New Hampshire General Court


The General Court of New Hampshire is the bicameral state legislature of the U.S. state of New Hampshire. The lower house is the New Hampshire House of Representatives with 400 members. The upper house is the New Hampshire Senate with 24 members.

General Court of New Hampshire
Type
Type
Bicameral
HousesSenate
House
Leadership
Donna Soucy (D)
since December 5, 2018
Senate Majority Leader
Dan Feltes (D)
since December 5, 2018
Steve Shurtleff (D)
since December 5, 2018
House Majority Leader
Douglas Ley (D)
since December 5, 2018
Structure
Seats424
24 senators
400 representatives
Political groups
  •      Democratic (14)
  •      Republican (10)
Political groups
Elections
Last election
November 6, 2018
Next election
November 3, 2020
Meeting place
New Hampshire State House
Website
gencourt.state.nh.us

During the 2016-2018 session the New Hampshire General Court was controlled by the Republican Party, with a 14-10 majority in the Senate and a 216-176 majority in the House. In November 2018 Democrats won control of the New Hampshire General Court by winning a 14-10 majority in the Senate and a 233-167 majority in the House. The General Court convenes in the New Hampshire State House in downtown Concord.

The State House opened in 1819. The House of Representatives continues to meet in its original chambers, making Representatives Hall the oldest chamber in the United States still in continuous legislative use. When numbered seats were installed in Representatives Hall, the number thirteen was purposely omitted in deference to triskaidekaphobia.

The annual pay for legislators is set by law at $100.00.[1]

House of Representatives
Main article: New Hampshire House of Representatives

The House of Representatives consists of 400 members coming from 204 districts across the state created from divisions of the state's counties, each making up about 3,000 residents for every one legislator.

Unlike many legislative chambers, there is no central "aisle" to cross. Instead there are five sections with aisles between them. Party seating location is not enforced, as seating is often decided on the personal preference of the legislator, except in the case of the sixth section, which is the speaker's seat at the head of the hall.

Composition of the House of Representatives
Affiliation Members
  Democratic Party 233
  Republican Party 165
  Independent 1
  Vacant 1
 Total
 400
 Majority
 66

New Hampshire Senate
Main article: New Hampshire Senate
New Hampshire Senate Districts for the 160th Session, with Republican seats in red and Democratic seats in blue

The New Hampshire Senate has been meeting since 1784. It consists of 24 members representing Senate districts based on population. Currently, there are 10 Republicans and 14 Democrats in the Senate.

Composition of the Senate
Affiliation Members
  Democratic Party 14
  Republican Party 10
 Total
 24
 Majority
 4

Media coverage

The New Hampshire State House press covers the New Hampshire State House for newspapers, news services and other news-gathering operations. The New Hampshire General Court website has calendars and journals for both the House and the Senate.

Pew Research Center in 2014 reported New Hampshire had one of the nation's smallest statehouse press corps, with five full-time reporters and an additional nine part-time reporters.[2]

References
  1. "Stateline". www.stateline.org. Retrieved 3 April 2018.
  2. "America's Shifting Statehouse Press" (PDF). Pew Research Center. July 10, 2014. Retrieved December 29, 2018.
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