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.

New Hampshire Gov. Sununu approved two special elections on June 30 to fill empty seats in Cheshire District 9 and Hillsborough District 7.

If there is more than one candidate filed for either political party, the towns in that district are scheduled to hold a primary election on September 7 and the general election on October 26.

If only one person from each political party files for the position, there will be no primary and the general election will proceed on September 7.

The Concord City Clerk’s Office announced a special election for City Council Ward 4 to be held on Tuesday, July 13.

The seat is vacant after former Councilor Meredith Hatfield resigned her position due to moving out of the city.

The winner of the special election will serve the remainder of Hatfield’s term until the end of 2021.

A special election for April 13 has been set to fill a vacancy in New Hampshire House District Hillsborough 21.

The primary is scheduled for February 23, but may serve as the general election if no primary is required.

The filing deadline for candidates is January 15.

The inauguration ceremony for New Hampshire Gov. Chris Sununu previously scheduled for Thursday, January 7 has been canceled due to safety concerns.

A small inauguration ceremony will instead take place the same evening followed by Sununu’s inaugural address at 7 p.m.

Just one week after accepting the nomination as speaker of the New Hampshire House, Rep. Dick Hinch has died of COVID-19.

Hinch’s deputy Sherman Packard will serve as acting speaker until at least January 6, 2021, when the full House is scheduled to meet again and name a successor.

On November 3, incumbent Chris Sununu won reelection for his third term as Governor of New Hampshire.

Gov. Sununu defeated Democrat challenger Dan Feltes, the state Senate majority leader.

Gov. Sununu easily won reelection by receiving a projected 65% of the vote.