State lawmakers return to Concord Wednesday to be sworn in and elect new leaders.
Republican Sen. Sharon Carson of Londonderry is all but guaranteed to win election as the next president of the New Hampshire Senate, where Republicans will hold a 16-8 majority in the next session.
But who will be the next speaker of the 400-member New Hampshire House is a little more up in the air.
Incumbent House Speaker Sherman Packard, a Republican who has represented Londonderry in the legislature since 1990, is seeking a third term leading the House.
House Democratic leader Alexis Simpson of Exeter is also running. But Packard also faces a challenger from a fellow Republican: Rep. Kim Rice, of Hudson.
Rice is returning to the State House after stepping away from the Legislature in 2022.
At the time, Rice held the title of House Speaker Pro Tempore, the third ranking job in the Legislature, which Packard had given her. But Rice’s relationship with Packard, and with Majority Leader Jason Osborne, frayed after she opposed a controversial parental rights bill backed by most Republicans in 2022.
After leaving the Legislature, Rice played a prominent role in the presidential campaign of former UN Ambassador Nikki Haley.
Rice isn’t commenting on her efforts to win election as speaker, but she and her allies have been reaching out to lawmakers in both parties looking for support.
Rice faces an uphill battle, and her fortunes will hinge on whether she can build a bipartisan coalition. That’s been the recipe in the past when Republican-led legislatures have chosen speakers who weren’t the first choice of the Republican caucus.
After this year’s elections, Republicans hold a 42-seat advantage in the House. So for Rice, success will require persuading some Republicans to break with Packard and getting House Democrats to back her as a bloc.
It could be a tall order: Packard isn’t much of a lightning rod within the House. And it's far from clear if the House still contains many of the kind Republicans Rice needs — moderates game to buck the will of the rest of the caucus — in real numbers.
The other votes lawmakers are slated to take Wednesday, for Secretary of State and treasurer, will be far more straightforward.
Secretary of State David Scanlan, who has held his job since 2022, is seeking his third term. Treasurer Monica Mezzepelle is also seeking reelection. Both are running unopposed.
