Editing Merrimack, New Hampshire (section)

==Government==



The town government consists of a seven-member [[Town Council|town council]]. This form of government was adopted by a ballot measure on May 25, 2006. More information on Merrimack's local government can be found at [http://charter.merrimacknh.org Charter commission website].

Each March, the town conducts two deliberative sessions (school and general) to decide what warrant articles will be on the Town General Election ballot in April, one of which is always election of town officers, and another is the budget. If the budget is not approved by the voters, the town's governing council either holds an emergency hearing regarding a new budget or goes forward with the priors years' budget, amended with any time-sensitive information pending upon the current year.

The Merrimack Village District administers the water system that serves the central area of the town.

As a large, [[suburban]] community located directly between the state's two largest cities ([[Manchester, New Hampshire|Manchester]] and [[Nashua, New Hampshire|Nashua]]), Merrimack plays a disproportionate role to its size every four years in the [[New Hampshire primary]]; in almost every [[Fourth of July]] preceding a presidential election, every presidential candidate will march or have a float in the town's Fourth of July parade.

In the [[New Hampshire Senate]], Merrimack is in the 11th district and is currently represented by Democrat [[Shannon Chandley]]. On the [[New Hampshire Executive Council]], Merrimack is in district 5 and is currently represented by Republican Dave Wheeler. In the [[United States House of Representatives|U.S. House of Representatives]], Merrimack is included in [[New Hampshire's 1st congressional district]] and is currently represented by Democrat [[Chris Pappas (American politician)|Chris Pappas]].

Merrimack leans Republican in presidential elections, but in recent years has shifted to become a battleground town. In [[2020 United States presidential election|2020]], [[Joe Biden]] was the first Democrat to carry the town with a majority of votes since [[Lyndon B. Johnson]]'s landslide victory in [[1964 United States presidential election|1964]].

Republicans currently hold five of the town's eight seats in the [[New Hampshire General Court|General Court]]. The current General Court district of Merrimack is [[Hillsborough County, New Hampshire|Hillsborough]] 12.