The politics of New England has long been defined by the region's political and cultural history, demographics, economy, and its loyalty to particular U.S. political parties. Within the

politics of the United States The politics of the United States function within a framework of a constitutional federal republic and presidential system, with three distinct branches that share powers. These are: the U.S. Congress which forms the legislative branch, a ...

New England New England is a region comprising six states in the Northeastern United States: Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Vermont. It is bordered by the state of New York to the west and by the Canadian provinces ...

is sometimes viewed in terms of a single voting bloc. All of the twenty-one congressional districts in New England are currently represented by Democrats. In the

Senate A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior (Latin: ''senex'' meaning "the el ...

, nine Democrats, two Independents (both of whom caucus with Democrats), and one Republican represent New England. The Democratic candidate has won a plurality of votes in every State in New England in every presidential election since

2004 2004 was designated as an International Year of Rice by the United Nations, and the International Year to Commemorate the Struggle Against Slavery and its Abolition (by UNESCO). Events January * January 3 – Flash Airlines Flight ...

, making the region considerably more Democratic than the rest of the nation.

Same-sex marriage Same-sex marriage, also known as gay marriage, is the marriage of two people of the same sex or gender. marriage between same-sex couples is legally performed and recognized in 33 countries, with the most recent being Mexico, constituting ...

had been permitted in all New England states before the U.S. Supreme Court case '' Obergefell v. Hodges'' made it legal nationwide.

Rhode Island Rhode Island (, like ''road'') is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It is the List of U.S. states by area, smallest U.S. state by area and the List of states and territories of the United States ...

was the final New England state to legalise the practice in May 2013. The national U.S. movement against nuclear power had its roots in New England in the 1970s. In 1974, activist Sam Lovejoy toppled a weather tower at the site of the proposed

Montague Nuclear Power Plant The Montague Nuclear Power Plant was a proposed nuclear power plant to be located in Montague, Massachusetts. The plant was to consist of two 1150 MWe General Electric boiling water reactors. The project was proposed in 1973 and canceled in 1980, a ...

in Western Massachusetts. The movement "reached critical mass" with the arrests at

Seabrook Station Nuclear Power Plant The Seabrook Nuclear Power Plant, more commonly known as Seabrook Station, is a nuclear power plant located in Seabrook, New Hampshire, United States, approximately north of Boston and south of Portsmouth. It has operated since 1990. With its ...

on May 1, 1977, when 1,414

anti-nuclear The anti-nuclear movement is a social movement that opposes various nuclear technologies. Some direct action groups, environmental movements, and professional organisations have identified themselves with the movement at the local, nationa ...

activists from the

Clamshell Alliance The Clamshell Alliance is an anti-nuclear organization founded in 1976 to oppose the Seabrook Station nuclear power plant in the U.S. state of New Hampshire. The alliance has been dormant for many years. The group was co-founded by Paul Gunter, ...

were arrested at the Seabrook site. Harvey Wasserman, a Clamshell spokesman at Seabrook, and

Frances Crowe Frances Crowe (née Hyde; March 15, 1919 – August 27, 2019) was an American peace activist and pacifist from the Pioneer Valley of Western Massachusetts. Early life Frances Hyde was born in Carthage, Missouri on March 15, 1919. Growing up, s ...

of Northampton, an

American Friends Service Committee The American Friends Service Committee (AFSC) is a Religious Society of Friends ('' Quaker'') founded organization working for peace and social justice in the United States and around the world. AFSC was founded in 1917 as a combined effort b ...

member, played key roles in the movement.Michael Kenney
Tracking the protest movements that had roots in New England
''The Boston Globe'', December 30, 2009.

