NH Politics

Leading up to the 2020 New Hampshire presidential primary, NHPR tried something different: We invited you to tell us how we should cover the election. 

New Hampshire voters have already requested four times as many absentee ballots for the September primary as they cast in the same election in 2016, according to state officials. 

New Hampshire Congressman Chris Pappas introduced a bill Thursday aimed at preventing age discrimination in voting.

Pappas says this legislation is particularly important during the pandemic, when access to the polls has been more limited.

“We’ve had voting hours restricted…restriction of polling places. And what we can’t afford to have happen is for efforts to be targeted against young voters or communities of color based on politics or based on political decision making.”

Editor's note: This post has been updated to clarify that the mailers included requests for absentee ballot registration paperwork, not requests for absentee ballots.

In the years since she lost her 22-year-old son, Tyler, Kelly Simpson has learned to steel herself when opening the mailbox.

“Every now and again a piece of mail comes for him,” she said, “and it takes my breath away.”

But Simpson wasn’t at all prepared for what arrived in Tyler’s name this weekend, seven years after his death: an “official absentee voter registration packet request” from the New Hampshire Republican Party.

Gov. Chris Sununu vetoed four more bills Friday, including one that would have allowed guns to be taken from people who present a danger to themselves or others.

The Democratic candidates for governor continue to clash over their approaches to climate change, with State Sen. Dan Feltes rolling out a "green jobs" plan Thursday.

His primary opponent, executive councilor Andru Volinsky, says the new plan glosses over Feltes's continued support for natural gas.

The Exchange continues its summer series of primary candidate interviews with Democratic gubernatorial candidate Andru Volinsky. He currently serves on the Executive Council, representing District 2. We'll discuss his positions on the coronavirus pandemic, police reform, and school re-opening, and other issues. And we welcome  your questions, as well; send them before the show to exchange@nhpr.org.

Air date: Friday, Aug. 7, 9-9:20

To hear this conversation, which was part of the Aug. 7th Weekly N.H. News Roundup, click here!

In a presidential election year, the top of the ticket almost inevitably affects outcomes down ballot. And this year, President Trump hopes to maximize his influence. In New Hampshire, that effort is clear in the September Republican primaries, where he’s endorsed local candidates for Congress and U.S. Senate.

NHPR’s Josh Rogers reports on the upshot of Trump’s decision, and the possible divide it’s sowing in the New Hampshire GOP.

Gov. Chris Sununu says New Hampshire's elections will take place as scheduled in November, regardless of any ideas President Trump may have about delaying elections due to COVID-19.

Sununu said he didn't understand why President Trump would take to Twitter to predict that 2020 election would be the most "inaccurate and fraudulent" in history if mail-in voting were widespread.

One of the bills included in the omnibus healthcare legislation Governor Sununu signed into law on Wednesday requires that superintendents at county correctional facilities offer medication assisted treatment to inmates, when medically appropriate.

Medication assisted treatment provides anti-opioid medications, in combination with counseling and behavioral therapies, to help people dealing with substance use disorders.

A federal judge has lowered the threshold for Libertarian party candidates to get on the November ballot in New Hampshire.

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Libertarians sued the governor and secretary of state on the grounds that the ballot access requirements were too burdensome during a time of coronavirus restrictions.

New Hampshire could become the first state in the nation to allow flying cars on the road. 

Gov. Chris Sununu signed HB1182 on Friday, to allow the study of on-road usage of non-traditional motor vehicles. The cars would likely fly into an airport, then drive to their final destination. 

They’re among the most powerful actors in New Hampshire’s criminal justice system, deciding which charges to file, making bail recommendations and shaping the plea negotiations that determine the sentences in most criminal cases.

And in much of the state, they’re running unopposed.

In seven of the state’s 10 counties, the incumbent county attorney — the chief local prosecutor, what other states call a district attorney — has not drawn a challenger this year.

Gubernatorial candidate Andru Volinsky is singling out the Granite Bridge natural gas pipeline proposal as a dividing line in that race’s Democratic primary, holding a campaign event Friday that his opponent, state Sen. Dan Feltes, dismissed as a political stunt.

The project, from Liberty Utilities, involves a 27-mile gas pipeline between Stratham and Manchester, along Route 101. It would connect two existing gas arteries that follow Interstates 93 and 95 and would also include a large liquefied natural gas storage tank in Epping.

Governor Chris Sununu has signed an omnibus bill that will reinstate new drinking water standards for toxic PFAS chemicals.

Democrats hailed the signature of the bill, which was opposed by some business groups. The legislation enacts some of the strictest PFAS drinking water standards of any of the handful of states that have such rules.

The Exchange continues its summer series of primary candidate interviews with Democratic gubernatorial candidate Dan Feltes. He has served in the state Senate since 2014 and currently serves as Senate Majority Leader. We discuss his proposal for school re-opening amid the coronavirus pandemic, police reform, environmental issues, and more. 

Air date: Friday, July 24, 9 to 9:20 a.m.

Gov. Chris Sununu added to his record number of vetoes this legislative session Friday, rejecting bills dealing with energy policy, unemployment benefits and privacy laws. Here’s a rundown.

Gov. Chris Sununu has signed a sweeping bill to overhaul state criminal justice policy, including a ban on the use of chokeholds by police in New Hampshire.

The Democrats running for New Hampshire governor met in a Zoom forum hosted by Dartmouth College Thursday night, where they laid out competing strategies for how their party can win the corner office this year.

Congresswoman Annie Kuster is co-sponsoring a new plan to add toxic PFAS chemical standards to the next federal defense spending bill.

The amendment mirrors a bill that passed the House earlier this year. Speaking on a press call Tuesday, Kuster said that bill has stalled in the Senate.

Gov. Chris Sununu has vetoed bills to create a paid family leave program, to expand absentee voting and to provide relief for people who have trouble making housing payments due to COVID-19, continuing a string of vetoes that has already set a record for a New Hampshire governor.

Some city councilors in Portsmouth are pushing for a mandatory mask wearing ordinance ahead of President Trump's scheduled rally at the Pease Airport this weekend.

Councilor Deaglan McEachern said a mask requirement was already scheduled to come up for debate next week before the council. But with President Trump’s rally happening on Saturday, he’s now asking Mayor Rick Becksted to call a special meeting so the council can vote on the idea as soon as possible.