The NH legislature: women's work

Published Nov 20 2006, 08:26 PM by Adam Reilly

Democrats gained control of both chambers of the New Hampshire legislature in this month's election. This weekend, house Democrats picked Terie Norelli of Plymouth to be the next speaker. Over in the senate, they've already picked Concord's Sylvia Larsen as president.

Nationwide, only nine women have ever served as state senate president, three of them doing so now, and 20 have been state house speaker, including just two currently, according to the Center for American Women and Politics at Rutgers.

And yet, this is the second time New Hampshire will have women in charge of both chambers. Democrat Beverly Hollingworth was senate president while Republican Donna Sytek was speaker of the house in 1999-2000.

[by David S. Bernstein]