DOVER — State Representative Cliff Newton, R-Rochester, is challenging the right of a sitting commissioner and another county resident to run against him in the District 3 Strafford County Commission race.
House Bill 75, signed into law in 2023, divided Strafford County into three districts. Before the bill passed by the Republican-led Legislature and signed by Republican Gov. Chris Sununu, commissioners had been elected at-large by county voters.
As a resident of Rochester, Newton is a resident of District 3. He is being challenged by sitting Commissioner Deanna Rollo, D-Rollinsford, and by Sean M. Leavitt, R-Dover, both of whom reside in District 2.
Newton said Rollo and Leavitt initially filed for candidacy in District 2, changing to District 3 on the last day of the filing period. If Rollo had run in District 2 of the new guidelines, it would have pitted her against current chair George Maglaras, both being residents of District 2.
Newton filed a residency requirement challenge at the New Hampshire Secretary of State's office. A hearing has been scheduled before the Ballot Law Commission on the matter for Tuesday, July 2, at 10 a.m. at the State Archives Building, 9 Ratification Way in Concord.
Rollo and Strafford County Commission Chair George Maglaras said that Newton's interpretation of what transpired is not what happened. Both say Rollo filed for District 3 right from the start.
"I never filed in District 2," said Rollo. "I filed in District 3. What happened was that Assistant Secretary of State Kaley Dion called me and said I made a mistake and that they were changing me to District 2, where I live."
Rollo challenged that, believing there is no statute requiring her to live in the district she files in.
"I already represent these people in District 3, because of the way we were previously elected, as at-large members, representing the entire county," she said. "Secretary of State David Scanlan sought legal advice from the (Secretary of State) attorney, and from the Attorney General. The result was, we were right and so they had to change me back to District 3."
"Secretary Scanlan did not make any changes to Commissioner Rollo’s candidacy," said Anna Sventek, a spokesperson for the SOS office. "He just accepted her declaration to run in a district she does not reside in based on input from the Attorney General's office."
Robert Watson, D-Durham, is the third commissioner not seeking reelection. Rochester resident and city councilor Tim Fontneau, a Democrat, has filed in District 1 to fill that seat. On the Republican side, Joe Pitre of Farmington is challenging Fontneau.
Maglaras is running unopposed.
The current Strafford County Commissioners filed a court challenge to HB 75 after it was signed into law, having opposed the bill ever since it was introduced. They say the law is unconstitutional. The suit contends the state Legislature had no authority to redistrict Strafford County in House Bill 75 because it wasn't done as part of the decennial census redistricting of election maps in New Hampshire and across the country.
"It was heard in Merrimack Superior Court on May 17," said Maglaras. "We are waiting for a ruling."
Since 1865, Strafford County commissioners have been elected at-large, meaning all the people can vote for all the commission candidates, according to the lawsuit. Under the Republican-passed law, three county commissioner districts in Strafford County were created for the 2024 election.
The lawsuit was filed against New Hampshire Secretary of State David Scanlan and New Hampshire Attorney General John Formella.
In 2022, during the decennial census redistricting, the state Legislature passed HB 54, retaining a single district where the three Strafford County commissioners are elected at large. In the 2022 election that followed, Commissioners George Maglaras, Robert Watson, and Deanna Rollo were elected. All three commissioners are Democrats.
Democrats have dominated Strafford County commissioner elections for many years. The last Republican commissioner was in office in 2011-12, according to county records.
In 2023, the Republican-led Legislature passed HB 75, creating three single-member districts, starting with the 2024 election. That would have pit Maglaras and Rollo against one another because they both live in the same newly created district.
HB 75 amended the way county commissioners in Strafford County are elected by creating three districts. District 1 included the towns of Farmington, Middletown, New Durham, wards 1, 5, and 6 of Rochester and wards 1-5 of Somersworth. District 2 includes wards 1-4 in Dover, and the towns of Durham, Lee and Rollinsford. District 3 includes Barrington, wards 5 and 6 of Dover, Madbury and wards 2-4 of Rochester and Strafford.
The suit contends the Legislature can draw new districts only after the census every 10 years. Redistricting of voting maps happens nationally every 10 years, following the once-a-decade census. Numerous election districts were changed in the state during this process, but no changes were made to the Strafford County commissioner election at that time.
Most Popular
Comments / 0