# David Watters

David Watters is a Democratic member of the New Hampshire Senate for district 4.

- Party: Democrat
- Seat: New Hampshire Senate, district 4
- Serving since: 2012-12-05
- Current term: NH 2025–26 session
- Open States ID: ocd-person/cf24defe-6df3-49f3-88ca-c6774b144f19

Source: https://americaspoliticalpulse.com/p/cf24defe-6df3-49f3-88ca-c6774b144f19 (America’s Political Pulse, Polarization Research Lab), data through 2026-10-27. Data under CC BY 4.0. Cite as: Westwood, Sean J., and Yphtach Lelkes. 2024. America's Political Pulse [data set].

## Headline

Watters missed 4.3% of 208 roll calls, attendance in the bottom quarter of the New Hampshire Senate (average 98.4%).

## What Watters says (NH 2025–26 session)

488 classified statements: 488 posts on X. Each rate is the share of statements with the label, against the State Senate Democrats average; rank 1 is the highest rate.

| Label | Watters | State Senate Democrats average | Rank |
|---|---|---|---|
| Personal attacks | 0.0% | 2.4% | 248 of 329 |
| Policy criticism | 3.1% | 10.3% | 233 of 329 |
| Policy discussion | 37.5% | 42.9% | 201 of 329 |
| Bipartisanship | 2.9% | 3.4% | 149 of 329 |
| Credit claiming | 14.5% | 16.1% | 163 of 329 |
| Extreme labels | 0.4% | 0.8% | 104 of 329 |

Most discussed policy areas: Energy 18% (State Senate Democrats 4.1%); Economics and Public Finance 14% (State Senate Democrats 10%); Education 13% (State Senate Democrats 15%); Health 12% (State Senate Democrats 17%); Families 10% (State Senate Democrats 5.0%).

## Ideology (CSIP)

CSIP score −0.46 (standard error 0.02), from 18 donors and 959 roll calls. Negative is left of 0, positive right of it, on one scale for every official. 77% of State Senate Democrats score lower.

## Votes (NH 2025–26 session)

208 roll calls. Attendance 95.6% (New Hampshire Senate 98.4%). Party unity 98.2% (98.4%). 4 votes against the party majority.

Key votes:

- 2026-08-19 · voted nay · VETO MESSAGE - Roll Call Required · HB 1766 relative to cruelty to livestock. · fail · https://openstates.org/nh/bills/2026/HB1766/
- 2026-08-19 · voted nay · VETO MESSAGE - Roll Call Required · SB 535 defining residential breeder and imported animal for the purposes of animal transfers and removing references to commercial kennels. · fail · https://openstates.org/nh/bills/2026/SB535/
- 2026-08-19 · voted nay · VETO MESSAGE - Roll Call Required · SB 475 relative to pet vendor foster homes, defining pet vendor foster facility, and relative to cruelty to livestock. · fail · https://openstates.org/nh/bills/2026/SB475/
- 2026-08-19 · voted yea · VETO MESSAGE - Roll Call Required · HB 1422 relative to the time to petition for a new trial. · pass · https://openstates.org/nh/bills/2026/HB1422/
- 2026-08-19 · voted yea · VETO MESSAGE - Roll Call Required · SB 468 relative to enabling alternative treatment centers to operate a greenhouse cultivation location. · pass · https://openstates.org/nh/bills/2026/SB468/
- 2026-06-04 · voted nay · Conference Committee Report · HB 1300 establishing a school district local tax cap question for the state general elections of 2026 and 2028 and related limitations on central office… · pass · https://openstates.org/nh/bills/2026/HB1300/
- 2026-05-21 · voted nay · Concur · SB 430 relative to mandatory disclosure by school district employees to parents and legal guardians. · pass · https://openstates.org/nh/bills/2026/SB430/
- 2026-05-21 · voted nay · Concur · SB 223 relative valid photo identification for purposes of obtaining a ballot and relative to the production of lists of certain schools of higher education. · pass · https://openstates.org/nh/bills/2026/SB223/
- 2026-05-21 · voted nay · Concur · SB 574 establishing a commission to study the efficiency and structure of school administrative units. · pass · https://openstates.org/nh/bills/2026/SB574/
- 2026-05-14 · voted nay · Ought to Pass w/Amendment · HB 1793 prohibiting public colleges and universities from regulating the possession or carrying of certain weapons on campus and establishing a committee to… · pass · https://openstates.org/nh/bills/2026/HB1793/

## Legislation (NH 2025–26 session)

Sponsored 45 bills: 45 reached committee, 35 passed one chamber, 24 passed both, 21 became law. Cosponsored 282. 77.8% of sponsored bills got out of committee (New Hampshire Senate 78.9%; rank 16 of 24).

