NEW HAMPSHIRE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

The 'New Hampshire House of Representatives' is the lower house in the New Hampshire General Court. The House of Representatives consists of 400 members coming from 103 districts across the state created from divisions of the state's counties each making up about 3,000 residents for every one legislator. If the same level of representation were present in Congress, the federal U.S. House of Representatives would have approximately 99,000 members according to current population estimates.
Unlike in many state legislatures, there is no clear "aisle" to cross per se, as members of both parties sit partially segregated in five sections, which is then put on the legislator's license plate (chairpersons and party leaders in Green, non-chairs in red). 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.
Historically, the House was dominated by the Republican Party, which held at the end of the 2004-6 session a 249–151 majority. However, even with this 98-vote majority, the Republicans were often divided between the more conservative Republican House Alliance and moderates known as the Main Street Republicans. The division was approximately 141 voting with along RHA lines and 110 voting along Main Street lines if the difference is considered to be the 50% line of the RHA's 2004 scorecard. However, in the 2006 election, the Democrats swept into control of the chamber for the fist time since 1923 and currently hold a wide majority of seats in the House. It is as yet unclear if divisions between the RHA and Main Street Republicans will remain while in the minority.
The new Speaker of the New Hampshire House of Representatives as of January 2007 is Democrat Terie Norelli, the second woman speaker of that body, and first Democratic speaker in eighty-four years.

Contents

Make-up of the House of Representatives

Make-up of the House of Representatives

'Affiliation'		'Members'
	Democratic Party	239
	Republican Party	159
'Total'		'398'
'Government Majority'		'80'