I wrote about the redistricting of Keene state representative districts last month– Redistricting committee leaves Keene in suspense. The suspense has now ended, and the results caught many people (including myself) by surprise.
Right now Keene has seven state representatives, all representing the entire city of Keene. In the earlier blog, I wrongly predicted that, after redistricting, each of Keene’s 5 wards would have its own state representative, due to a constitutional amendment which took effect in 2006. As it turns out, it was basically impossible to fulfill the requirements of that amendment while also satisfying federal restrictions. Federal law supersedes state law, so the New Hampshire constitutional amendment was ignored in some cases.
Wards 1, 4, and 5 will each have their own representatives. Wards 2 and 3, along with Roxbury, will share two representatives, and all of Keene, plus Roxbury, will elect two at-large representatives.
You can see the map for Cheshire County below:
(Click to enlarge.)
I’ve listed the incumbents and former state representatives who are, to my knowledge, interested in running, along with their wards. It will be interesting to see where they choose to run now that the Keene district has been divided.
Cynthia Chase – 5
Sam Hawkes – 5
Gladys Johnsen – 4
David Meader – 3
Tim Robertson – 3
Kris Roberts – 1
Chuck Weed – 2
Mainstream Democratic Party activists will likely want to organize candidates so that incumbents are running in every district, in order to make it harder for competitors (either within the party, in the primaries, or from the Republican Party, in the general election). But incumbents aren’t puppets of mainstream party activists, and they may have other goals.
You can find information about many of these people at Free Keene’s voter info page.