Notable laws and political movements

The New England states abolished the death penalty for robbery and burglary in the 19th century, before much of the rest of the United States. New Hampshire was the final New England state to outlaw the practice, doing so in 2019. Although New Hampshire currently has one

death row Death row, also known as condemned row, is a place in a prison that houses inmates awaiting execution after being convicted of a capital crime and sentenced to death. The term is also used figuratively to describe the state of awaiting execution ...

inmate, it has not held an execution since 1939. Connecticut and Rhode Island were the only states in the union not to ratify the

Eighteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution The Eighteenth Amendment (Amendment XVIII) of the United States Constitution established the prohibition of alcohol in the United States. The amendment was proposed by Congress on December 18, 1917, and was ratified by the requisite number of ...

, also known as

prohibition Prohibition is the act or practice of forbidding something by law; more particularly the term refers to the banning of the manufacture, storage (whether in barrels or in bottles), transportation, sale, possession, and consumption of alcoholi ...

. New Hampshire has no seatbelt law for persons over 18 years of age, no helmet law for motorcyclists, no mandatory auto-insurance law, and has neither an income tax nor a sales tax. Vermont, Maine and New Hampshire allow both the open and concealed carrying of a firearm without a permit. Massachusetts passed a ballot initiative (question 3) in the November 2012 election that legalized medical marijuana, effective January 1, 2013. Only people with debilitating diseases such as cancer, Parkinson's disease, or Alzheimer's can obtain a medical marijuana card. Massachusetts became the 18th state in the US to legalize the medical use of marijuana. Similar laws are also in place in every state in New England aside from New Hampshire.

Same-sex marriage

had been legalized in all of the New England states:

Connecticut Connecticut () is the southernmost state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It is bordered by Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, New York (state), New York to the west, and Long Island Sound to the ...

Maine Maine () is a state in the New England and Northeastern regions of the United States. It borders New Hampshire to the west, the Gulf of Maine to the southeast, and the Canadian provinces of New Brunswick and Quebec to the northeast and nor ...

Massachusetts Massachusetts (Massachusett: ''Muhsachuweesut Massachusett_writing_systems.html" ;"title="nowiki/> məhswatʃəwiːsət.html" ;"title="Massachusett writing systems">məhswatʃəwiːsət">Massachusett writing systems">məhswatʃəwiːsət'' En ...

New Hampshire New Hampshire is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the northeastern United States. It is bordered by Massachusetts to the south, Vermont to the west, Maine and the Gulf of Maine to the east, and the Canadian province of Quebec t ...

and

Vermont Vermont () is a U.S. state, state in the northeast New England region of the United States. Vermont is bordered by the states of Massachusetts to the south, New Hampshire to the east, and New York (state), New York to the west, and the Provin ...

, before it became legal nationwide in '' Obergefell v. Hodges''. The New England region has been noted for being the center of the same-sex marriage movement in the United States,A Push Is On for Same-Sex Marriage Rights Across New England
New York Times, April 4, 2009 with the region having among the most widespread and earliest legal support of any region. In 2004, Massachusetts became the first state in the United States to legalize same-sex marriage, to be followed by three more states between October 2008 and June 2009. This followed

being the first-in-the-nation with

civil unions A civil union (also known as a civil partnership) is a legally recognized arrangement similar to marriage, created primarily as a means to provide recognition in law for same-sex couples. Civil unions grant some or all of the rights of marriage ...

in 2000.Vermont legalizes gay marriage
Burlington Free Press, April 7, 2009 Before the

2012 election This national electoral calendar for 2012 lists the national/ federal elections held in 2012 in all sovereign states and their dependent territories. By-elections are excluded, though national referendums are included. January *3–4 January: ...

California California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the m ...

(2008),

Iowa Iowa () is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States, bordered by the Mississippi River to the east and the Missouri River and Big Sioux River to the west. It is bordered by six states: Wiscon ...

(2009),

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...

(2011) and the District of Columbia (2010) had been the only U.S. jurisdictions outside New England to have performed same-sex marriages, though same-sex marriages in California had been halted following the passage of

Proposition 8 Proposition 8, known informally as Prop 8, was a California ballot proposition and a state constitutional amendment intended to ban same-sex marriage; it passed in the November 2008 California state elections and was later overturned in cou ...