Recent sponsored bills:

- SB 658: authorizing the department of education to establish a safe and resilient schools advisory council. (in committee, 2026-03-12) https://openstates.org/nh/bills/2026/SB658/
- SB 668: authorizing a historic marker on a highway for the purpose of acknowledging the abuse of former residents of the youth development center. (in committee, 2026-03-12) https://openstates.org/nh/bills/2026/SB668/
- SB 633: relative to donations received by the granite patron of the arts fund. (became law, 2026-06-22) https://openstates.org/nh/bills/2026/SB633/
- SB 565: requiring the commissioner of the insurance department to prepare and publish a report regarding fortified home and commercial standards, and other mitigation… (became law, 2026-06-24) https://openstates.org/nh/bills/2026/SB565/
- SB 627: relative to toll rate adjustments for the New Hampshire turnpike system to support the 2027-2036 ten-year transportation plan (passed both chambers, 2026-08-19) https://openstates.org/nh/bills/2026/SB627/
- SB 592: enabling regional, conservation, and energy resource planning for habitat strongholds and wildlife corridors and creating a commission to study transferring… (became law, 2026-07-17) https://openstates.org/nh/bills/2026/SB592/
- SB 628: enabling curbside electric-vehicle charging. (in committee, 2026-02-05) https://openstates.org/nh/bills/2026/SB628/
- SB 608: relative to family caregiver support in certain programs and child care support for kinship caregivers. (became law, 2026-05-29) https://openstates.org/nh/bills/2026/SB608/
- SB 589: relative to port electrification, microgrid development, and cybersecurity standards for energy and water systems. (became law, 2026-06-24) https://openstates.org/nh/bills/2026/SB589/
- SB 531: establishing a task force to study the feasibility of the creation of cosmetology related programming in Coos County and requiring the reporting of student… (became law, 2026-07-09) https://openstates.org/nh/bills/2026/SB531/

## Campaign money (2026 cycle)

Itemized receipts $33.5K (State Senate Democrats median $55.5K). 85% of itemized individual money came from in state. Aggregates only; no individual donors.

## Recent statements

Newest first. Posts on X are listed by date and link only.

- 2026-10-25 · Post on X · https://x.com/SenDavidWatters/status/2114367944830714356
- 2026-10-25 · Post on X · https://x.com/SenDavidWatters/status/2114376179063107717
- 2026-10-21 · Post on X · https://x.com/SenDavidWatters/status/2113009302013112438
- 2026-10-17 · Post on X · https://x.com/SenDavidWatters/status/2111476588978081994
- 2026-10-17 · Post on X · labels: policy discussion · https://x.com/SenDavidWatters/status/2111511745852223878
- 2026-10-17 · Post on X · https://x.com/SenDavidWatters/status/2111607687590892019
- 2026-10-10 · Post on X · https://x.com/SenDavidWatters/status/2109000837989068865
- 2026-10-10 · Post on X · https://x.com/SenDavidWatters/status/2109001634076299628
- 2026-10-07 · Post on X · https://x.com/SenDavidWatters/status/2107934091165208809
- 2026-10-07 · Post on X · labels: policy discussion · https://x.com/SenDavidWatters/status/2107935067104567390

## Links

- Official site: https://www.gencourt.state.nh.us/Senate/members/webpages/district04.aspx
- Campaign site: http://www.davidwattersforsenate.org/
- X: https://x.com/SenDavidWatters
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/WattersforNHSenate/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/sendavidwatters/?hl=en
- YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCRS6nk1xnDv_53F4uwr1snw
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/david-watters-8018b074

Full profile, with every chart and the methods: https://americaspoliticalpulse.com/p/cf24defe-6df3-49f3-88ca-c6774b144f19