Portsmouth Redistricting Update
Initial feedback has been harsh for new redistricting maps drawn by New Hampshire Republicans. Tuesday at the State House, the first of two public hearings were held. The rearranging of New Hampshire’s 1st and 2nd Congressional districts drew the heaviest criticism from many of those testifying. (Source: InDepthNH)
“We’ve never had this kind of gerrymandering before, never before and it is wrong. We have no recourse but to ask you, ‘Have you no shame?’”
How will Portsmouth and the Seacoast be affected? Read on…
Congressional District Redistricting Changes
In theory, the main objective of redistricting should be to roughly equalize the populations of the state’s two congressional districts based on data from the 2020 census. Democrats, who are in the minority this session, proposed to do this by moving one community (Hampstead) from CD1 to CD2, which would result in bringing the populations of CD1 and CD2 to within 50 people of each other. However, Republicans, who hold the majority and control the process, have gone a different route. They have submitted maps that propose carving up two longstanding competitive districts in a way that would make both far less competitive.
The Republican proposal includes shifting Portsmouth, Dover, Durham, and Rochester—four cities with large populations of Democratic voters—from CD1 to CD2. Meanwhile, four predominantly Republican communities—Salem, Hudson, Windham and Atkinson along with several towns east of Concord—would shift from CD2 to CD1. The net effect is that both districts would become far less competitive. Democrats would hold an advantage in the new CD2 (now represented by Rep. Annie Kuster) and Republicans would hold a substantial advantage in the new CD1 (now represented by Rep. Chris Pappas).
One quick look at the proposed “before” and “after” maps shows the proposed changes go far beyond simple “rebalancing”.
One of the biggest eye-openers for Portsmouth: If these maps are approved, Portsmouth would be in a different congressional district than seacoast neighbors such as Rye—but in the same district as Claremont on the Vermont border.
NH House of Representatives Districts
New lines have also been proposed for many of the state’s 400 House of Representatives districts. The changes will substantially affect Portsmouth and several surrounding communities.
While there would still be 11 seats between Portsmouth, Newington, New Castle, Rye, Greenland and North Hampton, the GOP plan rearranges existing districts to dilute the influence of Portsmouth in the legislature.
Currently, each of Portsmouth’s five wards is a separate district. But because Portsmouth has a high enough population to merit additional seats, there are also currently two “floterial” districts that attempt to compensate for this. Rep. Joan Hamblet now represents a floterial district comprised of Ward 3 plus Greenland, North Hampton, and Newington; and Rep. Jackie Cali-Pitts represents a floterial district comprised of Wards 1, 2, 4 and 5.
Here are the changes proposed on the Republican maps:
1 seat for Portsmouth Ward 1 and Newington (now combined)
1 seat for Portsmouth Ward 5 and New Castle (now combined)
1 seat for Portsmouth Ward 2 by itself (no change)
1 seat for Portsmouth Ward 3 by itself (no change)
1 seat for Portsmouth Ward 4 by itself (no change)
1 seat floterial district comprised of Portsmouth Wards 1 and 5 along with Newington and New Castle
1 seat floterial comprised of Portsmouth Wards 2-4
2 seats in Greenland and Rye (now combined)
1 seat in North Hampton
1 seat floterial with Greenland, Rye, and North Hampton
Perhaps the biggest news is that the current Rye/New Castle district is being split up. New Castle will merge with Portsmouth Ward 5 (my district) to form a single district with one seat. Meanwhile, Rye and Greenland will combine into a single district with two seats.
The Republican redistricting proposal for Portsmouth and the Seacoast.
The new maps would put current New Castle/Rye Rep. Kate Murray and I both in the same district (Ward 5/New Castle). So if both of us want to continue serving, we would either have to run against each other in a primary—or one of us would have to bow out or run for the floterial seat comprised of Wards 1 and 5 plus New Castle and Newington.
Overall, the new maps represent more than just a game of musical chairs. They also represent an attempt to dilute the influence of Portsmouth in the legislature by opening the door to as many as three elected officials representing Portsmouth who actually live in other towns. Unnecessarily breaking up communities by splitting seats between communities is a pattern that is being repeated across the state as Republicans have chosen to lump towns together whenever possible for maximum partisan advantage.
Other impacts will become apparent as districts lines are finalized, including which district your current state rep will actually reside in. For example, Rep. Joan Hamblet, who lives in Portsmouth Ward 3 currently holds the floterial seat representing Ward 3, North Hampton, Greenland, and Newington. With the GOP redistricting proposal, she will no longer live in what would become a narrower North Hampton, Greenland, and Newington district. However, she could choose to run for either the Ward 3 stand-alone seat or the Ward, 2, 3, and 4 floterial seat. But either choice could also set her up to have to run against another current representative.
To be fair, redistricting always means that some elected officials will be forced into new districts to continue serving. It also means voters may have to sort out new faces (or old faces in new places). But the extent of the changes brings up an important question that’s been missed by most analysts: Would an independent redistricting commission, a concept supported by every member of the Portsmouth legislative delegation but vetoed by Gov. Sununu, have drawn maps that look like these?
The answer, sadly, is we’ll never know.
If you would like to provide feedback to the Redistricting Committee, there is a public hearing starting at 5pm Wednesday at the State House. You can also submit comments online using this form.