House Democratic Leader Alexis Simpson, D-Exeter
By ZACH LAIRD, InDepthNH.org
CONCORD — Fresh off winning a supermajority in Concord, House Democrats now face a split over who gets to be the next Speaker.
Rep. Jim Maggiore, D-North Hampton, wasted little time after Tuesday’s election before announcing his candidacy for Speaker, challenging House Democratic Leader Alexis Simpson, D-Exeter, at a news conference Friday in Concord.
Simpson’s case for being the next Speaker rests on the fact she helped put together the political machinery Democrats rode to their overwhelming victory on Tuesday night.
“Following our caucus’ losses in the 2020 election, I co-founded and together with a strong team of caucus leaders built the DVCC (Democratic Victory Campaign Committee), which many of you know, is the infrastructure that supports us all in our campaigns,” Simpson said.
Maggiore said on day one as Speaker he would help establish a Fiscal Emergency Working Group to focus on affordability concerns that voters raise most often. The group would turn those priorities into a “coherent fiscal strategy,” including the restoration of important revenues to the state, he said.
Maggiore would fight for public education and property tax relief by developing a comprehensive framework, he said.
“[The framework would] reduce inequalities among schools, and meet the state’s responsibility and its obligation to every child,” he said.
Maggiore plans to also focus on accountability for the Education Freedom Account program.
To confront the housing crisis and rising costs of living, Maggiore plans to work with municipalities, state agencies, housing advocates, and regional planning commissions with the main goal of increasing the number of units in the state. Democrats have the strength to lead Republican colleagues toward a more affordable New Hampshire.
Simpson’s been in the House since 2014, and in leadership since 2022, when she became the Deputy House Democratic Leader after the party picked up seats in the election.
“Together, we built a talented and experienced leadership team that helped navigate the unique challenges of a functionally-tied chamber. Through it all, we leveraged our power to make demands of the Republicans and delivered a budget that increased investment in housing, childcare, public education, and Medicaid, which passed the House on an historic voice vote,” Simpson said in an email to Democratic members.
Simpson took the top leadership job in 2024, where she led the opposition to the GOP majority in the House and Senate.
“I have served as House Democratic Leader for the past two years, holding Republican leadership accountable for their failure to meet the needs of everyday Granite Staters, while simultaneously preparing our caucus for this historic opportunity,” she said.
Maggiore, who is entering his fifth term, gathered supporters at the Legislative Office Building on Friday morning to outline his campaign strategy and his vision for the job. His biggest priorities if elected Speaker will be to prepare early for the state’s biennial budget, fight for public education and property tax relief, confront the housing crisis, and restore the voice of caucus members to ensure collaboration between both Republicans and Democrats.
“The residents of New Hampshire have sent a clear message with this historic election. They demand better communication, better collaboration, greater transparency, respect, and most importantly historic legislative results… People should be able to live, work, raise a family, and retire in the communities they call home; that’s why affordability must be the organizing principle of our work, and the foundation of the most important bill that we’re going to have to undertake on day one, which is the 2027 state biennial budget,” Maggiore said.
Maggiore and Simpson share goals when it comes to overall policy, but Maggiore wants to change how the caucus operates, with less top-down leadership.
“We will build for the long-term, that means organizing, recruiting, communicating, and governing with an eye towards not just 2028, but 2030, and the next redistricting cycle. New Hampshire’s future representation is at stake; for too long serving in the minority has kept us on defense. We have too often measured success only by what we could stop and prevent. We must now focus, and we will focus on what we can accomplish,” Maggiore said.
While it is unlikely that a Republican would be elected Speaker given the scale of the Democratic victory, it is not impossible. Before the election, House Majority Leader Jason Osborne, (R-Auburn), Rep. Jim Kofalt, (R-Wilton), and Deputy Speaker of the House Rep. Steven Smith, (R-Charlestown), all announced their candidacies for the job.
The test comes Nov. 12 when Democrats are set to meet at the State House for their organizational caucus. The party will elect its nominee for Speaker, who will then be put up on the Dec. 2 Organization Day for the entire House.