NH House Republicans declare a ‘mandate’ despite receiving just 51% of vote, stack leadership with notorious legislators

The Speaker of the New Hampshire State House, Republican Sherman Packard, recently announced his legislative leadership team for the 2025-2026 term that includes lawmakers who’ve previously faced intense scrutiny for sexual harassment, use of racist slurs, arrests, direct involvement in Project 2025, and more.

Packard has also installed Republicans as both chairs and vice chairs of every committee in the House. In a statement, reappointed House Majority Leader Jason Osborne called House Republicans’ win in November a “mandate”

However, Republicans received just 51.4% of the vote among Granite Staters, according to the latest reporting by the Secretary of State’s office. Republicans did pick up 55.5% of all seats in the House however — with the partisan split currently sitting at 221 Republicans, 177 Democrats, and 1 Independent and 1 vacancy — due to gerrymandering of districts by Republicans designed to give themselves an electoral advantage.

Osborne has been a highly divisive figure in the role of Majority Leader. He has strong ties to the New Hampshire Libertarian Party and the Free State Project, and has been known for alienating members of his own caucus, including State Rep. Aidan Ankarberg, who recently left the party, in part due to Osborne’s behavior.

Speaking on Packard’s picks for House leadership, Ankarberg said, “These people lack integrity on any level.”

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Osborne has come under fire following reporting that he used racist slurs in online forums in the past, and has been the target of multiple lawsuits, including two disability discrimination suits filed by former pregnant employees of his company.

Packard’s choice for Majority Floor Leader, Rep. Keith Ammon, also raised eyebrows earlier this year when he boasted about being involved in an advisory role in Project 2025, the deeply conservative playbook for Trump’s second term that became a flashpoint in the 2024 election.

Many of the appointed heads of various House committees have significant baggage following them into their leadership positions, raising questions about whether the appointments are designed to best serve the people of New Hampshire or reward political loyalists. 

One pick that is sure to draw eyerolls from House Democrats is Chair of Election Law, Rep. Ross Berry (R-Weare). Berry was removed from the committee in May following a formal complaint that he staged a convoluted scheme to trick Democratic lawmakers on the committee.

Committee members said they felt “taken advantage of and betrayed for all the trust and the friendship we built up” after Berry’s stunt, so it’s difficult to imagine how the committee could operate with him at the helm once again.

Berry also recently sued a beloved local public library in Goffstown to prevent their distribution of an election questionnaire. A judge dismissed the lawsuit a week later.

Chair of the Education Policy and Administration Glenn Cordelli (R-Tuftonboro) has been a staunch advocate of banning books in New Hampshire public schools, sponsoring a bill in February of this year prohibiting materials in schools that would be considered “harmful to minors.”

Chair of the powerful House Finance committee Kenneth Weyler (R-Kingston) is also well known after being skewered on the Late Show with Stephen Colbert in 2021 after he distributed a conspiracy-laden document to fellow lawmakers that claimed the COVID-19 vaccine contained “unknown, octopus-like creatures” designed to be injected into children worldwide and that people’s thoughts and feelings were being stolen through 5G.

Packard also appointed Rep. Joe Alexander (R-Goffstown) as Chair of the Housing committee barely two months after a high-profile story about Alexander was published. The reporting revealed that a“sexist and homophobic text” sent by Alexander while he served as a member of the Goffstown Select Board resulted in new sexual harassment rules for elected officials for that body.

Last but not least, Rep. Erica Layon (R-Derry) was appointed as Vice Chair of the Executive Departments and Administration committee after an eye-popping arrest for DWI in 2022 while drinking after a legislative session. Video of the incident shows the lawmaker attempting to use their position with the arresting officer as leverage to escape accountability.