New Hampshire Republicans' plans for mid-decade gerrymandering in a key state appear to be dead in the water.
According to Politico, New Hampshire state Sen. Dan Innis "has yanked his own bill that would have kicked off a mid-decade redraw of the state’s two congressional districts in the face of resistance from GOP Gov. Kelly Ayotte." Innis told Politico, “The governor wasn’t that supportive of it since it’s in the middle of the normal redistricting cycle. Rather than create a difficult situation in my own house, the New Hampshire State House, I thought it made sense to save this for another time.”
Innis was previously running for U.S. Senate, but ended his campaign in anticipation of former Sen. John E. Sununu jumping into the race.
Despite a long streak of Democrats winning federal elections in New Hampshire, all but taking the former swing state off the board in presidential contests, Republicans currently hold unified control of the state government.
New Hampshire Republicans have long talked about joining in with other GOP-controlled states, including Texas, Missouri, and North Carolina, in following President Donald Trump's demand to redraw congressional maps in the middle of the decade to give Republicans extra seats. In New Hampshire, one seat favors Democrats and one is more competitive, but Democrats have long controlled both; the idea is to redraw the map with one solidly Democratic and one solidly Republican district. The New Hampshire GOP actually already tried this after the 2021 Census, but it was vetoed by then-GOP Gov. Chris Sununu.
Ayotte, herself a former senator who was elected to the governorship last year, has sometimes clashed with her own party on certain matters, and in particular refuses to move forward with a mid-decade redraw of the maps.
This comes amid reports that Trump's aggressive lobbying campaign for a mid-decade gerrymander of Indiana is also facing headwinds, with most of the state GOP on board but a handful of holdouts in the state Senate rendering the plan stalled.
