The GOP grew its ranks by 21 seats, and 70% of those came by unseating 15 House Democrats.

Conversely, only three House Republicans lost their seats.

The biggest flip came in Hillsborough County, where Democrats lost four incumbents (Reps. Ben Baroody and Juliet Smith of Manchester, Judi Lanza of Goffstown and Frances Nutter-Upham of Nashua) while Republicans lost one (Rep. Will Infantine of Manchester).

The other Republicans to lose were first-term Reps. Jonathan Stone of Claremont and Sherry Gould of Bradford.

Stone became a big target for Democrats after personnel reports surfaced that as a former Claremont police officer he had threatened his superiors.

As we’ve reported, the other big shift was in Coos County, where Democrats lost three seats in Berlin (Reps. Corine Cascadden, Henry Noel and Eamon Kelley).

Among the defeated state reps, five had more than 10 years of service in the House while seven were serving in their first term.

EFA universal expansion is not a done deal

Though it’s a big priority for Gov.-elect Kelly Ayotte, there’s no guarantee that the Republican-led Legislature will hand her legislation that would provide universal access to Education Freedom Accounts (EFAs), the taxpayer funded education grants that allow families to send their children to private, religious, home or alternative public schools.

Outgoing Senate President Jeb Bradley, R-Wolfeboro, lost in his push for a “means test” to determine eligibility for the program so parents that became uber-wealthy couldn’t hold onto the grants.

Incoming Senate President Sharon Carson, R-Londonderry, is said to have her own concerns about going too far with EFA expansion.

One issue is the cost of universal access to a reform that’s already proved to cost much more than had been expected, thanks to its popularity.

Watch for House Majority Leader Jason Osborne, R-Auburn, and his team to push universal access with the hope that it would lead to a significant change also clearing the upper chamber.

One option to limit EFAs’ impact on the next state budget would be to follow the lead of North Carolina. Lawmakers in that state allowed all families to apply for their education vouchers under a lottery program that places an annual cap on the number of grants given out.

Sununu decides to reduce his future footprint

Retiring Gov. Chris Sununu has decided not to make two major appointments in the final weeks in office.

Believe me, if Ayotte had lost on Nov. 5 to Democrat Joyce Craig, Sununu would have gone ahead and renominated Attorney General John Formella and Education Commissioner Frank Edelblut to four-year terms, assuming they wanted to continue.

In the campaign, Craig said her first act if elected would be to ask Edelblut to resign.

The terms for both Edelblut and Formella expire in March, which is within the legal window in which a governor can renominate an incumbent while still in office.

Sununu said Ayotte won the right to make those calls.

As a former AG herself, Ayotte has many close allies in the legal community that she could tap for that role.

On many fronts, Formella has had Sununu’s back over the years, first as legal counsel and then as AG.

Edelblut hasn’t said publicly if he wants a second four years atop the Department of Education.

By next March, Edelblut will have a very good idea about whether the EFA reform is in the cards, and that could affect his decision.

Status quo for NHGOP party leadership

The Republican State Committee will hold its annual meeting on Jan. 25 at Inter-Lakes High School in Meredith.

The agenda will include electing party leaders and debating amendments to party bylaws.

All signs point to the party leadership remaining in place under Chairman Chris Ager of Amherst, Republican National Committeeman Bill O’Brien of Manchester and Committeewoman Mary Jane Beauregard of Wilton.

Dems get pushback for opening message

The initial presentations from House and Senate Democratic leaders didn’t go over well with the opposition parties.

“We have every reason to believe Republicans will continue down the path of restricting our freedoms, raising our property taxes and making it harder for our families to thrive,” said incoming House Democratic Leader Alexis Simpson of Exeter in a video posted on X last week.

Incoming Senate Democratic Leader Rebecca Perkins Kwoka said Democrats in both chambers will fight to “protect working families from the enormous budget and program cuts that are surely to come.”

The response from the New Hampshire Committee to Elect House Republicans was, “The video is crooked — just like their agenda, candidates, and ideology #NHPolitics.”

Many were DC-bound this past week

With the elections out of the way, many New Hampshire politicos headed to Washington for social and political activities.

