Shaheen to challenge Sununu for Senate seat
Former N.H. governor cites 'urgent need' for change in Washington
NASHUA - Former governor Jeanne Shaheen of New Hampshire said yesterday that she will challenge Senator John E. Sununu in 2008, setting up a rematch of their closely fought 2002 contest and presenting Sununu, a Republican, with a serious test of his support for the Iraq war.
The announcement by Shaheen, a Democrat, immediately changes the dynamics of the Senate race, which has already been a focus of both national parties, said Andrew Smith, director of the University of New Hampshire Survey Center.
"This was a race that had been rated 'leans Republican,' just because of Sununu being the incumbent, to something now that 'leans Democratic,' given the unpopularity of the war," said Smith.
In 2002 Sununu defeated Shaheen by 4 points. But four recent polls have had Shaheen leading Sununu by more than 20 percentage points.
Shaheen issued a statement yesterday from Harvard, where she spent her last day as the director of the Institute of Politics at the Kennedy School of Government. She said she was quitting academia after two years and taking on Sununu again because there is an "urgent need for real change in Washington."
"We've proven in New Hampshire that we can work together to get things done," said Shaheen, a former state senator and three-term governor. "I want to take that common-sense approach to Washington and help get this country moving in the right direction."
Shaheen joins three other Democrats running to challenge Sununu. One of them, Mayor Steve Marchand of Portsmouth, was expected to hold a press conference today to announce his intention to drop out and support Shaheen. The best-funded candidate - Katrina Swett, a former congressional hopeful - issued a statement complimenting Shaheen. Swett is considering whether to drop out. Former astronaut Jay Buckey, a political novice, said he will remain in the race.
Citing the unpopularity of the Iraq war, Democrats are excited about the possibility of defeating Sununu, as well as Senator Susan M. Collins, a Maine Republican, who also faces reelection in 2008. Polling in both states indicates that the war is a big negative for Republicans.
"If it were not for the war, Senators Sununu and Collins would not even be threatened," said Sandy Maisel, director of the Goldfarb Center for Public Affairs at Colby College in Maine.
Sununu has said he wants to continue the military effort in Iraq, at least until Iraqi leaders get their political situation in order. He has opposed any timetable for pulling troops out of Iraq.
Sununu kept to his official schedule yesterday. He spoke to a conference of nonprofit organizations in Nashua and spoke to a conference of regional city planners in Manchester.
He told reporters that, in addition to Iraq, the race would be defined by his experience in the Senate on issues such as helping small business, the environment, and civil liberties.
"I don't think anyone can look out and decide what the determining or key issue is going to be," Sununu said of Iraq. "There can't be an open-ended commitment there, and I think what we saw this week is that there is not one."
But since 2002, New England has begun to tip toward the Democrats.
In 2006, New Hampshire elected a Democratic governor by the widest margin in state history; two moderate incumbent Republican congressman were defeated; and the state House and Senate switched to Democratic control. Throughout New England, last year's election left only one Republican member of Congress still standing; and Rhode Islanders ousted Senator Lincoln D. Chafee, despite his opposition to the war.
"These races in New Hampshire and Maine could say a lot about the political future of both states," said Jim Melcher, a political science professor at the University of Maine-Farmington. "But the key question will be where we are in Iraq next year and if voters will reject fairly popular Senators because of it."
Material from the Associated Press was used in this report. 