Democrats swept New England's congressional races Tuesday, defeating the last remaining House Republican in the region, Representative Christopher Shays of Connecticut. In New Hampshire, Democratic incumbents Governor John Lynch and U.S. Representative Paul Hodes '72 handily won re-election, and former Governor Jeanne Shaheen defeated Republican incumbent John Sununu in a heated race for U.S. Senate.
With 70 percent of the vote, Lynch trounced his Republican opponent, Joseph Kenney, a long-time state senator. This is the second consecutive landslide victory for Lynch, whose approval rating has remained around 70 percent since 2005. Lynch was first elected in 2004, and has served two two-year terms.
Despite his loss, Kenney said his campaign had done "remarkably well" on a tight budget and he was "very proud" of the statewide campaign he had run, crediting himself with having "sounded the alarm" on issues of fiscal state responsibility.
Hodes, the U.S. Representative for New Hampshire's 2nd Congressional District, secured a second term in office with 52 percent of the vote. Hodes defeated Republican opponent Jennifer Horn, a conservative radio show host and former columnist for The Nashua Telegraph.
"Tonight is a night of historic proportions," Hodes said after hearing the results of his race.
Hodes, who was elected the president of his freshman class in the House of Representatives in 2006, said he will "continue to stand up as a voice for change," during his second term in Congress.
New Hampshire State Representative Matthew Houde '91, D-Plainfield, won a seat in the New Hampshire State Senate, defeating former state senator James Danforth for the 5th State District seat, which includes Grafton County. Houde will replace outgoing Democratic incumbent Peter Burling.
Houde attributed his win to a "tremendous coordinated effort" between all of the Democratic candidates, from the top of the ticket down.
"It's an incredibly exciting day, not only for local elections but for the whole country," Houde said.
Dartmouth College Republicans President Jennifer Bandy '09 said that Dartmouth students were less aware of the issues involved in local elections this year because of the College Democrats' emphasis on "straight-ticket voting."
"Straight-ticket and down-the-ticket voting is very detrimental and frankly insults Dartmouth students' intelligence," Bandy said. "Dartmouth students should be able to look at each race individually. The people who just voted for Shaheen and Paul Hodes because they were on the ballot or on the same poster as Barack Obama -- they've made a serious error in judgment."
According to The Dartmouth's Hanover exit polls, 67 percent of Dartmouth students who voted in New Hampshire voted for candidates from both parties.
Kaili Lambe '09, Hodes's niece who volunteered for his campaign, said she believed that there were "fewer people paying attention" to state and local campaigns this year.
"The [Hodes] campaign went well, but it was definitely less eventful," she said. "McCain and Obama were on everybody's minds."
David Imamura '10, president of the Dartmouth College Democrats, said there are strong connections between Democratic voters at Dartmouth and the local political community.
"The day before the election we had our incumbent congressman [Hodes] out of the blue decide to come to Dartmouth," he said. "I think that really demonstrates the importance of Dartmouth, in terms of voters' and volunteers' contributions to New Hampshire politics."
Democratic influence is on the rise in Grafton County, Imamura added.
Democratic New Hampshire state representatives Sharon Nordgren, Beatriz Pastor-Bodmer, David Pierce and Bernard Benn were uncontested in their re-election bids.
As of press time, Vanessa Sievers '10, who ran for Grafton County treasurer on the Democratic ticket, said she did not know the results of her race against three-term incumbent Republican Carol Elliot.