Democrats Eye Challenge to Republican NH Secretary of State

The Quiet Race for New Hampshire’s Most Powerful Job

Although Tuesday’s election has concluded, a significant contest is already heating up: the position of New Hampshire Secretary of State. NHPR reported that the position, which oversees everything from elections to business registrations, is set to become a battleground after Democrats secured overwhelming majorities in both the House and Senate. The shift in Concord dramatically alters the political calculus for an office designed to be a bastion of stability.

The election of a Secretary of State is a unique affair in New Hampshire. Unlike other statewide offices, the position is filled by a vote of the full Legislature every two years. This means the person holding the job often walks a tightrope between partisan politics and the non-partisan duties required to run fair elections and manage state archives. For decades, that tightrope was expertly balanced by Democrat Bill Gardner, who held the post from 1975 to 2021. The last serious challenge to his near-50-year reign came in 2018, when Democrat Colin Van Ostern ran a spirited but ultimately unsuccessful campaign.

Defending State Sovereignty

The current occupant, Republican David Scanlan, has held the job since 2022. Like his predecessor, Scanlan has largely downplayed his partisan background while leading the department. His supporters point to a key moment of independence: Scanlan’s refusal to hand over state voter roll information to the Trump Department of Justice, a move that cemented his image as a defender of state sovereignty. However, his critics, including many Democrats, have pointed to his support for Republican-backed efforts to tighten state voting requirements as evidence of a clear partisan bias.

Scanlan has announced he is running for another two-year term. But had Republicans maintained control in Concord, his path to re-election would have been all but guaranteed. Following this week’s landslide, however, Democrats are expected to hold close to 300 seats in the 400-member House and a clear majority in the 24-member Senate. That mathematical reality has flipped the odds, turning a long-shot challenge into a plausible political coup. The question is no longer if a Democrat will run, but who and with what strategy.

A Growing List of Challengers

A growing list of potential Democratic contenders has begun to coalesce. The names include several ambitious figures who see the Secretary of State’s office as a prominent platform for future political advancement. The field includes:

Carleigh Beriont, who leads Hampton’s Select Board and ran for Congress this year. “I have heard from a number of elected Democrats and party leaders that I should consider running,” Beriont said in a statement to NHPR. “I’m definitely giving it serious thought!”
James Newsom, a Hopkinton State Rep. who sits on the House Election Law Committee.
Patrick Long, a Manchester House member.
Donna Soucy, the former state Senate President.
And others, including Sarah Chadzynski, a non-profit director who finished fifth in the Democratic primary for the 1st Congressional District this year. “There are six people that I know of,” she said. “I was asked to consider it.”

The presence of so many high-profile candidates indicates a major change. For decades, the job was an island of political stability, but now it looks increasingly like a springboard. Some Democrats see the opportunity to place a trusted partisan in charge of elections as a way to guarantee “free and fair” processes aligned with their values. The office, which includes the ministerial but highly visible role of personally accepting candidate paperwork during the presidential primary, offers immense visibility.

The Debate Over Partisanship

Yet not everyone in Democratic circles is eager to turn the Secretary of State’s office into a partisan prize. There is a powerful counter-argument rooted in the very history of the office: its perceived neutrality is what gives it authority. “The last thing you want to do is create a situation where this job bounces back and forth with every election,” said Paul Twomey, a lawyer who often represents Democrats in election law matters. Twomey’s perspective suggests that a long-term, non-partisan approach, like that of Bill Gardner, might ultimately serve the state’s interests better, even if it means ceding the office to the other party for a time.

“It’s important to have someone who is seen as fair to both sides running elections.”

That tension—between the desire for a partisan win and the value of institutional stability—lies at the heart of the coming legislative battle. Scanlan’s backers will likely argue that his proven independence from national party pressure makes him the safer choice for ensuring election integrity. His challengers will counter that his past actions on voting rules disqualify him from being truly impartial, and that only a Democrat can restore trust in a system they believe has been tilted against them.

The 2028 Presidential Primary Wildcard

The stakes are magnified by the looming 2028 presidential primary. The Secretary of State holds the constitutional authority to set the date for New Hampshire’s first-in-the-nation primary, a role that has made the office a national political institution. National Democrats have already announced a nominating calendar for 2028 that would have South Carolina and Nevada hold their primaries before New Hampshire, a direct challenge to the state’s tradition.

Scanlan has vowed to defy this calendar, promising to keep New Hampshire first regardless of national party dictates. A Democratic Secretary of State would face the same decision, but the political calculus would be different. A Republican-led national party might be more likely to respect a Democratic Secretary of State’s decision to maintain the leadoff spot, while a Democratic-led national party might pressure a fellow party member to fall in line with the new calendar. The outcome of this internal race could therefore have a direct impact on the very foundation of the presidential primary system.

The coming vote in December will be more than just an internal party squabble. It will be a referendum on what New Hampshire wants from its Secretary of State in the 21st century: a steady hand that transcends politics, or a powerful voice for a new political era. The answer will shape not just Concord, but the entire country’s first look at its next presidential hopefuls.

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