Three New Hampshire state representatives have introduced HB 116, which would make it much more difficult for candidates to get on primary ballots for Governor, U.S. Senate, and U.S. House. The bill would increase the filing fee for Governor and Senator from $100 to $10,000; and for U.S. House from $50 to $5,000.
The new filing fees would also apply to independent candidates and the nominees of unqualified parties.
The petitions in lieu of filing fee would also be vastly increased. For Governor and Senator, from 200 signatures to 25,000; for U.S. House, from 100 to 12,500.
The obvious objection to the bill is that New Hampshire primary ballots are not crowded for those offices. In 2022, there was one name on the Democratic primary ballot for Governor; three on the Democratic primary ballot for Senator; six on the Republican primary ballot for Governor; and ten on the Republican primary ballot for U.S. Senator.
The bill does not change filing fees for the presidential primary, and those ballots are far more crowded. In 2020 the Republican primary ballot had 17 names, and the Democratic primary had 25 names. The filing fee for president is $1,000.
The sponsors are: (1) Joe Sweeney (R-Salem) who has served in the House starting in 2012; (2) Joe Alexander (R-Goffstown) who has served starting in 2018; (3) Ross Berry (R-Manchester) who has served since 2020.
It may be that the motivation for this bill is dissatisfaction with the 2022 Republican primary for U.S. Senate. The race was close between Donald Bolduc and Chuck Morse, and these three legislators might feel that they wish Morse had won, and that if fewer candidates had been on the ballot, Morse would have won. Thanks to several people for news about this bill.