Sen. Perkins Kwoka and outgoing House Democratic Leader Matt Wilhelm of Manchester attended the NewDEAL post-election conference for “pro-growth progressive” leaders while Rep. and defeated Senate candidate Emily Phillips, R-Fremont, went to the Young Americans for Liberty conference.

Defeated Senate Democratic Leader Donna Soucy of Manchester and Wilhelm were invited guests for the White House ceremony last Thursday honoring the Boston Celtics as NBA champions.

Republicans technically lose a House seat

The House GOP majority dropped by one, 221-178, with three-term state Rep. Aidan Arkarberg, R-Rochester, changing his party registration to independent, though it’s unlikely to have any political impact.

In March 2023, Ankarberg had a disagreement with the House GOP leadership and in protest resigned accusing some unidentified members of “vicious slander, coercion and outright incompetence.”

“When voices of dissent are belittled and coerced into silence we cannot claim to truly represent the caucus let alone our constituents,” Ankarberg said at the time. “All voices must be respected and listened to and that is simply not the case from on high at this time.”

A short time before leaving his leadership post, Ankarberg was also one of five House Republican to oppose a bill (HB 367) to expand eligibility for families to receive taxpayer-paid Education Freedom Accounts (EFAs).

Gov. Chris Sununu signed that bill that raised the income limit from 300% to 350% of the federal poverty level.

Even after leaving leadership, Ankarberg voted pretty consistently with House GOP leaders as a member of the House Election Laws Committee in the last session.

Pappas gets bill to honor late Derry chief

U.S. Rep. Chris Pappas, D-N.H., urged President Joe Biden to sign without delay his legislation the U.S. Senate passed last week to designate the East Derry Post Office in honor of the late Derry Police Chief Edward B. Garone.

For 50 years, Garone ran the Derry department during a law enforcement career of 58 years.

Pappas had spoken on the House floor to speak about Garone’s impact on the community.

“He worked tirelessly to ensure the safety of citizens and the officers he oversaw and to build a better, stronger, safer Derry,” Pappas said.

“The naming of this post office is one small way we can continue to honor his legacy of leadership, professionalism, and excellence in service to the community.”

Garone served a three-year tour of duty in the U.S., Marine Corps and served in the Lebanon Police Department before coming to Derry.

He spearheaded the creation of the state’s first regional special operations unit.

Voter affidavits are history

Republican leaders got some ammunition on Election Day for why it wasn’t such a bad idea to get rid of affidavit ballots.

For decades, New Hampshire has allowed voters to sign affidavits attesting to their domicile, age and citizenship in order to vote here.

Since January 2023, state law has required those who sign these affidavits to return within seven days of the election to show proof of eligibility.

On Election Day, 27 people signed these affidavits and nearly 90% of them, 24, never followed up to offer proof.

As a result, those votes were invalidated.

Most of these affidavits were presented by would-be voters in large towns, cities and college towns across the state.

Gov. Sununu signed a law late last summer to eliminate the affidavits and to require voters here to show proof of citizenship to register and residency/age to vote.

The new law will apply for the first time when people go to the polls for local elections and ballot issues this March and April.

Still waiting on some town voter records

Nearly three weeks after the election, some communities still need to turn in completed paperwork over changes to their voter checklists.

According to Secretary of State David Scanlan’s website, records from Londonderry, Northwood, Wilton and Haverhill were still outstanding.

Fish and Game faces tough budget task

Like her new boss Ayotte, Fish and Game Executive Director Stephanie Simek has to be a quick study on the next two-year state budget as she just came onto the job earlier this month.

During a recent budget hearing before Sununu administration officials, Simek made the case for providing more taxpayer support for her agency.

Simek came to New Hampshire after a long career as a wildlife agency executive in the state of Washington, which has a very robust fishing industry.

In New Hampshire, less than 4% of Fish and Game’s revenue comes from the state budget.

Fish and Game Commissioner Ray Green had told a legislative study panel in July that the agency is going to need 15% to 20% more state support in the future.

Without this support, the agency will have to lay off workers and curtail ongoing programs, state officials said.

