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Strafford County Court and seat of county government where county commissioners meet. (Courtesy photo)
Did you know our Strafford County Commissioners are elected at-large?
This means instead of the county being divided by district with a fairer representation, their race covers the entire county.
Strafford County is the only county in New Hampshire that still uses at-large voting rather than by district. The current system is great for the commissioners but not so good for the people.
Why? Strafford County is made up of three cities and 10 towns.
For instance in the 2022 election in the cities of Dover and Somersworth and town of Durham, the leading Democrat vote-getter received 8,929 more votes than the leading Republican.
By comparison, in Rochester the leading Republican candidate got 48 more votes than the leading Democrat candidate.
In the other nine towns the party vote difference was only 60 votes.
Clearly, as it stands, Somersworth, Dover and Durham are electing which commissioners will represent all of Strafford County..Not fair, not fair at all.
Why?
As a state rep I have seen first hand how more attention at county level is given to the big cities. The mayors of these cities have attended county meetings and, vice versa with at least one commissioner, but I have yet to see a small town selectman at county meetings. Why is that? Is it because the small towns are ignored, not informed, kept out of the loop?
Why is there such a continued dominance of one political party among county commissioners? That's just not fair, especially when you consider that the small towns pay more than $11 million or a third of the county taxes required to finance the county budget?
Example;
Proposed Homeless shelter: Dover Somersworth and Rochester notified and included in the idea and concept. Nothing I am aware of from the other nine towns has been publicly reported.
Proposed $170 million (now $139 million) new County Nursing Home. County Commissioner presence given to Dover, Somersworth, Rochester and Durham as reported in the paper. Silent on if any other town was given the same courtesy.
Proposed County Solar Farm, originally offering solar energy to just Dover and Rochester. No one else would like some reduced cost for solar power?
And the list goes on.
This can change. House Bill 270 will require Strafford County to be divided into three districts for the County Commissioners race. If passed, no more at-large. The smaller towns will finally get their own County Commissioner, instead of having one picked for them by Dover, Somersworth and Durham with their 8,929 'cushion' for one party over the other.
The hearing on the bill was held Wednesday and several state reps from Strafford County testified in favor of it. HB270, now has to be voted out of committee and then go to the full house for a vote.
Please contact your state rep and ask them to vote for what's fair. Tell them to vote for HB 270.
Note: Voter information came from the Secretary of States Office 2022 election results and can differ slightly but not significantly change depending on what candidates you use for comparison.
Cliff Newton is a State Rep for Strafford District 6 and lifelong Rochester resident.
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