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We have two sets of government legislators:

• • one set of legislators for the New Hampshire state government (find yours here).
  • one set of legislators for the United States federal government (find yours here).

The term “legislator” refers to someone who makes laws. The term “legislature” refers to a group of people who make laws— the lawmaking body.

The New Hampshire state legislature is called the General Court. Alongside New Hampshire, Massachusetts is the only other state that uses this colonial term, originating from when the legislature included some work of the courts (other states use the term Legislature or Legislative Assembly).

The New Hampshire General Court’s website can be found here.

New Hampshire’s legislature has two parts, called houses, bodies, or chambers. This type of two-house legislature is called ‘bicameral’, with one house called the Upper House and one house called the Lower House.

The Upper House of all state governments (and the federal government) is always called the Senate. Its legislators are called Senators (US Senators if elected to the United States Senate, and State Senators if elected to the New Hampshire Senate).

The Lower House of New Hampshire’s state government (and the federal government) is called the House of Representatives, or the House for short. Legislators in the House of Representatives are called Representatives (US Representatives if elected to the United States House of Representatives, or State Representatives if elected to the New Hampshire House of Representatives).

You are represented in state government by one State Senator and up to eleven State Representatives, depending upon where you live.

Remember, your legislators represent you.

State legislators meet in New Hampshire’s capitol city of Concord at the gold-domed capitol building called the State House and directly across the street at the Legislative Office Building (LOB).

Each state has a different amount of state legislators. New Hampshire is famous for having, by far, the largest group of state legislators, with a total of 424 (24 State Senators and 400 State Representatives).

The New Hampshire Legislature is essentially volunteer. NH legislators earn $100 annually ($200 total for their two-year term). Our legislature is also part-time. Each state is different, and some states do have full-time state legislators who are paid much higher annual salaries.

Usually, the New Hampshire Legislature is in session from January through June, although the Governor can request that they meet at other times to address special or time-sensitive issues, such as when they met in November 2015 to address the opioid crisis. When the legislature meets outside of its normal session, at the request of the Governor, it is called a special session.

The state is divided into 24 State Senate districts that are approximately equal in population size. Each district has one State Senator to represent its residents. Taking New Hampshire’s population size into account, each State Senator represents approximately 57,462 people.

For more information about the New Hampshire Senate, you can visit their web page here.

To find your State Senator, select your town from the drop-down menu here.

The state is divided into 103 State House districts that are approximately equal in population size. Four districts have one State Representative to represent its residents, while the other 99 districts have multiple State Representatives (ranging from two to eleven State Representatives, in what are known as multi-member districts). Therefore, depending on which district you live in, you will have from one to eleven State Representatives.

Taking New Hampshire’s population size into account, each State Representative represents an average of 3,448 people. Out of all 50 states, this is the smallest amount of people represented per State Representative. At the other end of the spectrum is California, where each State Representative represents approximately 494,709 people. New Hampshire residents have an amazing opportunity to get to know their State Representatives!

For more information about the New Hampshire House of Representatives, visit their website here.

To find your State Representative(s), select your town or district in the drop-down menu here. Note that several districts are also divided into wards.

The legislature of the United States is called Congress. Its website can be found here.

Each state has two US Senators. They serve 6-year terms that are staggered, so that we do not elect two Senators at the same time. Whichever Senator has been there longer is called the Senior Senator, and the newer Senator is called the Junior Senator. US Senators do not represent parts, or districts, within a state—they represent the whole state. Therefore, both Senators are your Senators. With 50 states each having two US Senators, the United States therefore has 100 US Senators.

Our two New Hampshire US Senators are Senator Jeanne Shaheen (D) and Senator Maggie Hassan (D). Click the links to be connected to their web pages.

The legislature of the United States is called Congress. Its website can be found here.

States have from one to 53 US Representatives—the number is determined by population size (with all states guaranteed at least one US Representative). In total, there are 435 US Representatives. They serve two-year terms, and their elections are held in even years. US Representatives are also called Congresswomen or Congressmen.

Based on its population size, New Hampshire has two US Representatives, and the state is divided into two Congressional districts. Representative Chris Pappas (D) represents District 1 and Representative Ann Kuster (D) represents District 2. Click the links to be connected to their web pages. To learn whether you live in District 1 or District 2, you can enter your zip code here.

How can I contact my legislators?

Because it is their job to listen to you and represent you, legislators work very hard to make themselves reachable. You can:

• • Call
  • Write a letter
  • Email
  • Schedule a meeting
  • Attend a meet-and-greet opportunity
  • Connect over social media

Contacting a legislator is going to be a different experience depending on whether you are contacting a US legislator or a state legislator.

US legislators work out of Washington, DC, when Congress is in session, or at one of several offices around the state when out of session. They are professional politicians and have a variety of resources, including multiple staff members and funding.

State legislators travel to the State House in Concord when the legislature is in session, but are ‘regular’ citizens who are essentially volunteering their time to serve a public role. Except for a handful of legislators, including State Senators and those who have leadership positions, most New Hampshire legislators do not have offices (they do get a locker at the State House!) or staff members. Some states have ‘professional’ legislators, but New Hampshire does not—our legislature is considered a “citizen’s legislature.”

In New Hampshire, our state legislators typically provide their home address and their own cell phone or home number and email address so that their constituents can reach them.

You can find contact information for your NH State Representative here (select your town or district from the drop-down menu, and then click your State Representative’s name to see her or his contact information.)

You can find contact information for your NH State Senator here (select your town or district from the drop-down menu, and then click your State Senator’s name to see her or his contact information.)