159 Democrats voted AGAINST banning sanctuary cities
HB 511 bans sanctuary city policies in New Hampshire, requiring local law enforcement to comply with ICE immigration detainers for inmates in county jails. The bill prohibits cities and towns from adopting policies that restrict cooperation with federal immigration authorities. It specifically targets criminals — people already in custody for other offenses — not random residents. Governor Ayotte signed it into law on May 22, 2025.
This vote tells a remarkable story of political calculation. On February 6, 2025, a compromise version of HB 511 passed the NH House 351-6. That is not a typo — only 6 legislators in the entire body voted against it.
Democrats lined up alongside Republicans to pass the initial version. But when the bill came back from committee with stronger enforcement provisions — requiring local jails to honor ICE detainers for criminal inmates — Democrats flipped. On April 10, the final vote was 211-161, with 159 Democrats who had previously voted YES now voting NO.
What changed? The enforcement provisions. Democrats were willing to vote for a symbolic ban, but when the bill required actual cooperation with federal immigration authorities, they reversed course. Sen.
Tara Reardon (D-Concord) said on the Senate floor: "No human being is illegal." Rep. Alissandra Murray (D-Manchester) called it "a solution in search of a problem." Meanwhile, 83% of Americans — including 41% of Democrats — say illegal immigration is a very or somewhat serious problem. Even Sen.
Rebecca Perkins Kwoka (D-Portsmouth) claimed "there are no sanctuary cities in New Hampshire" — then voted against banning them.
Republicans
0 Nay · 12 Absent/NV
Democrats
159 Nay · 13 Absent/NV
83% of Americans say illegal immigration is a serious problem
UNH Survey Center, March 2024
| Name | Party | County | Vote |
|---|---|---|---|
| Glen Aldrich | R | 01 | Yea |
| Joe Alexander | R | 06 | Yea |
| Keith Ammon | R | 06 | Yea |
| Louise Andrus | R | 07 | Yea |
| Aidan Ankarberg | D | 09 | Yea |
| Judy Aron | R | 10 | Yea |
| Michael Aron | R | 10 | Yea |
| Cyril Aures | R | 07 | Yea |
| Lino Avellani | R | 02 | Yea |
| Deborah Aylward | R | 07 | Yea |
| Glenn Bailey | R | 09 | Yea |
| Lorie Ball | R | 08 | Yea |
| Joseph Barton | R | 05 | Yea |
| Calvin Beaulier | R | 05 | Yea |
| Mike Belcher | R | 02 | Yea |
| Cindy Bennett | R | 08 | Yea |
| Lex Berezhny | R | 05 | Yea |
| JD Bernardy | R | 08 | Yea |
| Ross Berry | R | 06 | Yea |
| Marie Louise Bjelobrk | R | 05 | Yea |
| Ralph Boehm | R | 06 | Yea |
| Steven Bogert | R | 01 | Yea |
| Mike Bordes | R | 01 | Yea |
| Bill Boyd | R | 06 | Yea |
| Stephen Boyd | R | 07 | Yea |
| Nicholas Bridle | R | 08 | Yea |
| Richard Brown | R | 02 | Yea |
| Pam Brown | R | 08 | Yea |
| Scott Bryer | R | 08 | Yea |
| Claudine Burnham | R | 09 | Yea |
| Jose Cambrils | R | 07 | Yea |
| Matthew Coker | R | 01 | Yea |
| Riché Colcombe | R | 06 | Yea |
