Ayotte vetoes partisan elections for school offices

Yahoo

08-07-2025

Calling it a 'system that is not broken,' Gov. Kelly Ayotte vetoed legislation to allow any city or town to hold partisan school district elections.
House chair urged lawmakers to let school races be partisan
House Election Laws Chairman Ross Berry, R-Weare, had been a big supporter of the bill to allow any city or town to decide their school district elections would be partisan. Gov. Kelly Ayotte vetoed the bill Monday.
The Republican-led Legislature had approved the bill (HB 356) largely along party lines, after its supporters maintained that it would help voters know the political affiliations of candidates on the ballot.
'This attempts to solve the low voter turnout in smaller towns. High voter turnout is good for democracy,' House Election Laws Committee Chairman Ross Berry, R-Weare, told a Senate panel in May.
'Non-partisan elections often enable candidates to disguise their true intentions. This bill would assist voters in understanding what or who they are voting for.'
Ayotte said the change could be counter-productive.
'Local school board elections are run properly and in a nonpartisan manner, and there is no need to fix a system that is not broken. Making these local elections into partisan fights will create unnecessary division between Granite Staters,' Ayotte wrote in her veto message. 'For the reason stated above, I have vetoed House Bill 356.'
Two-term Rep. Robert Wherry, R-Hudson, authored the bill.
The solid opposition from House and Senate Democrats will ensure Ayotte would win this veto override fight since it would need two-thirds to override her decision.
The House passed the bill on an unrecorded vote of 200-173, which just about mirrored the Republican vs. Democratic attendance in the House on March 27.
In May, the Senate Election Laws and Municipal Affairs Committee surprisingly recommended the bill be killed by a 3-2 count.
School board lobby stayed neutral
When it reached the full Senate days later, however, a move to kill it failed, 13-10, with all GOP senators present voting to keep the bill alive and all Senate Democrats wanting to turn it down.
Sen. Kevin Avard, R-Nashua, was absent for that vote.
Barrett Christina, executive director of the New Hampshire School Boards Association, said the group took no position on the matter.
A partisan election provision for town elections has been a law since 1970, though it has rarely been used, he said.
'Less politics in school is a good thing' Christina said. 'The availability of certain political parties to caucus behind closed doors raises significant concerns for NHSBA.'
Senate's top Democrat warned partisan elections could sow more division
Senate Democratic Leader Rebecca Perkins Kwoka of Perkins said a bill to allow cities and towns to make their school races partisan could lead to more division in the community.
Senate Democratic Leader Rebecca Perkins Kwoka of Portsmouth had raised the argument that partisan elections could lead to more division in the community.
Berry said partisanship already exists in most school elections and the bill would provide more transparency for voters.
Before Berry's House committee, 10 signed up in favor of the bill and 444 against.
There were even fewer signed up to take a stand on the bill before the Senate panel.
What's Next: The House and Senate are likely to return to session this fall for a single day to take up Ayotte vetoes; because this is a House bill, the first test will come in that chamber.
Prospects: Barring abysmal attendance by House Democrats on that day, Ayotte is highly likely to have the veto sustained.
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