New Hampshire

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1 Introduction
2 New Hampshire Congressional Delegation
3 State Government
4 Cities & Counties
5 Elections
6 News, Etc
7 Organizations
8 Political Blogs
9 See also

Introduction

New Hampshire, the 'granite state', is located in northern New England. New Hampshire borders on Maine, Massachusetts, Vermont, and Quebec. It also has a small coastline, approximately 18 miles long.

New Hampshire holds the distinction of being the earliest state to hold a presidential primary in the nation, shortly after the Iowa caucus. In the 2004 primary, held in late January, John Kerry defeated Howard Dean in the Democratic Party primary (George W. Bush ran essentially unopposed on the Republican side).

NH was considered a swing state in the 2004 presidential election, having voted for Bush by a plurality in 2000. In the past the Republican Party usually won statewide elections, but John Kerry carried the state by a narrow majority in 2004.

NH is divided into ten counties, further divided into 13 cities, 223 towns, and 22 unincorporated places. County government, as in the rest of New England, is very weak, with the cities and towns handling most of the duties of local government.

The governor of New Hampshire is elected to a two-year term. There is no position of lieutenant governor. The current governor is John Lynch, a Democrat, elected to his first term in 2004. Compared to most states the governor in NH has relatively little power. Most State agency heads are appointed for five year terms. (The Governor appoints - the Executive Council must approve). This means that the commissioners appointed by a prior governor might well continue to control an agency for the entire first term of a new Governor.

The Executive Council is a mix of the U.S. Senate and a city council, approving (or rejecting) the governor's nominations and approving all state financial transactions above $5000. (For a complete listing of the Council's duties, click here.) There are five Executive Councilors, each of whom is elected every two years.

New Hampshire Congressional Delegation

Senate
- Senior Senator: Judd Gregg, (R) (son of late former governor Hugh Gregg)
- Junior Senator:John E. Sununu, (R) (John E. Sununu, son of former governor John H. Sununu)
House of Representatives
- NH-01 Rep.: Carol Shea-Porter (D)
- NH-02 Rep.: Paul Hodes (D)

US Congressional Delegations from New Hampshire (Wikipedia)

State Government

Executive Branch
- Governor: John Lynch (D)
- Executive Council:
  - District 1: Raymond S. Burton (R-Bath)
  - District 2: John D. Shea (D-Nelson)
  - District 3: Beverly A. Hollingworth (D-Hampton)
  - District 4: Raymond Wieczorek (R-Manchester)
  - District 5: Debora Pignatelli (D-Nashua)
- Secretary of State: William M. Gardner (D)
- Treasurer : Michael Ablowich (R)
- Attorney General: Kelly Ayotte (R)