Demographics of NH

We need to understand our make up in order to understand our political positions here in NH. In the past NH has been well known for its industrial base but currently NH has switched to a more service based economy. NH currently has one of the highest rates of income in the United States and one of the lowest unemployment rates. This leads to a solid middle class state which makes representation kind of hard for candidates who stress their policies to help the underprivileged. There has been a population change in NH where more and more people are coming from out of state (most of which have higher income and education). These new comers form two groups, those from the Midwest who are democrats and Republicans from the Boston area who are fed up with the democrats. The Republicans move into the state due to the taxes and cheaper homes while those from the Midwest are moving to get better paying jobs.These are very important factors because party identification rarely changes. Once your a Republican your a Republican and vice versa for the Democrats. Once these new comers come they remain affiliated with their previous party and bring their political backgrounds with them.

What is the impact of this population change? Well its simple. There has been an increase in housing cost as supply and demand dictates as well as a decrease in school age populations. NH will be one of the oldest states in the United States in a few years which means we have more old people to take care of that are not supporting the economy. NH does however like I mentioned before have one of the unemployment and poverty rate in the nation.

With all these new arrivals to NH the political landscape is slowly changing. NH has been primarily a Republican State up until recently I would say citing the recent midterm elections where the Democrats took over. There is a decline in religion and an increase in education. In NH there are 43% of the voters who register as undeclared. This may be a little unclear or misleading due to the fact that these voters really are not undeclared. They are actually leaning toward one party or another but simply don't wish to tell you which party they are leaning toward. So in retrospect, I would like to point out that there is a difference between undeclared and independent.

When looking at the undeclared vote we need to keep a few things in mind. For example, NH allows you to register as an undeclared, vote for a party, and then return to undeclared status after you voted. This coupled with registration on voting day (motor voter bill) was designed to increase voter turnout. 90% of registered Republicans and Democrats vote while only 50% of the undeclared vote. Those who register under a party affiliation are simply more politically aware and active than those who are undeclared. We also have people moving into the state as previously mentioned who simply don't know where they stand on particular issues and become undeclared. Eventually the politically active individuals will become party affiliated and leave their undeclared status behind.

As it is evident, NH is in a constant state of flux due to the perpetual inflow of individuals. We have one of the fastest growing states in the nation and our numbers even surpass the national average. Put these together and we can start to see our political landscape here in NH.