| Brian Cole | R | 06 | Yea |
| Barbara Comtois | R | 01 | Yea |
| Travis Corcoran | R | 06 | Yea |
| Karel Crawford | R | 02 | Yea |
| James Creighton | R | 06 | Yea |
| Gary Daniels | R | 06 | Yea |
| Arnold Davis | R | 04 | Yea |
| Denise DeDe-Poulin | R | 09 | Yea |
| Susan DeLemus | R | 09 | Yea |
| Susan DeRoy | R | 09 | Yea |
| Debra DeSimone | R | 08 | Yea |
| Sayra DeVito | R | 08 | Yea |
| Ricky Devoid | R | 07 | Yea |
| Tom Dolan | R | 08 | Yea |
| Tanya Donnelly | R | 08 | Yea |
| Mike Drago | R | 08 | Yea |
| Matt Drew | R | 06 | Yea |
| Margaret Drye | R | 10 | Yea |
| Russell Dumais | R | 01 | Yea |
| Dillon Dumont | R | 06 | Yea |
| Ron Dunn | R | 08 | Yea |
| Sean Durkin | R | 04 | Yea |
| Jess Edwards | R | 08 | Yea |
| Keith Erf | R | 06 | Yea |
| Samuel Farrington | R | 09 | Yea |
| Jack Flanagan | R | 06 | Yea |
| Charles Foote | R | 08 | Yea |
| Mary Ford | R | 08 | Yea |
| Linda Franz | R | 05 | Yea |
| Lisa Freeman | R | 01 | Yea |
| Larry Gagne | R | 06 | Yea |
| Henry Giasson | R | 06 | Yea |
| Dale Girard | D | 10 | Yea |
| Ernesto Gonzalez | R | 07 | Yea |
| Ted Gorski | R | 06 | Yea |
| Linda Gould | R | 06 | Yea |
| Michael Granger | R | 09 | Yea |
| George Grant | R | 10 | Yea |
| Gerald Griffin | R | 06 | Yea |
| James Guzofski | R | 08 | Yea |
| Robley Hall | R | 09 | Yea |
| Joseph Hamblen | R | 02 | Yea |
| Robert Harb | R | 08 | Yea |
| Michael Harrington | R | 09 | Yea |
| Wayne Hemingway | R | 10 | Yea |
| Gregory Hill | R | 07 | Yea |
| John Hunt | R | 03 | Yea |
| John Janigian | R | 08 | Yea |
| Thomas Kaczynski | R | 09 | Yea |
| Sly Karasinski | R | 03 | Yea |
| Phyllis Katsakiores | R | 08 | Yea |
| Diane Kelley | R | 06 | Yea |
| Catherine Kenny | R | 06 | Yea |
| Steven Kesselring | R | 06 | Yea |
| Aboul Khan | R | 08 | Yea |
| Seth King | R | 04 | Yea |
| Jim Kofalt | R | 06 | Yea |
| Lori Korzen | R | 04 | Yea |
| Katelyn Kuttab | R | 08 | Yea |
| Brian Labrie | R | 06 | Yea |
| Rick Ladd | R | 05 | Yea |
| Richard Lascelles | R | 06 | Yea |
| Erica Layon | R | 08 | Yea |
| John Leavitt | R | 07 | Yea |
| Melissa Litchfield | R | 08 | Yea |
| Patrick Long | D | 06 | Yea |
| Darrell Louis | R | 05 | Yea |
| David Love | R | 08 | Yea |
| David Lundgren | R | 08 | Yea |
| Bob Lynn | R | 08 | Yea |
| John MacDonald | R | 02 | Yea |
| Wayne MacDonald | R | 08 | Yea |
| Tom Mannion | R | 06 | Yea |
| Dennis Mannion | R | 08 | Yea |
| Tim Mannion | R | 06 | Yea |
| Jay Markell | R | 08 | Yea |
| Rita Mattson | R | 03 | Yea |
| Lisa Mazur | R | 06 | Yea |
| Valerie McDonnell | R | 08 | Yea |
| Donald McFarlane | R | 05 | Yea |
| Linda McGrath | R | 08 | Yea |
| Carol McGuire | R | 07 | Yea |
| Dan McGuire | R | 07 | Yea |
| Mark McLean | R | 06 | Yea |
| Charles McMahon | R | 08 | Yea |
| Peter Mehegan | R | 07 | Yea |
| Charles Melvin | R | 08 | Yea |
| Julie Miles | R | 06 | Yea |
| David Milz | R | 08 | Yea |
| Laurence Miner | R | 08 | Yea |
| Sheri Minor | R | 01 | Yea |
