New Hampshire Republican Gov. Chris Sununu (R) on Thursday promised to veto another redistricting map proposed by the Republican legislature.
“The citizens of New Hampshire will not accept this map, which moves both members of Congress into the same district. Our races have to be fair, which is why I will veto this map,” the governor claimed.
The redistricting map Sununu has promised to veto would benefit Republicans because it would place two radical Democrat members, Reps. Chris Pappas (D-NH) and Ann McLane Kuster (D-NH), in a head-to-head battle in district 2. It would also remove Pappas from his stronghold in Manchester.
With the map set to be vetoed, the Republican legislature must call a special session or the state’s court will take the map into its own hands and away from Gov. Sununu, a move that some Republicans may welcome.
Sununu, a Republican who is favored by the establishment media, has made it clear he opposes any set of maps that hurt Democrats’ chances of success in the November midterms. After Sununu promised in March to veto the Republican-controlled legislature’s first map, GOP lawmakers were forced to approve another congressional map this month that only slightly advantaged Republicans. That map kept the first congressional district barely red, whereas the GOP’s first map shaped the first congressional district from blue to red.
Still, Sununu said he will oppose any map on grounds that it will lead to a preordained outcome, such as a Republican winning the first district and a Democrat winning the second. “If they keep bringing back bad maps, I’ll keep vetoing bad maps,” Sununu stated. The Granite State is the only state without an active map.
Sununu’s objections are not consistently applied to both Granite State House districts. Throughout the redistricting process, the Republican legislature has shaped the second district as favorable to the Democrats. Until Thursday, Sununu had not objected to the second district’s configuration — only to the first district, where the legislature carved it to lean red.
“The people of New Hampshire are counting on the House Special Committee on Redistricting to deliver a map that holds our incumbents accountable and keeps our districts competitive,” Sununu said in an April press release. “We are still not there.”
Follow Wendell Husebø on Twitter and Gettr @WendellHusebø. He is the author of Politics of Slave Morality.