New Hampshire Primary Source gives you breaking and behind-the-scenes political news by John DiStaso, the most experienced political writer in the state and a recipient of a New Hampshire Press Association Lifetime Achievement Award. To sign up for WMUR's weekly New Hampshire Primary Source and political email newsletter, which will be delivered to your inbox on Thursday at 6 a.m., click here.REDISTRICTING BOMBSHELL. New Hampshire House Republicans shook up the redistricting process Wednesday night by releasing a plan that significantly redraws the state’s two congressional districts for the next 10 years.Under the GOP plan, the 1st Congressional District would become more Republican-friendly while the 2nd District would be even more solidly Democratic than it has been for the past decade.House Democrats, who are in the minority in the Legislature, also released a plan, but it would make only a minor change.The GOP plan shifts a long swath of the eastern side of the state from the 1st District into the 2nd District. Key heavily Democratic cities and towns that would move from the first to the second district are Portsmouth, Rochester, Dover and Durham.Other towns that would move from the first to second district under the GOP map are Wakefield, Brookfield, Middleton, Milton, Farmington, Barrington, Lee, Newington and New Castle.To balance the shift, the GOP plan would move a group of heavily Republican towns along the Massachusetts border into the 1st District – including Salem, Hudson, Windham and Atkinson.WMUR was first to report on the two plans late Wednesday afternoon on Twitter. View the full report circulated among members of both parties on the House Special Committee on Redistricting here. (The first map on page 1 is the Democratic map. The GOP map is on page 11.) Both maps will be discussed at a meeting of House Special Committee on Redistricting at 10 a.m. Thursday.The Democratic map would change only the town of Hampstead, moving it from the 1st District into the 2nd District, said committee member and map author Rep. Matt Wilhelm, D-Manchester.Currently, there are 17,945 more residents of the 1st District than the 2nd District. With a goal of balancing the populations of the two districts based on the new census, it appears that the GOP map would result in the 1st District having fewer than 100 more residents than the 2nd District.Wilhelm said the Democratic map would result in a population difference between the two districts of only 51.Although the once-a-decade process so far has been open and relatively transparent compared to 10 years ago, it’s been clear for nearly a year that the GOP takeover of the majorities at the State House in the November 2020 elections would have ramifications for redistricting, in which the district boundaries for a several state offices – as well as the U.S. House districts – are drawn for the next 10 years based on the new U.S. Census.The approach of the GOP majority has been to try to stay within the boundaries of fairness while attempting to change the 1st Congressional District from a swing district that has recently favored Democrats to a more Republican-leaning district.“It is my hope that the committee will take ownership of maps that will provide for fair redistricting and representation for New Hampshire and that we meet all legal requirements to do so,” said Rep. Barbara Griffin, R-Goffstown, chair of the House redistricting panel.Griffin said she had not yet seen the maps submitted Wednesday when contacted by WMUR.House Majority Leader Jason Osborne, R-Auburn, said he had not seen the maps, either, and declined comment. Democrats charged that the Republicans were blatantly gerrymandering the districts to serve their political purposes of ensuring GOP representation in the 1st District.“Republicans in the legislature are throwing out all pretenses of competitiveness, fairness and respect for democracy in an all-out effort to rig elections. Governor Sununu must stand up to the extremists in his party and make clear that he will veto this egregious proposal,” said House Deputy Democratic Leader David Cote of Nashua.Wilhelm said the GOP maps attempt to "corrupt our democracy and show that the NH GOP’s top priority is to rig the system and steal power from New Hampshire voters."A GOP source pointed out that while the Democrats are charging that the Republican would make the 1st District non-competitive in their favor, in fact under the current map, a Republican has won a 1st District race only once in the past decade – Frank Giunta in 2014.The proposed maps of the congressional districts as well as New Hampshire House and county commissioner districts will be open to public comment in Representatives Hall next week.The committee will report them out to the full House by the end of the following week.The state Senate has a committee working on district lines for the state Senate and Executive Council.Early next year, the Legislature will vote on all redistricting bills and when approved, pass them on to Gov. Chris Sununu – the same process as all bills.Will they pass the “smell test,” as the governor himself has described it, in order to earn his signature?That’s several months off and remains to be seen.In an interview with WMUR political director Adam Sexton in July, Sununu promised to veto a map that doesn’t passed the “smell test,” and has clearly gerrymandered districts.“It has to pass the smell test, right?” Sununu said. “You know, when you have lines crossing all over the -- no, we’re not doing any of that. We typically never have here in New Hampshire. “So, first it has to just look right," the governor said at the time. "It has to make kind of logical sense. And, again, it’s really up to the Legislature to kind of get some input from individuals. And I don’t know what a safe district is, per se.... “...If it doesn’t pass the smell test and it looks like gerrymandering districts, of course I’m going to veto that.”Craig Brown, executive director of the progressive, pro-Democratic nonprofit advocacy group Amplify New Hampshire, said:“The map released tonight doesn’t ‘pass the smell test,’ doesn’t ‘look right’ and has ‘lines crossing all over.’ The Republican Legislature just proposed a map that goes ‘0 for3’ on Governor Sununu’s own benchmarks — and he should immediately make clear that he’ll veto this gerrymandered map that serves GOP politicians, not Granite Staters who deserve fair representation in Congress.”New Hampshire Primary Source is seeking comment on the GOP map from the governor’s office.THE MIDTERM CAMPAIGN BEGINS. With the off-year elections in the rear view mirror and the midterm election campaign now officially underway, leaders and activist in both political parties have reason for both optimism and concern based on this week’s election results. Click here.SIMILARITIES. In Virginia, winning Republican gubernatorial candidate Glenn Youngkin is being credited for focusing on local, “kitchen table issues,” while outgoing Democratic Gov. Terry McAuliffe chose to “nationalize” his campaign by bringing in major national party figures. Click here.THE TRUMP FACTOR. Every politician sends emails asking for funding and commenting on issues. But no one has done it to the level of former President Donald J. Trump. Click here.SUBTLE (AND NOT-TO-SUBTLE) HINTS? With Gov. Chris Sununu upping the suspense level on his 2022 plans seemingly hourly, two state officials are hinting that if Sununu does run for the U.S. Senate, they may well run for the State House corner office. Click here.THANKING HASSAN WITH $1.2M AD BUY. The progressive End Citizens United/Let America Vote Action Fund continues to pour major resources into New Hampshire to support Democratic U.S. Sen. Maggie Hassan. Click here.WHITLEY RUNING FOR REELECTION. Democratic state Sen. Becky Whitely is running for reelection. Click here.GOP ENDORSEMENTS. Republican U.S. House candidates Matt Mowers and Jeff Cozzens have picked up several endorsements for their campaigns in the state’s first and second congressional districts, respectively. Click here.(Follow John DiStaso on Twitter: @jdistaso)