Republicans in the state legislature will nominate Londonderry Rep. Sherman Packard to be the next Speaker of the House. Packard has been acting speaker in the wake of the COVID-19 death of the newly-elected speaker Dick Hinch.
Sherman Packard has represented Londonderry for 16 terms in Concord. He's been House majority leader and House minority leader.
Speaker Dick Hinch tapped Packard to be his deputy. From the moment he declared his own bid for Speaker, Packard stressed his intent to do all he could to adopt Hinch's goals.
Packard won the GOP caucus nomination by beating out Al Baldasaro, who also represents Londonderry, and Tim Lang of Sanbornton.
The full House will vote for speaker on January 6th. Lawmakers will meet at the University of New Hampshire and keep their social distance by gathering in their cars, drive-in movie style.
Senate President Chuck Morse, meanwhile, has tapped Sen. Jeb Bradley to serve as that chamber’s Majority Leader.
Bradley is from Wolfeboro. He was also Senate majority leader from 2013 to 2018, the last time Morse was Senate President. Before that, Bradley served two terms in Congress. He also spent more than a decade in the New Hampshire House.
