New Hampshire

Strafford County, N.H., commissioners challenge newly drawn districts – The Boston Globe

Published

2 years ago

April 17, 2024

Strafford County, N.H., commissioners challenge newly drawn districts – The Boston Globe

Democrats tried but failed to undo HB 75 this year with a bill of their own. It was tabled then died late last month. Now the commissioners are urging the court to expedite their case and issue an order before the candidate filing period in June.

The new boundary lines slice through Strafford County’s two most populous cities, Dover and Rochester, and leave two of the incumbents together in the same district, so they won’t both be able to advance from the Democratic primary to the general election this fall.

George M. Maglaras, who is serving his 20th two-year term on the commission, said the changes were a ploy to ensure that not all the incumbents could win reelection.

“The gerrymandering was done on purpose. … It was designed to destroy the commission,” he said.

Maglaras joined with fellow incumbent commissioners Deanna S. Rollo and Robert J. Watson as plaintiffs in the suit filed Monday against New Hampshire Secretary of State David M. Scanlan and Attorney General John M. Formella.

A spokesperson for Scanlan referred questions Tuesday to Formella’s office, and a spokesperson for Formella said the attorney general’s office was reviewing the lawsuit but would not comment on pending litigation.

While Democrats have slammed HB 75 as a partisan power grab, the law’s proponents contend it corrected a problem and made election rules in Strafford County more closely resemble New Hampshire’s other nine counties, which already had commissioner districts.

Senator James P. Gray, a Republican from Rochester, rejected the notion that he or anyone else who supported HB 75 had done so with nefarious intent. This is about ensuring the voices of voters are heard, he said.

“The population of Strafford County is more concentrated in the southern part of the county, and right now that population does not share all of the political views of the people in the northern part of the county,” he said.

Some constituents had complained about their inability to get candidates elected who align with their views, so adding in the districts helps to further localize electoral representation, Gray said.

The three GOP candidates who ran in 2022 did not win a single seat, even though they carried about 41 percent of the countywide vote.

Republican Representative Len Turcotte of Barrington told his colleagues last June that HB 75 would put an end to a decades-long trend of “de facto gerrymandered elections” in Strafford County.

The debate over the merits of HB 75 as a tool to enhance representation might be irrelevant, however, to the outcome of this lawsuit. The central allegation in this case is procedural: The commissioners allege state lawmakers lacked authority to draw any new county commissioner districts in 2023 because such maps were already finalized in 2022 through the once-a-decade redistricting process.

“So that voters and elected officials may have stability and continuity in the electoral process, once a valid redistricting law has been enacted, the legislature cannot redistrict again until after the next census,” the plaintiffs’ attorney, William E. Christie, said in a statement.

Maglaras said HB 75 sets a terrible precedent that could unleash confusion and turmoil whenever legislative power in Concord shifts from one party to the other.

“It’s going to create chaos,” he said.

Gray said the concerns about HB 75 are misplaced. He contends lawmakers had every right to add districts where there had previously been none, and now that the districts are in place, they are locked in.

“I consulted several attorneys that said that ‘districting’ and ‘redistricting’ are separate things, and that it was perfectly legal to district an entity that had not been districted before,” he said.

“But now that it is districted, there would be a prohibition against redistricting it until the next census,” he added.

A spokesperson for House Speaker Sherman A. Packard said the legislature can propose to modify or repeal HB 75 like any other law, and the question of its constitutionality is now in the court’s hands.

County commissioners across New Hampshire are generally tasked with oversight of county government departments and budgetary matters. Some serve two-year terms. Others serve four-year terms that may be staggered.

While commissioners must live in the districts they represent, not all them are elected solely by the voters in their district — in Carroll and Sullivan counties, each district’s commissioner is picked through a countywide vote.

Steven Porter can be reached at steven.porter@globe.com. Follow him @reporterporter.

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New Hampshire

New photo released in unsolved 1997 homicide of a N.H. woman

Published

2 hours ago

March 2, 2026

Press Room

New photo released in unsolved 1997 homicide of a N.H. woman

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“Our family wants to know what happened, who did this and why,” said the family of the victim.

A new photo has been released of the victim in a nearly 30-year-long unsolved murder case, in the hope of finding any new potential witnesses in the cold case, New Hampshire officials said.

“Our family wants to know what happened, who did this and why,” the family of Rosalie Miller said in a press release. “We miss her and want to give her peace.”

Miller was last seen on December 8, 1996 at her apartment in Manchester. At the time of her disappearance, Miller had plans on meeting friends in the Auburn, New Hampshire area, officials said.

Her body was found on January 20, 1997 in a partially wooded spot on a residential lot along the Londonderry Turnpike in Auburn, officials said in the release.

The autopsy report declared Miller’s death a homicide by asphyxiation due to ligature strangulation, N.H. officials wrote.

As part of a new effort to garner public help with the case, an “uncirculated” photo of Miller, 36, is being distributed “in hopes it may jog the memory of someone who saw or spoke with her in the winter of 1996,” Attorney General John M. Formella and New Hampshire State Police Colonel Mark B. Hall announced on behalf of the New Hampshire Cold Case Unit in a joint press release.

Investigators are especially hoping to talk to anyone who was in contact with Miller in December of 1996 or anyone “who may have seen her in the vicinity of the Londonderry Turnpike in Auburn during that time,” officials said in the release.

The newly released photo of Rosalie Miller, 36, who was strangled to death nearly 30 years ago. – Attorney General John M. Formella and New Hampshire State Police Colonel Mark B. Hall

“We are releasing this new photograph today because we believe someone out there has information, perhaps a detail they thought was insignificant at the time, that could be the key to solving this case and bringing justice for Rosalie and those who loved her,” Senior Assistant Attorney General R. Christopher Knowles, New Hampshire Cold Case Unit Chief said in the release.

The New Hampshire Cold Case Unit encourages anyone with any amount of information to contact the group at [email protected] or (603) 271-2663.

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New Hampshire

Former president of NH-based charity sentenced after stealing $350K

Published

14 hours ago

March 1, 2026

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Former president of NH-based charity sentenced after stealing 0K

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New Hampshire

Mass. man struck by car, seriously injured on I-93 in Londonderry, NH

Published

1 day ago

March 1, 2026

Press Room

Mass. man struck by car, seriously injured on I-93 in Londonderry, NH

A Massachusetts man was flown to the hospital after he was struck by a car when he stepped out of his vehicle in the breakdown lane of Interstate 93 in Londonderry, New Hampshire, on Saturday morning.

State police say 40-year-old Felix Matos Medina, of Lawrence, had stopped on the right side of I-93 south at Exit 5 just before 11 a.m. to investigate a possible mechanical issue. He was struck shortly after he stepped out of his vehicle by a Chevrolet Malibu and sustained serious injuries.

Medina was taken by medical helicopter to Lahey Hospital and Medical Center in Burlington, Mass., police said. There was no immediate update on his condition.

I-93 southbound was closed near Exit 5 for about 30 minutes to facilitate the medical helicopter’s landing. One lane remained closed for several hours to accommodate crash reconstruction and on-scene investigation.

The driver who struck Medina, identified as David Jodoin, stopped at the scene and is cooperating with investigators, according to police. No charges have been filed at this time, but all aspects of the crash remain under investigation at this time.

Anyone with information that may assist the investigation is asked to contact Trooper Evan Puopolo at 603-451-9784.

State police are also reminding all New Hampshire drivers that Sherrill’s Law requires motorists approaching a stopped vehicle displaying warning signals to slow down and give plenty of space. Drivers are also required to move out of partially or wholly blocked lanes when it’s safe to do so.

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