GOP Sen. Gray pushes to change how Strafford County commissioners, all Dems, are elected

DOVER — In a dizzying back and forth, a bill that would change the way Strafford County commissioners are elected will return to the New Hampshire Legislature for another attempt at passage.

HB 75, a bill that would create districts in the Strafford County commission race in 2024, rather than electing the three highest vote getters countywide, recently failed to move forward. Instead, it was referred to a committee of conference, which met June 21.

The committee of conference needed a unanimous vote to approve moving the bill forward. That failed when two Democrats on the committee, Senate Minority Leader Donna Soucy of Manchester and Rep. Laurel Stavis of West Lebanon, opposed it.

Then an amendment was proposed by Sen. James Gray, R-Rochester, a sponsor of the redistricting bill. It would put current longtime Strafford County Commission Chairman George Maglaras in the same district as Deanna Rollo, another veteran commissioner. Both are Democrats. The new districts Gray proposed also split the county's two largest cities, Dover and Rochester, so each city was part of two districts. This amendment was not supported.

In another effort to move HB 75 forward, this time a successful one, the committee replaced the two opposing Democratic legislators with two Republicans.

With only Republicans on the committee, the unanimous vote was achieved and the bill will go the House and Senate a new vote.

"They have the right to do this," Maglaras said, referencing Republicans kicking Democrats off the committee. "It's a game, and apparently they are going to keep pushing."

Democrats traditionally dominate Strafford County commissioner elections. Maglaras, who has served since 1983, is joined on the current commission by Democrats Robert Watson and Rollo. All were reelected in 2022, defeating Republican opponents. The last Republican commissioner was in office in 2011-12, according to county records.

County commissioners are the Executive Branch of the county government, overseeing the day-to-day operations of the county, such as the nursing home and jail.

Maglaras believes constitution is on his side

If Strafford County is redistricted, Maglaras said, he will challenge its constitutionality at the New Hampshire Supreme Court. Soucy has also spoken against the legislation, calling it "partisan politics and gerrymandering at its worst."

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 of the Senate, House and governor's office. Numerous election districts were changed in New Hampshire, but no changes were made to the Strafford County commissioner election maps at that time.

In proposing the bill, Gray stated he believes districts would make county elections a better process.He said Strafford County elects county commissioners in a different way than the rest of New Hampshire's counties, and he feels it should be brought in line.

"All the other commissioners are elected by district," Gray said previously. "The voters in each district get a say. In Strafford County, the voters of the entire county choose the three at-large commissioners. This legislation is a critical step towards creating smaller, fairer districts that serve the best interests of our constituents."

Maglaras said state lawmakers need to wait for the next 10-year cycle to make changes.

"The overriding issue for me is still the unconstitutionality of doing this, of just deciding to try and do it after it would have been appropriate," Maglaras said. "In my opinion, the testimony at the (committee of conference) in support of this was nothing but a pack of lies and distortions."

In support of the bill, Gray has referred to state laws, stating RSA 653 shows Strafford County differs from all other New Hampshire counties by not having districts for its commissioner elections. He also referred to RSA 662, which includes a definition for electoral districts.

"I believe the county commissioners should be elected at large in every (county), just as the governor is elected by the entire state," Maglaras said. "In order to divide Strafford County into three districts, you will need to divide cities, because to do this would be based on population."

This article originally appeared on Fosters Daily Democrat: NH lawmakers to vote Strafford County Commission election change