Gov. Kelly Ayotte (R-NH) said she wouldn’t pursue any redistricting efforts in New Hampshire amid a wider national battle over the practice.
Speaking with reporters, Ayotte downplayed the fight over redistricting, saying she wouldn’t be pursuing the effort because it isn’t on New Hampshire’s priority list.
“As I have said before, the timing is off for this, because we are literally in the middle of the census period,” Ayotte said, when asked about redistricting plans.
“And when I talk to people in New Hampshire … it’s not on the top of their priority list. They want us to continue to work in the legislature on housing issues, child care, keeping the state the safest in the nation, and just making sure that we have the best quality education for our children,” she added.
Texas ignited a national redistricting arms race after state Republicans unveiled a map that would strip the Democrats of five congressional seats. Over fifty Democrats fled the state to strip Gov. Greg Abbott (R-TX) of the quorum needed to enact the measure. The Texas House voted 85-6 to issue arrest warrants for the lawmakers, though they can only be arrested within Texas’s borders.
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Blue state governors are now responding in kind. At a Friday press conference, Gov. Gavin Newsom (D-CA) unveiled his plans for California’s own redistricting, which would effectively remove five Republican districts. He argued that the move was necessitated by Republicans’ moves in Texas. Several Texas state lawmakers were in attendance.
“We don’t move unless they move,” Newsom said of Texas. “This is triggered. They drew first blood. We’re responding to this action, and this is how we choose to respond.”