| Maureen Mooney | R | 06 | Yea |
| Pete Morency | R | 04 | Yea |
| Bryan Morse | R | 07 | Yea |
| Jonathan Morton | R | 06 | Yea |
| Michael Murphy | R | 04 | Yea |
| Denis Murphy | R | 03 | Yea |
| Mary Murphy | R | 06 | Yea |
| Brian Nadeau | R | 08 | Yea |
| David Nagel | D | 01 | Yea |
| Rich Nalevanko | R | 03 | Yea |
| Jodi Nelson | R | 08 | Yea |
| Kristin Noble | R | 06 | Yea |
| Jeanine Notter | R | 06 | Yea |
| Bill Ohm | R | 06 | Yea |
| Jason Osborne | R | 08 | Yea |
| Mike Ouellet | R | 04 | Yea |
| Kathleen Paquette | R | 06 | Yea |
| Diane Pauer | R | 06 | Yea |
| Mark Pearson | R | 08 | Yea |
| Stephen Pearson | R | 08 | Yea |
| Raymond Peeples | R | 06 | Yea |
| Kristine Perez | R | 08 | Yea |
| Katy Peternel | R | 02 | Yea |
| Matthew Pitaro | R | 07 | Yea |
| Raymond Plante | R | 07 | Yea |
| Tom Ploszaj | R | 01 | Yea |
| Yury Polozov | R | 07 | Yea |
| Daniel Popovici-Muller | R | 08 | Yea |
| Susan Porcelli | R | 08 | Yea |
| Lisa Post | R | 06 | Yea |
| Kelley Potenza | R | 09 | Yea |
| John Potucek | R | 08 | Yea |
| Adam Presa | R | 06 | Yea |
| Mark Proulx | R | 06 | Yea |
| Andrew Prout | R | 06 | Yea |
| Katherine Prudhomme-O'Brien | R | 08 | Yea |
| James Qualey | R | 03 | Yea |
| Sherri Reinfurt | R | 06 | Yea |
| Jennifer Rhodes | R | 03 | Yea |
| Kimberly Rice | R | 06 | Yea |
| Skip Rollins | R | 10 | Yea |
| Terry Roy | R | 08 | Yea |
| Matt Sabourin dit Choinière | R | 08 | Yea |
| John Schneller | R | 06 | Yea |
| Kevin Scully | R | 06 | Yea |
| Brian Seaworth | R | 07 | Yea |
| Alvin See | R | 07 | Yea |
| John Sellers | R | 05 | Yea |
| Vanessa Sheehan | R | 06 | Yea |
| Shane Sirois | R | 06 | Yea |
| Jeremy Slottje | R | 06 | Yea |
| Steven Smith | R | 10 | Yea |
| Jonathan Smith | R | 02 | Yea |
| Julius Soti | R | 08 | Yea |
| Terry Spahr | D | 05 | Yea |
| James Spillane | R | 08 | Yea |
| Walter Spilsbury | R | 10 | Yea |
| Joe Sweeney | R | 08 | Yea |
| John Sytek | R | 08 | Yea |
| Brian Taylor | R | 02 | Yea |
| Paul Terry | R | 01 | Yea |
| Dick Thackston | R | 03 | Yea |
| James Thibault | R | 07 | Yea |
| Douglas Thomas | R | 08 | Yea |
| James Tierney | R | 04 | Yea |
| Richard Tripp | R | 08 | Yea |
| Douglas Trottier | R | 01 | Yea |
| Paul Tudor | R | 08 | Yea |
| Len Turcotte | R | 09 | Yea |
| Jordan Ulery | R | 06 | Yea |
| Susan Vandecasteele | R | 08 | Yea |
| Peter Varney | R | 01 | Yea |
| Kevin Verville | R | 08 | Yea |
| Michael Vose | R | 08 | Yea |
| David Walker | R | 09 | Yea |
| Thomas Walsh | R | 07 | Yea |
| Lilli Walsh | R | 08 | Yea |
| Mark Warden | R | 06 | Yea |
| Kenneth Weyler | R | 08 | Yea |
| Robert Wherry | R | 06 | Yea |
| Vicki Wilson | R | 08 | Yea |
| Clayton Wood | R | 07 | Yea |
| Susan Almy | D | 05 | Nay |
| Dick Ames | D | 03 | Nay |
| Peggy Balboni | D | 08 | Nay |
| Heather Baldwin | D | 05 | Nay |
| Luz Bay | D | 09 | Nay |
| Paige Beauchemin | D | 06 | Nay |
| Paul Berch | D | 03 | Nay |
| Dan Bergeron | D | 06 | Nay |
