Bill to change Strafford County commissioner election passes by 1 vote as Dems protest

DOVER — A bill that would change how Strafford County commissioners are elected — supported by state Sen. James Gray, R-Rochester — passed by the slimmest of margins Thursday. The legislation on one small county race has become the source of a growing political battle in New Hampshire with Democrats calling it unconstitutional gerrymandering.

House Bill 75 was passed by the House by one vote 186-185, Thursday and by the Senate, 14-10, along party lines.

If Republican Gov. Chris Sununu signs the bill into law, the 2024 county election would be set to feature three separate districts for Strafford County commissioners, rather than the top three vote getters countywide being elected. It would also mean longtime County Commission Chairman George Maglaras would have to run against Commissioner Deanna Rollo in a Democratic primary, if both seek reelection next year.

"I am seeking a meeting with the governor," Maglaras said after Thursday's vote. "I will ask him to veto the bill. If that doesn't happen, we will challenge the bill in New Hampshire Supreme Court."

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Democrats have dominated Strafford County commissioner elections for many years. Maglaras, who has served since 1983, serves currently with fellow Democrats Robert Watson and Rollo. The last Republican commissioner was in office in 2011-12, according to county records.

Gray has argued districts should be created to give smaller towns in Strafford County more representation. He also pointed out nine of 10 county commissioner elections in the state have districts. Strafford County is the only one that does not.

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Redistricting of voting maps happens nationally every 10 years, following the once-a-decade Census. Gray helped lead that process in New Hampshire last year with Republicans in majority control. Numerous election districts were changed in the state, but no changes were made to the Strafford County commissioner election at that time.

Maglaras and other Democrats said state lawmakers need to wait for the next 10-year cycle and making changes now would be unconstitutional.

Gray said an attorney told him "districting is different than redistricting," meaning this change isn't part of the redistricting because there are no districts for Strafford County commissioners. Gray said another attorney advised him that since no action was taken on Strafford County commissioners during the redistricting process last year, "we still have our once-in-10-years opportunity."

Sununu's office did not immediately respond to a request for comment on whether he will sign the bill and whether he feels it is constitutional.

"I am proud of this piece of legislation, so all the people of Strafford County are represented," Gray said when testifying about the bill Thursday. "There is a predominance of Democrats here and my constituents is New Durham, Farmington, Strafford and six wards in Rochester came to me. I heard from people in Lee, Milton, Middleton and Barrington. This bill will elect representatives in the same way all the other counties do."

Leading Democrats in Concord have spoken out.

Representative Laurel Stavis, D-Lebanon, ranking Democrat on the House Municipal and County Government Committee, said "HB 75 is a brazen partisan effort to change the make-up of Strafford County commissioners outside of the established redistricting process. ...This bill sets a dangerous precedent of annually reopening the once-a-decade redistricting process and will result in instability and chaos. Rigging districts for partisan gain breeds distrust among voters and is not the New Hampshire way. I strongly encourage Gov. Sununu to veto this unwarranted, partisan power-grab.”

Sen. Donna Soucy, the Democratic Party leader in the state Senate, and Democratic Sens. David Watters of Dover and Rebecca Perkins Kwoka of Portsmouth, whose district includes Strafford County towns, issued a joint statement.

“It is essential that we as legislators stand by the laws and practices, we have established for ourselves, but especiallywhen it comes to one of our most sacred responsibilities: the redistricting process. The redistricting process is tremendously important as it is essential to ensuring fairness and integrity in our democratic election process."The senators noted redistricting is meant to be taken up every 10 years, following the U.S. Census.

"When we did so, nearly two years ago, we did not hear requests from Strafford County officials or residents to implement the changes proposed in HB 75," they said. "Therefore, there is no way to interpret this change in the district lines to be anything except partisan gerrymandering. We are deeply disappointed that House and Senate Republicans have chosen to take us down this dark path by further politicizing our redistricting process, but, given the starkly partisan nature of this legislation, we expect that this will not be the end of Granite Staters’ fight to protect democracy in our great state.”

Why would county's largest communities be split into separate districts?

House Bill 75 would create three districts. The cities of Rochester and Dover, by far the most populous in the county at more than 30,000 each, would each be part of two districts. Gray was asked to respond to critics who point to this as part of their claims of gerrymandering.

"It's impossible to do math that keeps Rochester or Dover all together," Gray said. "Especially Dover, where you've got Rollinsford that doesn't touch anything other than Dover and Somersworth. It's the only way you can get the numbers to work and have even districts."

Gray also responded to Democrats who howled in protest over a legislative maneuver that kept House Bill 75 alive. When the bill was in a committee of conference, Republicans needed a unanimous vote to advance it. They got a 5-2 vote with two Democrats voting against it. The Democrats were kicked off the committee of conference and replaced by Republicans. The next vote was unanimous. Otherwise the legislation would never have reached Thursday's House and Senate votes.

"If you look back at committees of conference going back as long as I've been in Legislature, it is not unusual that members who disagree are replaced by members who will agree," Gray said. "That is all balanced out by having vote at the end so every one of the legislators gets to express their opinion. While it was a closer vote than most, the will of the majority of the legislators is what prevailed."

This article originally appeared on Fosters Daily Democrat: NH Strafford County commissioner election bill passes by 1 vote