New Hampshire is a state located in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is known for its strong political identity and culture, being one of the most influential states in American politics. The state has a long and storied history with both major political parties, though it was primarily associated with Republicanism throughout the 20th century. In recent years, however, the New Hampshire Democratic Party has seen success in elections as well, having elected several Democratic governors since 2008. This shift towards Democratic rule is credited to New Hampshire's changing demographic landscape, which now includes an influx of more liberal-leaning voters from other parts of the country. The state currently has two U.S. Senators (Jeanne Shaheen and Maggie Hassan), four Congressional Representatives (Chris Pappas, Ann McLane Kuster, Carol Shea-Porter and Frank Guinta), all from the Democratic Party. Additionally, local elections throughout New Hampshire are highly competitive with candidates from both parties often vying for seats on their respective county councils or school boards. New Hampshire's political landscape is constantly shifting but one thing remains certain: politics in this small northeast state are always passionate, intense and well worth watching.
The political climate in New Hampshire is leaning liberal.
In New Hampshire 52.7% of the people voted for the Democratic Party in the last presidential election, 45.4% voted for the Republican Party, and the remaining 1.9% voted for an Independent Party.
In the last Presidential election, New Hampshire remained moderately Democratic, 52.7% to 45.4%.
New Hampshire voted Democratic in the last five Presidential elections, after voting Republican in 2000.
The BestPlaces liberal/conservative index
New Hampshire is leaning liberal.
The BestPlaces liberal/conservative index is based on recent voting in national elections, federal campaign contributions by local residents, and consumer personality profiles.
VoteWord™
Displaying 20 years of Presidential voting, visualized in one word.
New Hampshire, New Hampshire: r d d d d d
How It Works:
Here at BestPlaces, we were looking at the voting patterns since the 2000 election and realized that we could express the results of each election as one letter. R if the Republican Party candidate won, D for the Democrat and I for the Independent. The six elections (2000, 2004, 2008, 2012, 2016, 2020) would be expressed as six-letter word (R R D R R R).
Then we went a little further and added the dimension of magnitude. If the difference of victory was greater than 10 percent, the letter is upper case, and lower case if the difference was less than 10 percent. This allows us to see interesting voting patterns at just a glance.
Here's the VoteWord for Iowa d r d d r r. In the last six elections the state has been closely contested, voting narrowly for the Republican Party candidate in 2016 and 2020 after voting for the Democratic Party in 2008 and 2012. Virginia (r r d d d D) has voted for the Democratic Party in the last four elections.
Individual Campaign Contributions in New Hampshire
In the last 4 years (2018-2021), there were 137,947 contributions totaling $16,071,481 to the Democratic Party and liberal campaigns, averaging $117 per contribution.
In the last 4 years, there were 28,568 contributions totaling $9,296,304 to the Republican Party and conservative campaigns, averaging $325 per contribution.
(source: Federal Election Commission)