If you’re a red voter fleeing a blue state, New Hampshire can be an attractive choice: Low taxes, lots of jobs, great schools, and a GOP-controlled state government.
But where to live? That was the question NHJournal got from an out-of-state reader named Justin.
“My wife and I are considering moving to the Granite State. We like what we see in both its beauty and its politics. I was wondering if you could suggest the most conservative town to move to. Any advice whatsoever would be greatly appreciated.”
New Hampshire has 13 cities and 221 towns. In an effort to help Justin out, NHJournal asked Granite State Republicans for their input. We also looked at the data, and we found the best place to be a conservative in the Granite State.
What is it?
When we asked GOP activists, such as Christine Peters, president of the New Hampshire Federation of Republican Women, we found that there was no consensus answer.
“This is a tough one, because there are these pockets of Republican-Conservative strongholds, and I am not sure who gets the number one spot,” Peters said. “I do know it is not Hanover or Somersworth (based on my time door-knocking with Ken Hilton recently) or, sadly, my own hometown of Amherst.
“If I had to say, based on hosting Republican events up and down the state for the last 25 years, I would rate the greater Salem area, including Hampstead, Atkinson, Windham, Danville, and Kingston, as an incredibly conservative-friendly area.
“My other quick pick is the Lakes Region, especially Laconia.”
Peters may be on to something. Laconia sits smack dab in the middle of Belknap County and also happens to be the county seat. During the 2024 presidential election, Belknap County was nearly tops in the state in terms of the percentage of votes cast for GOP presidential candidate Donald Trump with 55.5 percent.
Laconia was also on the list of veteran New Hampshire political insider Matthew Bartlett.
“It fits the new mold of MAGA rural blue collar politics,” he said.
According to vote totals released by the Secretary of State’s office, here’s Donald Trump’s percentage of the vote in New Hampshire’s ten counties:
- Coos: 55.6 percent
- Belknap: 55.5 percent
- Rockingham: 50.3 percent
- Carroll: 49.9 percent
- Sullivan: 49.2 percent
- Hillsborough: 47.5 percent
- Merrimack: 46.2 percent
- Cheshire: 44 percent
- Strafford: 43 percent
- Grafton: 38.8 percent
In Coos County, the state’s most rural county, one-third of the population calls Berlin home. According to Berlin City Clerk Shelli Fortin, a total of 4,087 ballots were cast in November 2024, 50.8 percent of them for Trump.
But while Coos County is turning redder every year, it can’t compete in sheer numbers with Rockingham County, home of Salem, the rock-ribbed Republican capital of New Hampshire.
In Salem, a slice of red that rubs right up against Massachusetts, Trump won a whopping 58.5 percent of the vote (10,943 out of 18,713, with a voter turnout percentage of 86.4 percent according to the town).
Several GOP activists, such as former House Speaker Bill O’Brien, mentioned Salem or other nearby towns like Atkinson, Windham, and Pelham.
“It’s Salem, although we could use more good Republicans in Merrimack and Epping,” O’Brien said.
Jim Merrill, a Manchester-based public affairs attorney who is no stranger to Granite State politics, agreed with the Salem pick.
“So many solid choices, but for me it’s Salem,” Merrill said, citing Trump’s 2024 performance.
Bartlett, a Nashua native who splits his time between New Hampshire and D.C., says there’s a certain type of Republican making their way to way to the home of the Blue Devils.
“It’s the people who move to New Hampshire because they hate Massachusetts’ liberal politics.”
And Merrill adds a wrinkle.
“When you tweak the question by saying ‘what’s the most conservative town that I would want to live in,’ then a place like Moultonborough jumps into the consideration,” he added. “Because Salem is a great place to shop or gamble–but live there? Pretty congested and crowded.”
Moultonborough – the Carroll County town that boasts a large swath of Lake Winnipesaukee shoreline – went for Trump by 55.2 percent.
State Rep. Jeannine Notter (R-Merrimack) singled out Auburn (home of House Majority Leader Jason Osborne) as “more red than others.” (Trump won 63.4 percent of the vote). But she added a pitch to Justin.
“As someone who lives in a town that was once very conservative but is now ‘purple,’ I would like to see more conservatives move to Merrimack,” Notter said.
“Merrimack is a great town! We have the outlet mall, public services, trails, and any resident can produce their own TV show on Public Access. I would be happy to talk to the person who sent you the email.”
Other towns that earned honorable mention include Belmont, Londonderry, and Weare.
But when all the recommendations and Republican vote rankings were analyzed, the town NHJournal is suggesting for Justin and his wife:
New Ipswich, N.H. Population 5,204.
As Greg Moore, state director at Americans For Prosperity, points out, “It’s like R+25.”
And unlike Coos County or other communities that have trended red with the advent of Trump, New Ipswich is “Old GOP.” A Boston.com profile written a decade ago labeled the Hillsborough County community “The Most Republican Town in New Hampshire.”
“In the 2012 presidential election, 66 percent of New Ipswich voted for Mitt Romney — the highest percentage of any incorporated town in the state. In 2008, 63.5 percent voted for John McCain, again the highest percentage of Republican votes,” the site reported.
That trend has continued. In 2024, Trump won 75.3 percent of the vote in a town that sits ten miles south of the blue enclave of Peterborough and on the border of the Bay State.
Rep. Shane Sirois (pronounced “SIR-way”) has lived in New Ipswich for 15 years, and he says it’s a great place to raise a family, with or without the politics.
“The town was settled by Finnish people with a very strong faith tradition and family values,” Sirois said.
“It’s not a place with a lot of partying,” he acknowledged, “Except maybe when the young men get in their Chevy Silverados and do burnouts.”
The most famous place in the town (first settled in 1735) is probably the Barrett Mansion, “noteworthy as an example of late 18th century architecture in the grand manner,” according to the town’s website. It’s owned by the Society for the Preservation of New England Antiquities of New Hampshire.
Sirois suggests visitors check out the New Ipswich Market — known for its sandwiches — and the new Mexican restaurant that has just opened, El Taco Lalo.
Sirois says the town has a culture of independence, community, and small government.
“When seniors graduate from high school, they graffiti the street with their names and their class year, etc. Everybody loves it. The police don’t worry about it. We all get along.”
We’ll let Justin know right away.
EDITOR’S NOTE: If you have a community you’d like to nominate as the best place for a conservative to live in New Hampshire, please email News@insidesources.com and let us know! We may publish your comments in a follow up article.
