Talk Elections

MOVED:
I have narrowed it down to two states to move to. Of course, being purple and light blue, respectively, New Hampshire and Maine make it hard to run for office as a Republican. Therefore, since I can't find a good map worth sh**t, which State House and Senate districts in those two states are the best for my brand of what I call "Snollins Libertarian Republicanism?"

It's less about your specific ideology and more about your personality and how well you connect with voters. Are you patient enough to wait for a retirement? Do you want to challenge an incumbent in a primary, in a general? These are more important factors than picking a home based on the political leanings of a district in this decade.

I will likely wait for a retirement. I am thinking more of a broad spectrum, also to let me decide WHERE in the state to move. As long as it is in the area of one of those two, I am fine. The district is like the cherry on the sundae.

I assume part of this is going to depend on where you find a job, unless you're independently wealthy or are self-employed in a job you can do from anywhere.

Regardless, you ought to spend a few years becoming a presence in the community before you run for anything. Find a charity that you can get involved in. Try to get on the board of a local museum. Get your name in the paper for non-political reasons. Are you married? If so, your spouse should be doing these things as well and should not be involved in any unseemly or unethical sort of personal or business activities.

New Hampshire has an extremely large House of Representatives, with multi-member districts, so you might only have to finish 4th or 6th in a primary.  Because of the large size, members sit in wooden folding chairs, and it is not particularly lucrative to serve, so turnover should be greater.

I think it must be hard to not be elected to the NH House of Representatives if you put in a minimum of effort and aren't on the wrong team for the district. It seems like every session we hear about an elected rep with truly appalling or embarrassing views who won because no one knew anything but their party ID and they coasted in.

Maine has a mild version of the 'gets more Republican the further away from Portland you get' pattern that would expected in most of the country but is actually unique within New England. The most Republican parts of New Hampshire are the Boston exurbs on the southern border, but pretty much any part of the state other than the Connecticut River counties and maybe the area immediately surrounding Concord is doable in a good enough year.

Even Coos and Sullivan counties are doable.  The most Republican area is western Rockingham.

Here's (http://miscellanyblue.com/data) a helpful resource for NH. It doesn't have the current party makeup of the legislature, but it does have PVI for the districts.

You're thinking about running there?  I hope you don't carpetbag.

BTW, your sig explains how I feel exactly.