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(Redirected from New Hampshire legislature) Bicameral legislature of New Hampshire Not to be confused with New Hampshire Supreme Court.

General Court of New Hampshire
Coat of arms or logo
Type
TypeBicameral
HousesSenate
House of Representatives
Leadership
Senate PresidentSharon Carson (R)
since December 4, 2024
House SpeakerSherman Packard (R)
since January 6, 2021
Structure
Seats424
24 senators
400 representatives
Political groups
Political groups
Elections
Last electionNovember 5, 2024
Next electionNovember 3, 2026
Meeting place
New Hampshire State House
Concord
Website
gencourt.state.nh.us

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, and the upper house is the New Hampshire Senate with 24 members. This ratio of one Senate seat for every 16.67 House seats makes New Hampshire's ratio of upper house to lower house seats the largest in the country.

The General Court convenes in the New Hampshire State House in downtown Concord, 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.

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

As of January 2025, the composition of the House of Representatives is:

Affiliation Members
  Republican Party 221
  Democratic Party 177
  Independent 1
  Vacant 1
 Total
400
 Majority
44

New Hampshire Senate

Main article: New Hampshire Senate

The New Hampshire Senate has been meeting since 1784. It consists of 24 members representing Senate districts based on population. As of the 2025–26 legislative session, there are 16 Republicans and 8 Democrats in the Senate.

Composition of the Senate

Affiliation Members
  Republican Party 16
  Democratic Party 8
 Total
24
 Majority
8

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.

See also

References

  1. Fader, Carole (October 13, 2012). "Fact Check: New Hampshire legislators do get a small salary". The Florida Times-Union. Retrieved December 20, 2023.
  2. "America's Shifting Statehouse Press" (PDF). Pew Research Center. July 10, 2014. Retrieved December 29, 2018.

External links

Members of the New Hampshire Senate
168th General Court (2022–2024)
President of the Senate
Jeb Bradley (R)
President pro tempore
James Gray (R)
Majority Leader
Sharon Carson (R)
Minority Leader
Donna Soucy (D)
  1. Carrie Gendreau (R)
  2. Timothy Lang Sr. (R)
  3. Jeb Bradley (R)
  4. David Watters (D)
  5. Suzanne Prentiss (D)
  6. James Gray (R)
  7. Daniel Innis (R)
  8. Ruth Ward (R)
  9. Denise Ricciardi (R)
  10. Donovan Fenton (D)
  11. Shannon Chandley (D)
  12. Kevin Avard (R)
  13. Cindy Rosenwald (D)
  14. Sharon Carson (R)
  15. Becky Whitley (D)
  16. Keith Murphy (R)
  17. Howard Pearl (R)
  18. Donna Soucy (D)
  19. Regina Birdsell (R)
  20. Lou D'Allesandro (D)
  21. Rebecca Kwoka (D)
  22. Daryl Abbas (R)
  23. Bill Gannon (R)
  24. Debra Altschiller (D)
Members of the New Hampshire House of Representatives
168th General Court (2023–present)
Speaker of the House
Sherman Packard (R)
Deputy Speaker
Steven D. Smith (R)
Speaker pro tempore
Laurie Sanborn (R)
Majority Leader
Jason Osborne (R)
Minority Leader
Matthew Wilhelm (D)
State of New Hampshire
Concord (capital)
Topics
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Towns
Townships
flag New Hampshire portal
Legislatures of the United States
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