New Hampshire Republican Gov. Kelly Ayotte will not engage in the tit-for-tat redistricting war ahead of the 2026 midterms.
“The timing is off for this because we are in the middle of the census period, and when I talk to people in New Hampshire, this is not at the top of their priority list,” she said in an interview with local station WMUR on Friday.
New Hampshire, generally considered a swing state, has two competitive seats that are now held by Democrats, according to The Cook Political Report by Amy Walter.
In the 1st Congressional District, Rep. Chris Pappas (D-N.H.) is leaving Congress, which could open up an opportunity for Republicans; however, without redistricting it will likely stay in Democratic hands in 2026.
Ayotte’s predecessor, Gov. Chris Sununu (R), vetoed a new map passed by Republicans in the state legislature in 2022.
A political war over congressional districts has escalated in recent weeks after Texas called for a special legislative session to redraw voting lines in an attempt to gain five new seats in the midterms.
Redistricting typically happens every 10 years after the census has been conducted.
In outrage, Texas House Democratic lawmakers fled the state to ensure a vote on new districts would not take place because it lacked a quorum. Legislators fled to blue states such as California, Illinois and New York.
On Thursday, President Trump weighed in and called for the Commerce Department to conduct a new census, ahead of the next count, scheduled for 2030. He also said that the new census should not count people in the U.S. illegally.
In response to Texas, a handful of blue states have talked about efforts to also gerrymander their districts to limit the gains Republicans might have in Texas in 2026 and increase the number of Democratic seats in Congress.
California Gov. Gavin Newsom has called for a special election in November. The state created an independent redistricting commission to offset the dangers of political interference in voting lines. The special election would therefore bypass the commission and let voters approve a bill to allow Democrats to pass a new voting map.
