position of governor, but kept the concept of a council due to its former status as a check on the power of authoritarian rule, a recurring theme during the Revolution and afterwards with the creation of the Articles of Confederation, an ethos that made the founding fathers change selection of councilors from appointed to elected positions In the second and current Constitution, first written in 1784, a head executive was renewed, but given the title "President" rather than Governor to avoid the connotations of the royal governorship during the colonial period. (The title was changed to "Governor" by 1792.) However, the council, while being unable to act on its own, was now given the right to veto the head of state by a 3–2 vote. The only time the council was in danger of being eliminated was in 1850, when the future U.S. President Franklin Pierce suggested its removal during that year's Constitutional Convention, with the voters of New Hampshire disagreeing with him by a more than two to one margin (27,910 to 11,299). In 1933, Executive Council meetings were opened to the public. In 2006, Democrats gained two council seats, giving them a 3–2 edge. This was part of a massive Democratic landslide in which the party won control of both chambers of the New Hampshire General Court, the re-election of John Lynch as governor, and both of the state's seats in the federal U.S. House of Representatives. In 2010, Republicans claimed all five council seats as part of a national electoral wave that locally saw Republicans taking control of both the New Hampshire Senate and the New Hampshire House of Representatives. In the 2012 elections, Democrats won three seats on the council. During the 2014 elections, Republicans regained the District 5 seat and held three out of five seats on the council. This three of five majority for Republicans continued after the 2016 election. District 3 councilor Chris Sununu was elected governor of New Hampshire in 2016. Members See also Massachusetts Governor's Council References Executive Council of New Hampshire Streaming Video of The Executive Council of New Hampshire Meetings Governor's Operating Budget (FY 2006 -2007) – NH Dept. of Admin. Services (PDF) New Hampshire Constitution from WikiSource New Hampshire Constitution (state website) External links Official website NH Secretary of State – Governor and Executive Council Agendas and Minutes Governor of New Hampshire State executive councils of the United