| Peter Bixby | D | 09 | Nay |
| Bill Bolton | D | 05 | Nay |
| Tracy Bricchi | D | 07 | Nay |
| Suraj Budathoki | D | 06 | Nay |
| Anita Burroughs | D | 02 | Nay |
| Wayne Burton | D | 09 | Nay |
| Michael Cahill | D | 08 | Nay |
| Manoj Chourasia | D | 06 | Nay |
| Suzanne Chretien | D | 06 | Nay |
| John Cloutier | D | 10 | Nay |
| Thomas Cormen | D | 05 | Nay |
| Patricia Cornell | D | 06 | Nay |
| Hope Damon | D | 10 | Nay |
| Will Darby | D | 06 | Nay |
| Paul Dargie | D | 06 | Nay |
| Fred Davis | D | 06 | Nay |
| Linda DiSilvestro | D | 06 | Nay |
| Karen Ebel | D | 07 | Nay |
| Michael Edgar | D | 08 | Nay |
| Susan Elberger | D | 06 | Nay |
| Barry Faulkner | D | 03 | Nay |
| Sallie Fellows | D | 05 | Nay |
| Lily Foss | D | 06 | Nay |
| Dru Fox | D | 03 | Nay |
| Loren Foxx | D | 06 | Nay |
| David Fracht | D | 05 | Nay |
| Eric Gallager | D | 07 | Nay |
| Mary Georges | D | 06 | Nay |
| Nicholas Germana | D | 03 | Nay |
| Merryl Gibbs | D | 07 | Nay |
| Julie Gilman | D | 08 | Nay |
| Gary Gilmore | D | 09 | Nay |
| Alicia Gregg | D | 06 | Nay |
| Jessica Grill | D | 06 | Nay |
| Jaci Grote | D | 08 | Nay |
| James Gruber | D | 03 | Nay |
| Stephanie Grund | D | 06 | Nay |
| Mary Hakken-Phillips | D | 05 | Nay |
| Muriel Hall | D | 07 | Nay |
| Linda Harriott-Gathright | D | 06 | Nay |
| Tim Hartnett | D | 06 | Nay |
| Cathryn Harvey | D | 03 | Nay |
| Linda Haskins | D | 08 | Nay |
| Karen Hegner | D | 06 | Nay |
| Christopher Herbert | D | 06 | Nay |
| Matthew Hicks | D | 07 | Nay |
| Timothy Horrigan | D | 09 | Nay |
| Molly Howard | D | 06 | Nay |
| Heath Howard | D | 09 | Nay |
| Allan Howland | D | 09 | Nay |
| Martin Jack | D | 06 | Nay |
| Samantha Jacobs | D | 03 | Nay |
| Jean Jeudy | D | 06 | Nay |
| Erik Johnson | D | 09 | Nay |
| Philip Jones | D | 03 | Nay |
| Louis Juris | D | 06 | Nay |
| Eileen Kelly | D | 07 | Nay |
| Erin Kerwin | D | 06 | Nay |
| Lee Ann Kluger | D | 06 | Nay |
| Allison Knab | D | 08 | Nay |
| Jessica LaMontagne | D | 09 | Nay |
| Connie Lane | D | 07 | Nay |
| John Larochelle | D | 09 | Nay |
| Daniel LeClerc | D | 06 | Nay |
| Peter Leishman | D | 06 | Nay |
| Cassandra Levesque | D | 09 | Nay |
| Christal Lloyd | D | 06 | Nay |
| Peter Lovett | D | 05 | Nay |
| Janet Lucas | D | 05 | Nay |
| David Luneau | D | 07 | Nay |
| James MacKay | D | 07 | Nay |
| Mark MacKenzie | D | 06 | Nay |
| Jim Maggiore | D | 08 | Nay |
| Dennis Malloy | D | 08 | Nay |
| Amy Malone | D | 09 | Nay |
| Sanjeev Manohar | D | 06 | Nay |
| Zoe Manos | D | 08 | Nay |
| Chris McAleer | D | 02 | Nay |
| Kat McGhee | D | 06 | Nay |
| David Meuse | D | 08 | Nay |
| Russell Muirhead | D | 05 | Nay |
| Chris Muns | D | 08 | Nay |
| Nancy Murphy | D | 06 | Nay |
| Alissandra Murray | D | 06 | Nay |
| Kate Murray | D | 08 | Nay |
| Megan Murray | D | 06 | Nay |
| Jodi Newell | D | 03 | Nay |
| Sue Newman | D | 06 | Nay |
| Ray Newman | D | 06 | Nay |
| James Newsom | D | 07 | Nay |
