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SomeCalcium t1_j38nqk2 wrote

Reply to comment by Novasadog in Pot legalization not part of NH Senate GOP agenda by redditor01020

I believe most of the Dems that have run against Sununu are pro-legalization. I would argue that Hassan/Pappas are running far to the right on the state's lean on issues like minimum wage/marijuana legalization.

NH GOP is pretty much on life support anyways. They're pretty much just coasting on Sununu's coattails. The state has lurched pretty far leftward the past six years. Once Sununus out of office, Dems will take the House and the Senate and likely legalize weed. Executive Council may be out of reach since it's pretty horrifically gerrymandered.

As long as Pappas doesn't run for Governor, we should be fine. Pretty sure he'll be running for Senate once Shaheen retires in 26. She'll be almost 80. I imagine our next Governor will end up being someone like Joyce Craig.

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bonanzapineapple t1_j3an0fn wrote

I think you dramatically overstate how Democratic the NH electorate is. The state legislature is majority Republicans and has been for a couple election cycles. Both parties have viable candidates for most races

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SomeCalcium t1_j3ddf1l wrote

Not really.

State level elections tend to shake out differently than federal elections. That's due, in part, to the fact that the state is gerrymandered in favor of Republicans at the state level. Republicans have also done well coasting off of Sununu's popularity. Democrats did manage to win the House/Senate in 2018, and narrowly lost the house this year (despite it being Republican favored). It's not like the Democrats haven't held the Governors mansion in the past 20 years. Lynch, Shaheen, and Hassan were Democratic governors. Republicans actually had a bit of a rocky time with their candidates up until Sununu.

If you look at federal election results, things are actually pretty dire for Republicans. You can see the results most strikingly in Hillsborough County which contains about 1/3rd of the state's population. Historically, Republicans have done well in suburbs around Manchester, but they've shifted pretty drastically leftward. Goffstown, Bedford, Hooksett, etc. All shifted ten points towards Democrats since 2016. The most striking results is Merrimack, which has shifted 15 points. It's emblematic of how much Republicans have lost in elections nationally. Derry, is also of note since it's pretty deep red and Democrats only lost it by about 2 points this year.

Also of note, Dover, which is one of the bluest cities in the state, has also shifted 15 points towards Democrats and had some of the highest turn out in the state this cycle. That's bleeding over to Rochester, formally a red stronghold, as residents from Portsmouth/Dover are priced out of Dover and move to Rochester. Rochester is pretty purple now which is kind of crazy.

I'm also not convinced that the NH Republicans, which seem to have zero idea of what an electable candidate looks like, won't nominate a Trump candidate for Governor and get blown out by a moderate. If you look at the candidates they've ran for our House and Senate elections, since 2018, they're all crazy people. The strongest people on their bench are like Gatsas and Edleblut, who are both terrible statewide candidates.

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bonanzapineapple t1_j3ftp49 wrote

Oh yeah, their Congressional outlook is not good In the near future. 2020 and 2022 they didn't get close to getting any of the 4 congressional seats. But In many ways I think the state policies more at a day to day level. Especially, in 2023 at least, regarding weed

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KrissaKray t1_j38u8kr wrote

>I imagine our next Governor will end up being someone like Joyce Craig.

Oh god please no. She's messed up Manchester... she should not have the power to screw up the rest of the state.

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SomeCalcium t1_j38vqbu wrote

She's been fine in Manchester. She was dealt a bit of a shitty hand since Gatsas was a terrible mayor, and the homeless problem accelerated due to no fault of her own. She's also been left to tackle the school redistricting issue that Gatsas completely ignored while he was there. Manchester has a bit of a weird system where the Mayor is also head of the school board.

My parents live in Manchester and do a lot of volunteer work. They like her quite a bit.

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KrissaKray t1_j38xav6 wrote

I moved out of Manchester because the last 37392637 years with her as mayor have just sent it right down the toilet. I refused to let my property tax dollars fund that garbage heap of a city.

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SomeCalcium t1_j38y07z wrote

Well, she's not a governor, she's a mayor. She's also only been mayor since 2017 so about six years? Gatsas was mayor from 2009 until he lost to her in 2017 so he was in office for longer than she had been.

edit: I should probably clarify, she started her term in 2018, she was elected in November of 2017. She's still serving her second term and will be up for reelection again this year.

Wait, I'm wrong and my math is bad. It's three terms.

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KrissaKray t1_j390hgo wrote

Sorry I mis"spoke" I fixed it. I was on a rant, wrong words came out lol

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CDogNH t1_j39zx4t wrote

LOL. Forget the weed. You need to get off the crack. She's awful, and it's her fault, not anyone else's.

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