Shaheen the victor in rematch
Bests Sununu, will be first female US senator in N.H. history
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LONDONDERRY, N.H. - Former Democratic governor Jeanne Shaheen won a hard-fought rematch for the US Senate yesterday, defeating incumbent Republican John E. Sununu in an often-bitter campaign that attracted attention and money from across the nation.
The victory makes Shaheen the first female US senator in the history of New Hampshire. And in defeating Sununu, Shaheen not only contributed to the Democratic gains in Congress, but she ousted the youngest member of the US Senate and a rising star in the Republican Party.
In a further blow to Republicans, 11-term incumbent US Representative Christopher Shays of Connecticut lost handily to Democratic challenger Jim Himes, a former
"My two-year contract has not been renewed, and no one likes being told someone else is taking your place," Shays told supporters in Norwalk, calling the Democratic surge that hit him and other Republicans a "tsunami."
The New Hampshire Senate race has been one of the most carefully watched campaigns in the country, with two deeply experienced politicians facing off in a grudge match from a 2002 contest that ended with two GOP operatives in jail over a phone-jamming scandal.
With 49 percent of precincts re porting, Shaheen had 53 percent of the vote compared with Sununu's 44 percent.
"Tonight we made history," Shaheen told supporters in Manchester last night in a raucous victory celebration. "I'm proud to have been New Hampshire's first woman governor, and I'm so honored that tonight you have chosen me as your first woman senator."
The two candidates spent $11 million on the race as of Oct. 15, according to campaign finance reports. National Republican and Democratic senatorial committees have also poured money into the race to fund blistering attack advertisements that have blanketed prime time television across the state and in Massachusetts.
"I'm very proud of the work that I was able to do in my six years in the Senate," Sununu told supporters last night in Bedford.
US Senator Susan M. Collins of Maine was the lone bright spot for Republicans in New England, easily defeating her Democratic challenger, US Representative Tom Allen.
Elsewhere in New Hampshire, US Representative Carol Shea-Porter, believed to have been one of the most vulnerable Democrats in the country, fended off former congressman Jeb Bradley in a rematch in the First Congressional District.
In the state's Second District, US Representative Paul Hodes, the Democratic incumbent, defeated Republican challenger Jennifer Horn, a 44-year-old mother of five who has been dubbed "the Sarah Palin of New Hampshire."
Incumbent governor John Lynch, a Democrat, won easily over Republican state Senator Joe Kenney.
Shaheen, whose campaign theme was "A New Direction," ran as an agent of change who can reform Washington. She seized on the economy and fears about the financial collapse, running television ads criticizing Sununu's support for a partial privatization of Social Security.
Sununu portrayed Shaheen as a liberal who will vote to raise taxes - and portrayed himself as an independent-minded politician who has been willing to challenge his party.
But Sununu could not overcome his ties to an unpopular president and a leftward shift that has been brewing in New Hampshire for several years.
A third of the New Hampshire electorate has changed in the last eight years, and new voters are more likely to be Democrats than Republicans, according to a study released this month by the Carsey Institute at the University of New Hampshire.
Statewide, voter registration has also eroded for Republicans. In 2002, the last time Sununu and Shaheen faced off, Republicans had an 11-point lead in registered voters. Now both parties have about 31 percent of registered voters.
"The composition of the electorate is changing," said Wayne Lesperance, a political science professor at New England College in Henniker. "This may be the watershed election that demonstrates how much power that change is going to have."
According to exit polls, Shaheen won in nearly every category, including all age groups, education levels, and income levels. She also won among voters whose top issues were energy policy, the war in Iraq, the economy, and healthcare.
Matt Viser can be reached at maviser@globe.com.