. The legalization of same-sex marriage was part of a campaign which began in November 2008, called Six by Twelve, and was organized by the Gay & Lesbian Advocates & Defenders (GLAD) to legalize same-sex marriage in all six New England states by 2012. The region holds a number of firsts on same-sex marriage:

was the first state to enact it through legislative means and not because of a judicial ruling, and

was the first state to have a governor sign a same-sex marriage bill that was not the result of a court decision. However, this law was repealed through a people's veto (53% voted to ban it versus 47% who voted to legalize it), but three years later, on November 6, 2012, the question was put to voters a second time, and the electorate voted 53–47 in support of same-sex marriage. As a result, Maine became one of three first US states to approve same-sex marriage at the ballot box, along with

Washington Washington commonly refers to: * Washington (state), United States * Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States ** A metonym for the federal government of the United States ** Washington metropolitan area, the metropolitan area centered o ...

and

Maryland Maryland ( ) is a state in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It shares borders with Virginia, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and Delaware and the Atlantic Ocean t ...

. With

legalizing same-sex marriage, all New England states allowed the practice. There have been numerous reasons given for why New England has found such strong legal recognition for same-sex marriages in comparison to the rest of the United States, including low religiosity, high educational attainment, strong social libertarianism, a long history of open same-sex relationships (including

Boston marriage A "Boston marriage" was, historically, the cohabitation of two wealthy women, independent of financial support from a man. The term is said to have been in use in New England in the late 19th/early 20th century. Some of these relationships were ...

s), and a general independent streak in New England culture.Gay Marriage Advances in Maine
The New York Times, Abby Goodnough and Katie Zezima, May 5, 2009
NECN, May 7, 2009N.E.'s identity bolsters gay marriage tolerance
The Boston Globe, Jenna Russell, May 11, 2009

Anti-nuclear movement

There were four targets of the anti-nuclear movement since 1974. As a result, Montague Nuclear was cancelled. Yankee Rowe closed prematurely for engineering inadequacies. Vermont Yankee was closed because it became uncompetitive. Seabrook remains operational.

Montague Nuclear Power Plant

On February 22, 1974, Sam Lovejoy took a crowbar to the weather-monitoring tower which had been erected at the

site. Lovejoy fell from the tower. He turned himself in to the local police. He presented a statement in which he took responsibility for the action. Lovejoy's action galvanized local public opinion against the plant.Utilities Drop Nuclear Power Plant Plans
''Ocala Star-Banner'', January 4, 1981. The Montague nuclear power plant proposal was canceled in 1980, after $29 million was spent on the project.

Seabrook

Seabrook power plant was proposed as a twin-reactor plant in 1972, at an estimated cost of $973 million. It received a commercial license in March 1990 for one reactor which cost $6.5 billion. Over a period of thirteen years more than 4,000 citizens, many associated with the

group, committed non-violent

civil disobedience Civil disobedience is the active, professed refusal of a citizen to obey certain laws, demands, orders or commands of a government (or any other authority). By some definitions, civil disobedience has to be nonviolent to be called "civil". H ...

