Republican Kelly Ayotte defeated Democrat Joyce Craig to become New Hampshire’s next governor.

Ayotte won the Republican primary after current governor Chris Sununu announced he will not seek reelection.

Ayotte, an attorney and former U.S. Senator, secured 53% of the vote.

The Office of Secretary of State recently updated their list of 2024 election law changes. Changes include mandating all political committees other than candidate committees to file reports electronically as of November 27. Effective January 1, 2025, corporations and individuals are permitted to contribute $15,000 to candidates and $30,000 to PACs or political parties per election cycle. An election cycle begins on the 22nd day after a state general election and goes through 21 days after the next state general election. Previously, contribution limits were per election phase.

Secretary of State David Scanlan announced January 23 as the date of its presidential primary, eight days after the Iowa caucuses and defying the Democratic National Committee’s plans to give South Carolina the party’s first primary contest.

New Hampshire has held its first in the nation primary status for more than a century.

In 1975, the state enacted a law that required the primary to take place at least seven or more days before any other state.

Biden’s name will be missing from the New Hampshire presidential primary ballot this year, and they face a potential loss of delegates to the Democratic convention, for not following the party’s new order.

New Hampshire Rep. Troy Merner has announced his resignation.

New Hampshire law requires a member of the House to live in the district they represent.

Following an investigation, Merner was found to be living in another district for over a year.

State Rep. David Cote (Hillsborough District 3) resigned on Wednesday, July 5.

Cote was first elected to the state’s House of Representatives in the 1980s and was never sworn in after winning the 2022 election due to health concerns.

In 2021, he was among the plaintiffs in a federal lawsuit arguing that requiring ill lawmakers to attend in person during the coronavirus pandemic violated the Americans with Disabilities Act.

A federal judge denied the plaintiffs request for a preliminary injunction, and the case remains unsettled. With his resignation, the Legislature now has three vacant seats.

The House and Senate adjourned sine die on June 29 after passing legislation relating to the environment and elections.

House Bill 281 removes the requirement that small scale energy generators like solar farms be located in the same municipality as their customers.

Senate Bill 61 directs state regulators to develop new rules specific to the site where a landfill is proposed to keep landfills away from bodies of water.

Senate Bill 157 requires the secretary of state to conduct audits of a certain number of ballot counting machines after state primaries, general elections, and presidential primaries.

Lastly, Senate Bill 70 establishes an election information portal and allows grants to be given to cities and towns for the purchase of election equipment.

A special election has been scheduled to be held on February 21 in New Hampshire.

The special election is necessary after the Rochester House race between Republican David Walker and Democrat Rep. Chuck Grassie ended in a tie earlier this year.

New Hampshire Lawmakers will return to session on September 15 to decide whether to override eight vetoes issued by Gov. Sununu.

Because the veto session follows the state’s primary elections, some senators and representatives may participate even after losing their primaries.

In addition to considering veto overrides, lawmakers will also consider new legislation related to fuel assistance payments.

New Hampshire Gov. Chris Sununu signed Senate Bill 348 codifying the attorney general’s interpretation of state campaign finance limits.

Contribution limits apply to each of the three phases of the election cycle: the exploratory phase, the primary election, and the general election.

Individuals and corporations are permitted to contribute up to $5,000 per election phase to candidates and candidate committees and up to $10,000 per election phase to non-candidate political committees and political parties.

Under the new campaign finance limits, non-candidate political committees and political parties will be able to contribute an unlimited amount to other non-candidate political committees and political parties.

Senate Bill 348 will take effect on January 1, 2023.

The New Hampshire Attorney General’s Office issued updated guidance related to the state’s campaign finance law.

The guidance clarifies the effects of House Bill 263, which went into effect on September 28, 2021 and finds that under the updated law, there is no contribution limit on the amount of money political advocacy organizations (commonly called PACs) can receive or contribute.

Additionally, though candidates were previously able to establish PACs and fundraise through them, the new guidance prohibits candidates from doing so in the future.

Candidates who registered PACs prior to September 28, 2021 may use the receipts obtained by those committees, but as of that date no new PACs may be established by candidates.

The New Hampshire Attorney General’s Office issued guidance related to the registration of part-time in-house lobbyists.

The office clarified that in-house employees of non-lobbying organizations must register as a lobbyist so long as they engage in some lobbying activities on behalf of their employer.

These employees will also need to report the portion of their wages attributed to the time they and any support staff spend on lobbying activities.

Additionally, the employee is required to disclose any expenditures made by their employer in connection with the employee’s lobbying activities.

Employees meeting these criteria will need to file Addendum A, the state’s lobbying fees and expenses form, prior to engaging in lobbying activities.

New Hampshire Gov. Sununu announced a special election to be held on December 7 to fill the vacant state representative seat for Rockingham County District 6.

The seat was vacated when Rep. Anne Copp moved out of the district this summer.

The winner of the special election will serve the remainder of the term that is set to expire on November 30, 2022.

Effective September 28, New Hampshire House Bill 263 increases contribution limits and reporting, registration, and itemization threshold amounts for political committees.

The bill limits contributions to PACs to $10,000 and raises the registration and reporting threshold for those committees to $1,000 from $500.

Additionally, PACs will need to itemize expenditures and contributions of $50 or greater and provide more detailed information about contributors who give $200 or more, an increase from the current $25 and $100 thresholds.

The New Hampshire General Court stands adjourned until the next call of the chair.

Before adjourning, lawmakers passed House Bill 263, which would repeal voluntary expenditure limits, increase the expenditure and contribution reporting threshold for all political entities, and increase the dollar threshold for reporting by political committees.

The bill now awaits Gov. Sununu’s signature.