"Changing N.H. demographics may help Scott Brown; Transplants, many from Mass., reshape electorate" by Michael Levenson | Globe Staff April 13, 2014
DERRY, N.H. — Democrats have called Scott Brown a carpetbagger and suggested the former Massachusetts senator is going to stick out in New Hampshire like a flamingo in the White Mountains. But the unusual demographics of this state might blunt that attack and help Brown resurrect his political fortunes on fresh territory.
Contrary to the popular stereotype of the New Hampshire voter as a flinty, 10th-generation farmer who traces his roots to a soldier in the Continental Army, about two-thirds of New Hampshire adults were born in another state — and a quarter of them were born in Massachusetts.
Even in an era of mobility, New Hampshire stands out for its abundance of transplants: Only six states have a smaller proportion of native-born residents, according to Kenneth M. Johnson, the senior demographer at the Carsey Institute at the University of New Hampshire.
This influx of residents is one reason Republicans feel hopeful about Brown’s ability to shake off the interloper label.
Over the last five decades, New Hampshire, once a bastion of old-line Yankee Republicans, has turned more Democratic. But the politically potent southern part of the state has become more conservative as it has filled with residents fleeing Massachusetts in search of less expensive housing, lower taxes, and a more libertarian ethos.
These Massplants, as some call them, could be an important base of support for Brown. A UNH poll released Thursday showed Brown’s potential Democratic opponent, Senator Jeanne Shaheen, leading Brown among all voters by 45 percent to 39 percent.
Then seven percent have gone from Shaheen to undecided.
But among voters who moved from Massachusetts, Brown was the clear winner, topping Shaheen 50 percent to 37 percent.
Most of these former Massachusetts residents live in Hillsborough and Rockingham counties, along the Massachusetts line, which together provide half the vote in any given election, according to Dante J. Scala, a political scientist at UNH.
Those two counties are also among the most conservative in the state.
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Derry, a small town about 40 miles from Boston, is typical of the region. Many people here relocated from Masachusetts, and still work in the Boston area and watch Boston television stations. But they are proud to live in a state with no income or sales tax and a more conservative mind-set....
Judy St. Laurent, a Lowell native who moved to town 45 years ago after her husband got a job in Nashua, said, “He smartened up and got out of Massachusetts,” as she had her hair styled at Ginette’s Beauty Shop.
Yeah, I suppose he did.
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Democrats say attacking Brown’s transplant status will be a potent way to question his motives. The state Democratic Party has repeatedly tweaked Brown for relocating so recently to the state....
That's the best they got? A losing, who gives a damn argument?
Brown will face three other Republicans — former US Senator Bob Smith, former state Senator Jim Rubens, and activist Karen Testerman — in a September primary, before he could challenge Shaheen in the November general election.
Just a formality.
Hilary Palmer, a waitress at MaryAnn’s Diner in Derry, said Brown’s recent move to New Hampshire did make her wonder how committed he is to the state.
“Who knows?” she said. “He might have a house in Connecticut next.”
It’s too early to tell if other voters will share her concerns. But such attacks could resonate, particularly with New Hampshire natives and voters in the northern part of the state, which has not seen an infusion of transplants and will also be crucial in the race.
They make them all sound like provincial rubes!
Brown has strenuously defended his Granite State bona fides by emphasizing that he was born at the Portsmouth Naval Shipyard in Kittery, Maine, just over the line from New Hampshire, and has roots in New Hampshire that date back nine generations....
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Related: Shaheen's Shadow
He will be now, a might even eclipse her.
NEXT DAY UPDATE: Shaheen shuns scrapping with Scott Brown
He will be now, a might even eclipse her.
NEXT DAY UPDATE: Shaheen shuns scrapping with Scott Brown