at Seabrook: *August 1, 1976: 200 residents rallied at the future

site in

, and 18 were arrested for criminal trespass.Gunter, Paul
Clamshell Alliance: Thirteen Years of Anti-Nuclear Activism at Seabrook, New Hampshire, U.S.A.
'Ecologia Newsletter'', January 1990 Issue 3. *August 22, 1976: 188 activists from New England were arrested at the Seabrook site.
/ref> *May 2, 1977: 1,414 protesters were arrested at Seabrook Station Nuclear Power Plant.Williams, Estha
Nuke Fight Nears Decisive Moment
''Valley Advocate'', August 28, 2008.Williams, Eesha
Wikipedia distorts nuclear history
''Valley Post'', May 1, 2008. The protesters who were arrested were expected to be "released on their own recognizance", but this did not happen. Instead, they were charged with criminal trespass and asked to post bail ranging from $100 to $500. They refused and were then held in five national guard armories for 12 days. The Seabrook conflict, and role of New Hampshire Governor Meldrim Thomson, received much national media coverage. *May 13, 1977: 550 protestors were freed after being detained for thirteen days. *June 1978: some 12,000 people attended a protest at Seabrook. *May 25–27, 1980: Police use tear gas, riot sticks and dogs to drive 2,000 demonstrators away from the Seabrook site. *May 24, 1986: 74 anti-nuclear demonstrators were arrested in protests. *October 17, 1988: 84 people were arrested at the Seabrook plant. *June 5, 1989: hundreds of demonstrators protested against the plant's first low-power testing, and the police arrested 627 people for trespassing; two state legislators, one from Massachusetts and one from New Hampshire, protested.Gold, Allan R
Hundreds Arrested Over Seabrook Test
''New York Times'', June 5, 1989.

Yankee Rowe

The New England Coalition (NEC) is an educational non-profit organization based in Brattleboro, Vermont. Historically, it has been part of the

anti-nuclear movement The anti-nuclear movement is a social movement that opposes various nuclear technologies. Some direct action groups, environmental movements, and professional organisations have identified themselves with the movement at the local, natio ...

in the United States.New England Coalition
The NEC is primarily concerned with legal action more than protests. It was involved in both legal action and protests about the

Yankee Rowe Nuclear Power Plant Yankee Rowe Nuclear Power Station ( decommissioned) was a nuclear power plant in Rowe, Massachusetts, that operated from 1960 to 1992. The 185-megawatt electric pressurized-water plant, located on the Deerfield River in the town of Rowe in weste ...

prior to its shut down in 1992, and has been involved in legal action and protests over extending the license to operate at the

Vermont Yankee Nuclear Power Plant Vermont Yankee was an electricity generating nuclear power plant, located in the town of Vernon, Vermont, in the northeastern United States. It generated 620 megawatts (MWe) of electricity at full power. The plant was a boiling water reacto ...

Vermont Yankee

In February 2010, the Vermont Senate voted 26 to 4 against allowing the PSB to consider re-certifying the Vermont Yankee Nuclear Plant after 2012, citing radioactive

tritium Tritium ( or , ) or hydrogen-3 (symbol T or H) is a rare and radioactive isotope of hydrogen with half-life about 12 years. The nucleus of tritium (t, sometimes called a ''triton'') contains one proton and two neutrons, whereas the nucleus of ...

leaks, misstatements in testimony by plant officials, a cooling tower collapse in 2007, and other problems.Wald, Matthew L.
Vermont Senate Votes to Close Nuclear Plant
''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

'', February 24, 2010. In January 2012,

Entergy Entergy Corporation is a Fortune 500 integrated energy company engaged primarily in electric power production and retail distribution operations in the Deep South of the United States. Entergy is headquartered in New Orleans, Louisiana, and gene ...

won a court case to invalidate the state's veto power on continued operation. There were a number of

anti-nuclear protests Anti-nuclear protests began on a small scale in the U.S. as early as 1946 in response to Operation Crossroads. Large scale anti-nuclear protests first emerged in the mid-1950s in Japan in the wake of the March 1954 Lucky Dragon Incident. Aug ...

about Vermont Yankee since the 1970s. These included protests following the Japanese

Fukushima nuclear disaster The was a nuclear accident in 2011 at the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant in Ōkuma, Fukushima, Japan. The proximate cause of the disaster was the 2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami, which occurred on the afternoon of 11 March 2011 ...

in March 2011 and on the date of the original operating license expiry in March 2012. On August 28, 2013, the company said economic factors, notably the low cost of electricity caused by cheap natural gas, would result in the company's decommissioning the plant in the fourth quarter of 2014.

Notes

{{Authority control New England Politics of the United States