| Terri O'Rorke | D | 03 | Nay |
| Thomas Oppel | D | 05 | Nay |
| Mark Paige | D | 08 | Nay |
| David Paige | D | 02 | Nay |
| William Palmer | D | 10 | Nay |
| Stephanie Payeur | D | 07 | Nay |
| Wayne Pearson | D | 09 | Nay |
| Peter Petrigno | D | 06 | Nay |
| Marc Plamondon | D | 06 | Nay |
| David Preece | D | 06 | Nay |
| Heather Raymond | D | 06 | Nay |
| Ned Raynolds | D | 08 | Nay |
| Ellen Read | D | 08 | Nay |
| Beth Richards | D | 07 | Nay |
| Ellen Rockmore | D | 05 | Nay |
| James Roesener | D | 07 | Nay |
| Catherine Rombeau | D | 06 | Nay |
| Rosemarie Rung | D | 06 | Nay |
| Linda Ryan | D | 06 | Nay |
| Santosh Salvi | D | 06 | Nay |
| Gregory Sargent | D | 07 | Nay |
| Thomas Schamberg | D | 07 | Nay |
| Buzz Scherr | D | 08 | Nay |
| Peter Schmidt | D | 09 | Nay |
| Kris Schultz | D | 07 | Nay |
| Christine Seibert | D | 06 | Nay |
| Loren Selig | D | 09 | Nay |
| Alexis Simpson | D | 08 | Nay |
| Marjorie Smith | D | 09 | Nay |
| Geoffrey Smith | D | 09 | Nay |
| Jim Snodgrass | D | 07 | Nay |
| Catherine Sofikitis | D | 06 | Nay |
| Carrie Sorensen | D | 08 | Nay |
| Timothy Soucy | D | 07 | Nay |
| Thomas Southworth | D | 09 | Nay |
| Carry Spier | D | 06 | Nay |
| Charlie St. Clair | D | 01 | Nay |
| Kathy Staub | D | 06 | Nay |
| Laurel Stavis | D | 05 | Nay |
| John Stone | D | 09 | Nay |
| Jerry Stringham | D | 05 | Nay |
| Brian Sullivan | D | 10 | Nay |
| Jared Sullivan | D | 05 | Nay |
| Dale Swanson | D | 06 | Nay |
| George Sykes | D | 05 | Nay |
| Laura Telerski | D | 06 | Nay |
| Trinidad Tellez | D | 06 | Nay |
| Wendy Thomas | D | 06 | Nay |
| Eric Turer | D | 08 | Nay |
| Suzanne Vail | D | 06 | Nay |
| Daniel Veilleux | D | 06 | Nay |
| Alice Wade | D | 09 | Nay |
| Janet Wall | D | 09 | Nay |
| Mary Jane Wallner | D | 07 | Nay |
| Gerald Ward | D | 08 | Nay |
| Lucy Weber | D | 03 | Nay |
| Toni Weinstein | D | 08 | Nay |
| Matthew Wilhelm | D | 06 | Nay |
| Stephen Woodcock | D | 02 | Nay |
| Gary Woods | D | 07 | Nay |
| Erica de Vries | D | 08 | Nay |
| Liz Barbour | R | 06 | Present |
| Efstathia Booras | D | 06 | Present |
| Tony Caplan | D | 07 | Present |
| Eleana Colby | D | 07 | Present |
| William Dolan | D | 06 | Present |
| Myles England | D | 09 | Present |
| Jim Fedolfi | R | 06 | Present |
| Gaby Grossman | D | 08 | Present |
| Joseph Guthrie | R | 08 | Present |
| Juliet Harvey-Bolia | R | 01 | Present |
| Jennifer Mandelbaum | D | 08 | Present |
| Seth Miller | D | 09 | Present |
| Michael Moffett | R | 07 | Present |
| Donald Selby | R | 08 | Present |
| John Suiter | R | 06 | Present |
| James Summers | R | 08 | Present |
| Jeffrey Tenczar | R | 06 | Present |
| Mark Vallone | D | 08 | Present |
| Thomas Buco | D | 02 | Absent |
| Pierre Dupont | R | 06 | Absent |
| Nicole Leapley | D | 06 | Absent |
| Sherman Packard | R | 08 | Absent |
| Lucius Parshall | D | 03 | Absent |
| Travis Toner | R | 01 | Absent |
| Jonah Wheeler | D | 06 | Absent |