New Hampshire Senate

New Hampshire State Senate
New Hampshire State Senate
New Hampshire General Court
Type
Type	Upper house
Term limits	None
History
New session started	December 7, 2022
Leadership
President	Jeb Bradley (R) ; since December 7, 2022
President pro tempore	James Gray (R) ; since December 7, 2022
Majority Leader	Sharon Carson (R) ; since December 7, 2022
Minority Leader	Donna Soucy (D) ; since December 2, 2020
Structure
Seats	24
Political groups	Majority Republican (14); Minority Democratic (10);
Length of term	2 years
Authority	Part Second, New Hampshire Constitution
Salary	$200/term + mileage
Elections
Last election	November 8, 2022; (24 seats)
Next election	November 5, 2024; (24 seats)
Redistricting	Legislative control
Meeting place
	State Senate Chamber; New Hampshire State House; Concord, New Hampshire
Website
	gencourt.state.nh.us/Senate

The New Hampshire Senate is the upper house of the New Hampshire General Court, alongside the lower New Hampshire House of Representatives. The Senate has been meeting since 1784.^[1] The Senate consists of 24 members representing Senate districts based on population. There are 14 Republicans and 10 Democrats currently serving in the Senate.

History

Under the 1776 Constitution, two chambers of the legislature were formed: the House of Assembly and the Council, the predecessors to the modern-day House of Representatives and Senate. The Council was originally elected by the House and was composed of twelve members: five from Rockingham County; two each from Cheshire County, Hillsborough County, and Strafford County; and one from Grafton County.^[2]

In 1784, the state constitution was entirely rewritten, and the upper chamber was reconstituted as the popularly elected Senate. It was originally composed of twelve members to be elected from multi-member districts drawn by the legislature,^[3] but this was increased to twenty-four members in 1879. Until districts were drawn, the apportionment of the Senate was continued from the 1776 Constitution. This constitution also imposed a majority-vote requirement for State Senate elections. If no candidate won a majority of the vote, a vacancy was declared and the full General Court would pick from the top two candidates. Similarly, if a vacancy occurred while the legislature was in session, the General Court would pick the successor from the top two remaining candidates. The constitution was amended in 1889 to provide that session vacancies would be filled by special elections and in 1912 to abolish the majority-vote requirement altogether.^[4]

Between 1784 and 1912, more than 200 state senate vacancies were filled by a full vote of the legislature. During some years, nearly 60% of the State Senate was selected through this method, which frequently determined which party controlled the Senate majority. An analysis of the vacancy-filling patterns shows that the General Court was overwhelmingly likely to fill vacancies based on the party affiliation of the eligible candidates. In cases in which session vacancies were filled, the General Court occasionally selected third-party or independent candidates, who received no more than a handful of votes, over opposing major-party candidates.^[4]

The predictability of the vacancy-filling procedures sometimes led to conflict. In 1875, outgoing Democratic Governor James A. Weston exercised his constitutional power to issue "summonses" to the winners of legislative elections to avoid the General Court filling two vacancies. In two districts, Democratic candidates won pluralities, but not majorities; the narrow Republican majority in the State House likely meant that the Republican candidates would be elected. The Senate was tied 5–5, so the allocation of the two contested seats would determine control. Weston, along with the Executive Council, invalidated votes cast for Republican Senators in two districts on the grounds that the votes were not cast in the candidates' "Christian names." They instead issued summonses to the Democratic candidates, who were seated by the Senate. The 7–5 Democratic majority then rejected a Republican challenge to the Democrats' qualifications, and the Republican minority sought an advisory opinion from the New Hampshire Supreme Court.^[4] The state supreme court concluded that "the action of the senate is final," and affirmed the seating of the Senators.^[5]

In 1912, the voters approved a constitutional amendment removing the majority-vote requirement for all elections. That year, however, the gubernatorial election failed to produce a majority winner, as did four State Senate elections. After concluding that the amendment applied after the election, not to it, the General Court proceeded to fill the vacancies. An unexpected alliance between Democrats and Progressive Republicans led to Democrat Samuel D. Felker elected Governor, Henry F. Hollis elected to the U.S. Senate, four Democrats selected to fill the State Senate vacancies, and a Progressive Republican as the Speaker of the House.^[6]

