson, also of Londonderry, to serve as its next President.
With a 43 seat margin in the House, a 16-8 edge in the Senate, and Republican Kelly Ayotte soon to be in the corner office, the GOP will likely have an easier time getting their way on policy than they did last session, when their razor-thin majority in the House meant that on any given day, their partisan advantage could disappear, due to fluctuations in session-day attendance.
In a statement Gov.-Elect Kelly Ayotte praised the elections of Packard and Carson.
“I look forward to working together in Concord to tackle our state's most pressing challenges and keep New Hampshire moving in the right direction,” Ayotte said.
Besides the next state budget, GOP leaders have all cited the housing shortage as a key priority and created a standing legislative committee in the House dedicated to the issue.
Representatives also voted to split the education committee in two, creating one dedicated to education funding, with the other to education policy and administration.
“Hopefully, you agree this will serve you better, and lighten the workload,” Rep. Steve Smith of Charlestown said.
Lawmakers in the House also adopted an updated ethics policy.
In a joint session earlier Wednesday afternoon, the House and Senate re-elected David Scanlan as Secretary of State and Monica Mezzapelle as state treasurer. Both were unopposed.
