On December 7, we were sworn in as your State Representatives. This meeting was critical because the official count was 201-198 Republicans/Democrats with 1 tie – the tightest majority in the history of the NH House! We voted for Sherman Packard (R-Londonderry) as Speaker of the House (205-184 with some democratic votes). The Republicans now officially have majority control, with Jason Osborn (R-Auburn), as the majority leader, and Matt Wilham (D-Manchester), as the minority leader.
The next order of business required a joint session with the Senate to elect the Secretary of State and the State Treasurer. We voted to re-elect David Scanlan for Secretary of State, who won against Melanie Levesque, a former State Senator (237-175). Of special interest was Valerie McDonnell (R-Salem), who seconded the nomination. She is the youngest member of the NH House at 18! An honor that also gave her the call to lead the pledge at the beginning of the session. State Treasurer Monica Mezzapella was uncontested. The joint session was closed.
The last order of business dealt with the tie: Chuck Grassie (D-Rochester) and David Walker (R-Rochester) tied after the recount! We met with Secretary of State Scanlan the day before the session to understand the process. The House gets to decide! Some options are the House votes to break the tie or order a special election. A coin toss could also resolve it. A motion was made to pass HB 6, which would call a special election. After an attempt to table the bill failed by a roll call vote (votes recorded by representative), HB 6 passed by a simple voice vote (vote count not known). These items were the important business of the day. Believe it or not, our total time as a Representative went from 8:00 am – 8:00 pm, with our time at the House being a 7-hour first day!
We want to thank Representative Carol McGuire for inspiring our newsletter, that will be available regularly on our website. Please sign up to receive our newsletter by email! We will do our best to keep you informed.