Winners and Losers
2008 was a very good year for Democratic candidates throughout New Hampshire, while Republicans underperformed for a second straight election cycle. See who are PolitickerNH.com's 2008 Winners & Losers.
Winners |
Losers |
Jeanne ShaheenBecomes the first female U.S. Senator in New Hampshire history. |
John E. SununuThe smartest man in the United States Senate proved that he might not be the smartest campaigner. |
Carol Shea-PorterEasily re-elected to a second term and is now being mentioned as a possible candidate for the U.S. Senate in 2010. |
Fergus CullenNever gained the trust of grassroots activists and becomes a one-time state Republican Party chairman. |
John H. SununuComes back to become chairman of the New Hampshire Republican Party and has already raised expectations for his party in 2010. |
Deb VanderbeekRussell Prescott, Bob Clegg and Jeb Bradley were all clients of hers and all lost their races. |
Peter BurlingDecides not to run for another term in the state Senate and is instead successful in becoming a DNC member. |
Bud MartinA moderate Democrat running for the state Senate, Martin seemed a shoo-in, but he was unable to ride the Democratic wave into Concord. |
Peggy GilmourHaving never run for office before, she surprises many people and defeats Paul LaFlamme for the state Senate. |
Public utilities companiesAfter a devastating ice storm many politicians and customers are looking for ways to prevent similar prolonged power outages in the future. |
Peter Bragdon/Sherman PackardThe two Republicans help usher in a new era of Republican leadership in the legislature. |
Dan St. HilaireEveryone predicted that St. Hilaire would defeat John Shea for the Executive Council and tip the Council towards the Republicans, but St. Hilaire’s lost to Shea forces St. Hilaire to reexamine his options. |
John LynchHandily wins a third-term and continues to have historic high approval ratings. |
Jim RyanRyan served as Joe Biden’s state director during the New Hampshire presidential primary and was the head of the House Democratic PAC. However, once his past with forged checks came to light he quickly fell from the top and had many wondering how did he let it get out of his control. |
Peter SpauldingHelps John McCain win the New Hampshire presidential primary and after McCain’s loss in the general election, e-mails surface in which Spaulding openly criticized McCain’s campaign strategy. |
Joe KenneyThe Republican gubernatorial nominee was unable to break 30 percent against Gov. John Lynch. |
Women politiciansWomen now control the state senate, a congressional seat, a U.S. Senate seat, the House speakership and key House committees. |
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Winners and Losers Archive
Contributors
James Pindell
CONCORD -- Gov. John Lynch, after being sworn into his position for the third time today, spoke in his inaugural address about large budget deficits ... >
Dante Scala
To wrap up what we've seen so far: although New Hampshire remained a solidly Republican state in presidential elections through the 1980s, ... >
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Quote of the Day
"I want him to be a little bit like Meldrim Thomson," she said, praising the archconservative former governor's love of fixing problems in-state. "Mel Thomson used to tell the federal government to screw itself."
Arnie Arnesen on Gov. John Lynch's inaugural address.
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