“If there are financial cuts to our funding, we will need to likely cut services, and as a new director for an agency that’s mandated to serve the public and our natural resources, reducing services is very concerning to me and will result in collateral and direct negative impacts on our natural resources, our public, and our economy,” Simek told the administrative budget panel.

“I really don’t want to see that happening, so I’m hoping we’ll have your support.”

Much of the shortfall facing Fish and Game has been due to the cost of searches and rescues in recent years.

The Legislature created a voluntary Hike Safe Card program that would ensure anyone holding the $25 annual card would not be billed for a rescue.

Revenues from the sale of these cards haven’t come close to keeping pace with the escalating cost of these life-saving efforts.

Bradley, D’Allesandro get county awards

Both retiring Senate President Bradley and Senate Dean Lou D’Allesandro were honored with awards from the New Hampshire Association of Counties during its recent two-day conference.

Bradley received the Profile in Service Award and had won the group’s legislator of the year award three times.

“Senator Bradley embodies the spirit of the Profile in Service Award through his tireless dedication, commitment to public service and his ability to strike a deal,” said Carroll County Chair Terry McCarthy.

D’Allesandro got the Commissioner Ray Burton Service Award, named in honor of the late executive councilor from the North Country.

Incoming Senate President Carson was named legislator of the year, Hillsborough County Commissioner Toni Pappas got the Edna McKenna Public Service Award and Merrimack County Human Resources Director Sarah Lewko got the President’s Award.

New lobbyist hookup

This is a later-than-planned announcement, but the lobbying unit led by Jodi Gimbrilas has landed a big addition.

Heidi Kroll, formerly with the Gallagher, Callahan and Gartrell outfit will join Grimbilas Strategic Solutions LLC that includes associate Adam Schmidt.

Kroll had represented more than a dozen clients with the Gallagher firm, many of them in the health care, banking and insurance fields.

Ayotte campaign aides join office staff

There’s no early drama in Ayotte’s first picks to staff her office.

Hillsborough County Sheriff Chris Connelly will be Ayotte’s chief of staff while John Corbett, Ayotte’s campaign consultant and chief spokesman, will serve as senior adviser in the office.

Corbett will play a similar role to what Paul Collins for Sununu has over the past eight years.

InvestNH wraps up

Business and Economics Commissioner Taylor Caswell reported the $100 million InvestNH program has led to supporting the construction of 4,657 units of housing across the state.

Sununu created the initiative three years ago with the use of federal American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) dollars.

These include:

• Capital Grant: $64 million, impacted 1,605 new units

• Per Unit Grants: $16.2 million, impacted 1,910 units

• Demolition Grants: $11.5 million, impacted 2,302 units and

• Housing Opportunity Planning Grants: $7.9 million to 67 communities

The state recently kicked off its Housing Champions Program with $15 million in state taxpayer dollars to reward communities that expand access to affordable units.

Caswell also noted that BEA recently launched the new state Housing Champions program and soon will be able to continue to the InvestNH programming thanks to state general funds totaling $15 million.

“This crisis is not going to be solved overnight, but we are working with local leaders to get them the resources they need to match housing needs in their community,” Caswell said.

Sullivan credits two grassroots groups

State Sen.-elect Victoria Sullivan, R-Manchester, credited Young Americans for Liberty and the Republican State Legislative Committee as those groups “who believed in my race” and helped her upset Soucy.

“I am extremely grateful to these organizations. It was also great to see liberty minded young adults who love our country and believe in preserving Liberty so engaged in the election process,” Sullivan said.

YAL started as a young activists’ group for former presidential candidate and congressman Ron Paul.

This connection was likely helpful for Sullivan since one of her strongest New Hampshire supporters, Mike Biundo, is a longtime political adviser to Paul’s son, Sen. Rand Paul, R-Kentucky.

Sullivan was outraised 5 to 1 by Soucy, who had a $260,000 war chest.

More than half of Sullivan’s $47,000 in campaign funding came from herself ($24,669).

Other major donors included the National Pro Life Alliance of Manchester ($5,000), the New Hampshire Liberty Alliance ($2,500), Rep. Carol McGuire, R-Epsom ($2,000) and former GOP Chairman and Concord developer Steve Duprey ($1,000).