Massachusetts Immigrants Keeping New Hampshire Conservative
I can’t remember if I’ve linked to this story before or not but here it is anyway. I found it via a Facebook group message I was reading and I wanted to make sure I linked to it as it destroys the myth of New Hampshire turning liberal because of Massachusetts people moving into New Hampshire.
It turns out that a lot of the MA people moving to New Hampshire are voting to keep New Hampshire free and have helped prevent it from becoming a clone of Taxachusetts.
If the southern tip of New Hampshire, that part of the state closest to Boston, were to be split off and made into a separate state, which of the two New Hampshires would Republicans dominate?
Surprisingly, it would be the section full of Massachusetts transplants and which is sometimes derisively called “Massahampshire.”
New Hampshire as a whole is turning blue. Last year voters replaced both of the state’s Republican congressmen, Charlie Bass and Jeb Bradley, with Democrats. The GOP also lost control of both houses of the legislature for the first time since 1911.
And yet Massachusetts transplants, while they may have turned the southern portion of the state into a suburban stretch of chain stores and clogged highways, are the primary reason the GOP remains competitive in the state. They are also Republican Sen. John Sununu’s largest base of support as he seeks to defend his seat against Democrat Jeanne Shaheen, a popular former governor, next year.
The most solidly Republican towns and cities in New Hampshire run along the border with Massachusetts. Cities like Salem and towns like New Ipswich are filled with registered Republicans who fled Taxachusetts and who actually want to keep New Hampshire a low-tax, low-regulation state.
We’ll see in the fall if the Republicans have managed to make up any lost ground. Lynch has to run on a record of high spending, increased fees and taxes, etc. And even if he’s reelected, it may hurt down-ticket Democrats and might push a few pubbies into office.
Related posts:
- Massachusetts Republican Party Doomed
- Gun Licensing in Massachusetts
- Massachusetts Sucks: Why I Left Massachusetts and Moved to New Hampshire
- Why Massachusetts Sucks
- Massachusetts Home Prices Falling…Liberal Democrats Might Leave New Hampshire
You are absolutely right that people escape from Mass, they don’t want to rebuild it here. The problem places are the college areas and Concord.
Dan
Well maybe more people will come up here, Dan. I think Deval’s election really was the straw that broke the camel’s back for a lot of people.
And then the stupid socialist health care law that Romney signed, etc. A lot of people are just tired of it and don’t want to live that way any more.