Think you know where your candidates stand? Don’t trust the party label

Every election cycle, Citizens Count surveys each candidate for state and federal office in New Hampshire. Sometimes, the results aren’t what you’d expect. While a candidate may belong to a particular party, they do not always toe the party line on every issue. In this article, we’ll look at the issue positions of NH House candidates on our website, including responses to this year’s survey, and see where a surprising number of them defy partisan labels.

Net metering

Net metering allows homeowners and businesses that generate their own power using solar panels or other small generators to sell their excess electricity back to the grid. Right now, New Hampshire only allows large-scale net metering by towns, schools, and other public entities. Advocates have been fighting to expand net metering in the Granite State for the last decade.

This year, we asked the candidates, “Do you support legislation to expand the net energy metering system capacity cap from 1 MW to 5 MW for all residential and commercial customers in New Hampshire?” Doing so would allow more businesses and individuals with large solar arrays to sell excess energy back to the grid.

Expanding net metering has long been seen as a “green energy” issue, and Democrats support it almost unanimously; out of the of the 209 Democratic House candidates with a position on our site, all but one favor expanding net metering. What’s more interesting, though, is that Citizens Count found 44 Republicans would also be in favor of raising the net metering cap for large residential and commercial customers. While most Republican candidates oppose expansion overall, the split was much closer among Republicans who answered our 2026 survey: 38 in favor and 45 opposed.

Typically, Republicans argue that net metering shifts the cost of maintaining the electricity grid onto other ratepayers. In 2018, Gov. Sununu vetoed SB 446 for this reason.

Some Republicans, though, see net metering as an opportunity to address energy costs for businesses. Others argue that locally generated power makes individuals and businesses less beholden to energy utilities, which fits with the small-government and libertarian philosophies of many New Hampshire Republicans.

Marijuana

Whether or not New Hampshire should legalize the recreational use of marijuana is another perennial question that Citizens Count asked about in this year’s survey. Since it’s a nuanced issue, we asked candidates about three different legalization models: limited home-growing with no sales, licensed private retail, and state-run stores.

While Republicans are generally known to oppose marijuana legalization in New Hampshire, it’s notable that more Republican candidates support legalizing home-growing than oppose it, 104 to 87. About 40% of Republican House candidates with a position on our website support private retail sales, and about a third support state-run stores.

As for Democratic candidates, who overwhelmingly support legalization across the board, about one third still oppose the state-run store model.

Nuclear power, guns, and more

When we asked candidates, “Should New Hampshire do more to encourage the development of nuclear power, including small modular reactors (SMR), in the state?” we weren’t surprised to find all but two Republican respondents were in favor. Democrats, on the other hand, were more evenly split.

While Democrats have often been vociferously opposed to nuclear power out of concern for the environment, some are now in favor for the same reason. Nuclear power plants have a comparatively small carbon footprint, leading some Democrats to see the technology as a chance to move away from fossil fuels.

Some New Hampshire Democrats also broke with their party’s traditional stance on one of the most polarizing issues: gun control. Though the majority of Democratic House candidates are in favor of stricter gun laws, 19 told Citizens Count they are opposed. Only 4 Republicans are in favor, compared to 248 opposed.

There are other issues where a considerable number of respondents broke from their party. Large numbers of Republicans oppose stricter abortion limits or favor a guaranteed right to abortion before 24 weeks’ gestation. Republican respondents were also closely divided on whether to restore funding to the Office of the Child Advocate.

Know your candidates before you vote

These are just a few examples of how individual candidates can defy partisan expectations, and sometimes in significant numbers. If any of these issues are especially important to you, be sure to research your candidates before you vote on November 3. No matter which party they belong to, their answers might surprise you!

To see who will be on your ballot and where they stand, visit our Elections page.

About the data

These figures reflect the positions of New Hampshire House candidates published on Citizens Count’s website as of October 7, 2026, unless noted as coming from the 2026 survey alone. If a candidate does not respond to Citizens Count’s survey, the organization republishes previous years’ survey responses, clear voting records, and issue statements from candidate websites, social media, and/or newspaper interviews. Totals include only candidates who answered “for” or “against”; many candidates did not respond to every question or chose “undecided” or “other.” Candidates are continuing to reply to our survey, so numbers may change before Election Day. If you are a candidate and would like to take the Citizens Count candidate issue survey, email us at info@citizenscount.org.