2022–2024 biennial session

Composition^[7]

Affiliation	Party (Shading indicates majority caucus)		Total

	Democratic	Republican		Vacant
End of 164th General Court	10	13	23	1

165th General Court	10	14	24	0

166th General Court	14	10	24	0

167th General Court	10	14	24	0

Start of 168th General Court	10	14	24	0
Latest voting share	42%	58%

Leadership

Position^[8]	Name	Party	District
President of the Senate	Jeb Bradley	Republican	3
Majority Leader	Sharon Carson	Republican	14
President Pro Tempore	James Gray	Republican	6
Majority Whip	Regina Birdsell	Republican	19
Assistant Majority Leader	Daniel Innis	Republican	7
Minority Leader	Donna Soucy	Democratic	18
Deputy Minority Leader	Cindy Rosenwald	Democratic	13

Committee leadership

Committee^[9]	Chair	Vice Chair	Ranking Member
Capital Budget	Daniel Innis (R)	James Gray (R)	Lou D'Allesandro (D)
Commerce	Bill Gannon (R)	Denise Ricciardi (R)	Donna Soucy (D)
Education	Ruth Ward (R)	Carrie Gendreau (R)	Suzanne Prentiss (D)
Election Law, Municipal Affairs and Redistricting	James Gray (R)	Keith Murphy (R)	Donna Soucy (D)
Energy and Natural Resources	Kevin Avard (R)	Howard Pearl (R)	David Watters (D)
Executive Departments and Administration	Howard Pearl (R)	Sharon Carson (R)	Rebecca Perkins Kwoka (D)
Finance	James Gray (R)	Daniel Innis (R)	Lou D'Allesandro (D)
Health and Human Services	Regina Birdsell (R)	Kevin Avard (R)	Becky Whitley (D)
Judiciary	Sharon Carson (R)	Bill Gannon (R)	Becky Whitley (D)
Rules and Enrolled Bills	Kevin Avard (R)	Sharon Carson (R)	Cindy Rosenwald (D)
Transportation	Denise Ricciardi (R)	David Watters (D)	N/A
Ways and Means	Timothy Lang Sr. (R)	Lou D'Allesandro (D)	N/A

Members of the New Hampshire Senate^[7]

District	Senator	Party	Residence	First elected
1	Carrie Gendreau	Rep	Littleton	2022
2	Timothy Lang Sr.	Rep	Sanbornton	2022
3	Jeb Bradley	Rep	Wolfeboro	2009
4	David Watters	Dem	Dover	2012
5	Suzanne Prentiss	Dem	Lebanon	2020
6	James Gray	Rep	Rochester	2016
7	Daniel Innis	Rep	Bradford	2022 (2016-2018)
8	Ruth Ward	Rep	Stoddard	2016
9	Denise Ricciardi	Rep	Bedford	2020
10	Donovan Fenton	Dem	Keene	2022
11	Shannon Chandley	Dem	Amherst	2022 (2018–2020)
12	Kevin Avard	Rep	Nashua	2020 (2014–2018)
13	Cindy Rosenwald	Dem	Nashua	2018
14	Sharon Carson	Rep	Londonderry	2008
15	Becky Whitley	Dem	Contoocook	2020
16	Keith Murphy	Rep	Manchester	2022
17	Howard Pearl	Rep	Loudon	2022
18	Donna Soucy	Dem	Manchester	2012
19	Regina Birdsell	Rep	Hampstead	2014
20	Lou D'Allesandro	Dem	Manchester	1998
21	Rebecca Kwoka	Dem	Portsmouth	2020
22	Daryl Abbas	Rep	Salem	2022
23	Bill Gannon	Rep	Sandown	2020 (2016–2018)
24	Debra Altschiller	Dem	Stratham	2022