CONCORD, N.H. (AP) – Former Gov. Jeanne Shaheen has been ahead in the polls for next year’s U.S. Senate race. Now, she’s actually running.
Shaheen made her long-anticipated announcement Friday, raising Democratic hopes of expanding their Senate presence next year, and putting pressure on the other three Democrats already running to drop out. None had, as of Friday afternoon.
“We have major problems facing this country, and there is an urgent need for real change in Washington,” Shaheen said in a statement to supporters.
If wins the nomination, Shaheen is expected to face first-term Republican Sen. John Sununu, who beat her in 2002. That prospect has national Democrats salivating.
“We are excited that someone who represents the best of New Hampshire and American values is our candidate for the Senate,” said New York Sen. Charles Schumer, head of the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee.
Shaheen lost to Sununu by 5 percentage points in 2002, but the political landscape has changed dramatically since, mainly because of dwindling public support for the war in Iraq.
National Democrats have made Sununu a top target for 2008 and have already run commercials criticizing his position on the war.
Sununu was traveling Friday and did not immediately return a call seeking comment. But state GOP Chairman Fergus Cullen blasted Shaheen as a “weak and ineffective governor” who proposed a sales tax, failed to resolve education funding and increased state spending.
“These were some of the reasons Shaheen was defeated for U.S. Senate last time, and they continue to be strikes against her,” Cullen said.
Shaheen, 60, stepped down Friday as head of Harvard’s Institute of Politics so she could enter the race. She scheduled a news conference for Sunday at her Madbury home.
In a Research 2000 poll in July, Shaheen led Sununu by 22 percentage points. The poll had Sununu beating each of the other Democrats – activist Katrina Swett, Portsmouth Mayor Steve Marchand and former astronaut Jay Buckey – but with less than 50 percent support.
Shaheen, the first woman elected governor in New Hampshire, has high name recognition, an experienced staff and the ability to raise money nationally. Democrats control the 100-member Senate with 49 seats plus two independents who usually vote Democratic. Republicans also must defend 22 seats next year compared to 12 for Democrats.
Shaheen, former Virginia Gov. Mark Warner and former Nebraska Sen. Bob Kerrey are part of a small number of prominent Democrats party officials have been recruiting for Senate races.
“With Jeanne Shaheen and Mark Warner announcing their candidacies in the last two days, our efforts to increase our majority in the Senate got a tremendous shot in the arm,” Schumer said.
Shaheen managed Jimmy Carter’s and then Gary Hart’s upset wins in the 1976 and 1984 New Hampshire presidential primaries. She later served six years in the state Senate and six as governor.
After losing in 2002, she helped run Sen. John Kerrey’s 2004 presidential campaign before heading to Harvard.
How much opposition Shaheen will have in the Democratic primary was unclear Friday. Buckey reaffirmed that he’s in the race to stay. Marchand, who has said previously he would drop out if Shaheen ran, planned to announce his decision Saturday afternoon.
“You want make sure as a candidate that you’re talking to all the people you need to talk to and then making a decision in a prompt, professional manner, and tomorrow at 1 o’clock we’ll be in a position to do just that,” he said Friday.
Swett issued a statement praising Shaheen, but not making it clear whether she will remain in the race.
But Andrew Smith of the University of New Hampshire Survey Center said the squeeze is on all three.
“They are going to hear it, not just from the Shaheen people, but they are going to get a tremendous amount of pressure from the Democratic National Senatorial Committee,” he said. “The Democrats are going to say, “Get out of the race because we are going to back Shaheen and we are not going to give you any money anyway.”‘
AP-ES-09-14-07 1636EDT
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