GOP Loses, Liberty Advances in New Hampshire Elections

Despite everyone expecting a huge red wave on Tuesday, by the time the votes were counted, there was nothing more than a purple ripple. Republicans were expected to take majorities in the House and Senate. As of Wednesday evening, it seems like the Democrats may not lose control of either chamber of Congress. Throughout the Divided States of America, Democrats performed at least as well as Republicans. In Florida, Republicans outperformed expectations, while Democrats surprised pollsters with big wins in Senate races in Pennsylvania, Georgia, and Colorado. Democrats also won the Governor races in Massachusetts, Maryland, Pennsylvania, Kansas, Michigan, Wisconsin, and Minnesota. But what happened in New Hampshire – the state that has been referred to as blue, red, purple, gold, and just too complicated and unique?

Going into the elections, all four members of New Hampshire’s congressional delegation were Democrats. On Tuesday, Congressmen Pappas (D) was expected to lose his seat to Karoline Leavitt (R). Senator Hassan (D) was expected to be in a nail-biter with Don Bolduc (R). Some even believed that Congresswoman Kuster (D) would face a serious challenge by Robert Burns (R). All three Democrats won reelection by at least seven points, which is generally considered a blowout in American politics. Many New Hampshire voters don’t put much stake in their representation in DC, though. What happened in the state government? 

Coming into Tuesday, the Republicans controlled all four branches of the New Hampshire state government. While Governor Sununu did impose corona-fascism in a terribly unpopular way, the state legislature made great strides for liberty over the past two years. Republican Sununu won reelection by the large (but smaller than 2020) margin, keeping his seat as governor. The Executive council remained in Republican control. The Republicans were hopeful that they might gain supermajorities in one or both chambers. That did not happen. As of this writing, it seems like both the Senate and House may be perfectly split between the two major parties. The Republicans may maintain a slim majority in the House, and they might have a 13-11 majority in the Senate. The voters of the Live Free or Die state clearly repudiated the strong anti-abortion messaging of the GOP. But did they also repudiate liberty? Did the most pro-liberty Republicans win their elections? 

According to the results that are available at the moment, it seems like at least 50 libertarians have been elected or reelected as State Representatives. Americans For Prosperity, a libertarian organization had around 40 of their endorsed candidates win on Tuesday, including numerous first-time legislators. Keith Murphy became the first libertarian to ever win a seat in the New Hampshire Senate (and he represents me!). Many candidates endorsed by the New Hampshire Liberty Alliance and ReOpen New Hampshire have also won their elections. Interestingly, it appears that every legislator who voted in favor of the legislation to place New Hampshire independence on the ballot won on Tuesday. Once again, this demonstrates that supporting the right of Granite Staters to determine their future in the union is not a death-sentence for legislators, as many people wrongly believed. 

Free State Project

Despite unprecedented attacks and seminars against them, free staters performed very well yesterday. The Free State Project is a movement to gather all libertarians throughout the united states who are tired of tyranny and tired of losing. By moving to a state that is already #1 in freedom – and for another 100 reasons – these pro-liberty individuals could help keep New Hampshire peaceful, free, and prosperous. After a few years and thousands of movers, 45 free staters have been elected to the State House. Many were reelected yesterday. It seems like at least five more were elected, which would bring the number to over 50 in total. Even without Republican majorities helping move liberty forward, libertarians in the legislature could work with either party to pass good legislation. If they are forced to work with the Democrats, we could see large gains in the fields of drug decriminalization, police accountability, privacy, and defend the guard legislation may pass. It is unlikely that Democrats will be able to pass any anti-liberty bills. 

Backing up to a broader view of the whole union, again, what does this election mean? Even outside of New Hampshire, libertarian Republicans did very well. It was the more moderate Republicans who lost. And it was abortion that won. Even in Montana, the majority of voters rejected a referendum that would have protected babies who are already born from being killed.

Of course, it also shows us that not all 340 million people are the same. In fact, the people are more divided than ever. While not perfect boundaries, each state grows more unique, and every person continues to resent being controlled by faraway opposition. Texans do not want to be controlled by a Democrat-controlled Congress, especially when dozens of congressmen are from California. And Oregonians don’t want to be controlled by conservatives from Florida. As states continue to polarize, peaceful separation of states from DC becomes more inevitable. Every two years, all Americans must bite their nails on election day (and throughout all of November, now that votes cannot be counted in one day, for some reason) and worry about who controls DC. This is because nearly every decision in their lives is controlled by the DC Empire, as opposed to their own state or municipality or their own desires, as the founders intended. As more individuals become frustrated by being controlled by DC politicians, we will continue to see secession sentiment grow until it cannot be stopped. 

This article does not necessarily reflect the opinions of The Liberty Block or any of its staff. We welcome all forms of serious feedback and debate.