Gay Marriage, Medical Pot Shape New Hampshire Living Free

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-07-03/gay-marriage-medical-pot-shape-new-hampshire-living-free.html

New Hampshire is rarely the first stop on the road to change. The state exhibits an allergy to taxes along with a flinty right to be left alone.

Yet New Hampshire is also the first state to sanction same-sex marriage through legislative action alone, without a court challenge. Last week, lawmakers overwhelmingly approved with bipartisan backing the use of marijuana for medicinal purposes and, with the election of Governor Maggie Hassan in November, it became the only state to have an all-female chief executive and congressional delegation.

New Hampshire’s politics are changing because its demographics are altering, driven by a steady in-migration, principally from Massachusetts, leaving a population of 1.3 million that is older, wealthier, better educated and, in a modest sense, more diverse than a decade ago. In the school system in Manchester (AERPMCNH), the largest city, for instance, more than 70 languages are spoken. The Latino population, while only 3 percent, has tripled since 1990.

The consequence has been a state that backed Republican presidential candidates from 1968 to 1992 is trending more Democratic. Hassan’s victory marked the eighth Democratic victory in the last nine governor’s races. Her party also ousted two incumbents in U.S. House races, leaving U.S. Senator Kelly Ayotte the only Republican among top officeholders. On top of that, Democrats have captured New Hampshire’s four electoral votes in the last three presidential elections.