Fourth Time's The Charm? National Democrats Target New Hampshire State House Yet Again

By Michael Graham, NH Journal

The Democratic Legislative Campaign Committee has declared New Hampshire a top target in its campaign to take control of state legislatures in 2026.

“The tide is turning, and voters are ready to hold the GOP accountable this November and build Democratic power in the Granite State,” DLCC President Heather Williams told the Union Leader. “We have a historic opportunity to flip both chambers in New Hampshire for the first time this decade, and the DLCC is proud to throw our full support behind this strong group of candidates.”

The NHGOP’s response: Bring it.

“When at first you don’t succeed, try three more times and burn millions of donor dollars in the process,” said Rep. Joe Sweeney, R-Salem, part of the Committee to Elect House Republicans.

Sweeney and his fellow GOP legislators point to the Democrats’ record of declaring imminent victory before going down to ignominious defeat.

In February 2020, Democrats held both chambers after flipping them in the 2018 election. The DLCC announced an initial slate of five House and five Senate candidates it would support, including incumbent Sens. Shannon Chandley, Melanie Levesque and Jon Morgan.

“Protecting and expanding those majorities will be key to standing up to Gov. Sununu and fighting for further progress in the state,” the organization declared, spending more than $235,000 during the cycle.

Despite Joe Biden carrying the state by eight points at the top of the ticket, Democrats lost both legislative chambers — making New Hampshire the only state to flip to GOP control in the 2020 cycle.

Two years later, the DLCC put New Hampshire back on its target list, with similar results.

“Republican majorities are the most vulnerable in the Minnesota Senate and both chambers in Michigan and New Hampshire,” the DLCC’s 2022 strategy memo read. “These chambers are the best opportunities to gain ground.”

Democrats came close in the House, but the GOP held on to the majority. In the Senate, Democrats failed to pick up a single seat.

In 2024, the organization returned with another confident assessment — and more money.

“New Hampshire is one of the best opportunities for Democrats this year,” Williams said at the time, touting a new $450,000 investment that brought its reported support to roughly $1 million for the cycle.

The results went the other way.

With that track record, Republicans say they’re not impressed by the latest DLCC announcement.

“This is the weakest pitch we’ve seen yet from the DLCC, which tells me that they’ve either given up on New Hampshire as they should or they think they can just phone it in,” said House Majority Leader Jason Osborne, R-Auburn. “Either way, House Republicans are all gas and no brakes until Nov. 3.”

State GOP Chair Scott Maltzie argues that Granite State Republicans have earned another two years in power.

“For a decade, Republican leadership has strengthened the New Hampshire Advantage through lower taxes, responsible spending, and greater economic freedom. Washington Democrats’ answer to affordability is the same tax-and-spend agenda that would make it more expensive to live, work, and raise a family here,” Maltzie said.

“The DLCC’s list of targeted candidates offers more of that agenda. Calling income and sales taxes ‘affordability’ doesn’t make the bills any smaller; it only shrinks our paychecks.”

Even with the headwinds from President Trump’s record-low approval, the state Senate map remains friendly to Republicans. Sen. Regina Birdsell, R-Hampstead, said D.C. Democrats don’t understand how New Hampshire votes.

“How many times do New Hampshire voters need to tell the Washington consultant class that we aren’t interested in their opinion in our state offices?” Birdsell said. “Let’s not forget that these are the same people that took the First in the Nation Primary away from our state. Clearly, national Democrats don’t think much of New Hampshire voters.

“Well, the feeling is mutual, and they are about to go 0-4 trying to change the Granite State into Massachusetts.”

This story was originally published by the NH Journal, an online news publication dedicated to providing fair, unbiased reporting on, and analysis of, political news of interest to New Hampshire. For more stories from the NH Journal, visit NHJournal.com.