The United States Senate election in New Hampshire was held on November 4, 2008. Incumbent Republican U.S. Senator

John E. Sununu John Edward Sununu (born September 10, 1964) is an American politician who served as a member of the United States House of Representatives and United States Senator from New Hampshire. Sununu was the youngest member of the Senate for his entire ...

ran for re-election to a second term, but was defeated by Democrat

Jeanne Shaheen Cynthia Jeanne Shaheen ( ; née Bowers, born January 28, 1947) is an American retired educator and politician serving as the senior United States senator from New Hampshire since 2009. A member of the Democratic Party, Shaheen served as the 78 ...

in a rematch of the 2002 election. Shaheen's win marked the first time since 1972 that Democrats won this seat, and made her the first Democratic Senator elected from New Hampshire since

John A. Durkin John Anthony Durkin (March 29, 1936 – October 16, 2012) was an American politician who served as a Democratic U.S. Senator from New Hampshire from 1975 until 1980. Early life Born March 29, 1936, in Brookfield, Massachusetts, Durkin was the yo ...

's victory in

1974 Major events in 1974 include the aftermath of the 1973 oil crisis and the resignation of United States President Richard Nixon following the Watergate scandal. In the Middle East, the aftermath of the 1973 Yom Kippur War determined politics; ...

Background

For a considerable amount of time, New Hampshire had always been considered an island of

conservatism Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy that seeks to promote and to preserve traditional institutions, practices, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civilizati ...

in the Northeast. Following the 2006 election, however, many offices were taken over by Democrats: Representatives

Carol Shea-Porter Carol Shea-Porter (born December 2, 1952) is an American politician and member of the Democratic Party who is the former member of the United States House of Representatives for . She held the seat from 2007 to 2011, 2013 to 2015, and 2017 to 20 ...

and

Paul Hodes Paul William Hodes (born March 21, 1951) is an American lawyer, musician, and former U.S. Representative for , serving from 2007 to 2011. He is a member of the Democratic Party, and was New Hampshire's first Jewish representative. Hodes was an un ...

Governor A governor is an administrative leader and head of a polity or political region, ranking under the head of state and in some cases, such as governors-general, as the head of state's official representative. Depending on the type of political ...

John Lynch, the majority of the

New Hampshire Executive Council The Executive Council of the State of New Hampshire (commonly known as the Governor's Council) is the executive body of the U.S. state of New Hampshire. The Executive Council advises the Governor on all matters and provides a check on the governor ...

, and the majority of both legislative chambers (which had not occurred since 1911). The popularity of Governor Lynch was considered an impediment to Sununu's re-election. Though the state voted for then- Gov. George W. Bush in 2000, Sen.

John Kerry John Forbes Kerry (born December 11, 1943) is an American attorney, politician and diplomat who currently serves as the first United States special presidential envoy for climate. A member of the Forbes family and the Democratic Party, he ...

narrowly won the state over Bush in 2004.

Democratic primary

Candidates

, former governor *

Raymond Stebbins Raymond C. Stebbins (born c. 1944) is an American attorney and political activist and a member of the Democratic Party. He is best known as the winner of the Democratic New Hampshire Vice Presidential primary in 2008. A 64-year-old resident (as ...

, attorney

Campaign

Astronaut An astronaut (from the Ancient Greek (), meaning 'star', and (), meaning 'sailor') is a person trained, equipped, and deployed by a human spaceflight program to serve as a commander or crew member aboard a spacecraft. Although generally r ...

Jay Buckey Jay Clark Buckey, Jr. (born June 6, 1956, in New York City) is an American physician and astronaut who flew aboard one Space Shuttle mission ( STS-90) as a Payload Specialist. Buckey briefly ran for the Democratic nomination to challenge New Hamp ...

MD, Portsmouth Mayor

Steve Marchand Steve Marchand (born January 10, 1974) is an American politician. He served as the mayor of Portsmouth, New Hampshire, from 2006 to 2008. He is the principal of SRM Consulting, a public affairs and strategic communications firm. Prior to that, he ...

, and

Katrina Swett Yvonne Katrina Swett (née Lantos; born October 8, 1955) is the President of the Lantos Foundation. She is also an American educator and the former chair of the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom from 2012 to 2013, and then in 2 ...

, (wife of former Congressman

Richard Swett Richard Nelson Swett (born May 1, 1957) is an Politics of the United States, American politician from the U.S. state of New Hampshire who served as the U.S. representative for New Hampshire's 2nd congressional district from 1991 to 1995. He also ...

), had announced their candidacies but withdrew in favor of former governor Jeanne Shaheen upon her entrance into the race. Shaheen had been the Democratic nominee for the race in 2002. Since 2005, Shaheen had served as director of the Institute of Politics at

Harvard University Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of highe ...

Kennedy School of Government The Harvard Kennedy School (HKS), officially the John F. Kennedy School of Government, is the school of public policy and government of Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts. The school offers master's degrees in public policy, public ...

before leaving on September 14, 2007. She had been aggressively courted to run by Senator

Ted Kennedy Edward Moore Kennedy (February 22, 1932 – August 25, 2009) was an American lawyer and politician who served as a United States senator from Massachusetts for almost 47 years, from 1962 until his death in 2009. A member of the Democratic ...

(D-MA) on behalf of Senate Democrats, and by a "Draft Shaheen" campaign led by former New Hampshire Democratic Chairman Kathy Sullivan. The filing deadline for the Democratic and Republican Parties was June 13, 2008. Shaheen filed, as did

Results

Republican primary

Candidates

* Tom Alciere, former state representative *

, incumbent U.S. Senator

Results

General election

Candidates

* Ken Blevens (L) *

(D), former governor *

(R), incumbent U.S. Senator

Campaign

A November 2006 ''SurveyUSA'' poll of New Hampshire voters found Sununu had a 47% approval rating. A February 1, 2007 poll conducted by the University of New Hampshire found that only 45% of New Hampshire voters held a favorable opinion of Sununu. In June 2007, a poll by 7NEWS and

Suffolk University Suffolk University is a private research university in Boston, Massachusetts. With 7,560 students (includes all campuses, 7,379 at the Boston location alone), it is the eighth-largest university in metropolitan Boston. It was founded as a la ...

of likely voters reported that only 31 percent in the poll said Sununu deserved re-election, with 47 percent saying that someone else should get his seat. A July 2008 Granite State Poll had Sununu's favorability rating at 52%, his unfavorability rating at 33%, and neutral or undecided by 16%. Shaheen is viewed favorable by 53%, unfavorable by 31% and neutral or undecided by 15%. Senator

John McCain John Sidney McCain III (August 29, 1936 – August 25, 2018) was an American politician and United States Navy officer who served as a United States senator from Arizona from 1987 until his death in 2018. He previously served two te ...

, the Republican nominee for president, had mentioned Sununu as a possible running mate for the 2008 presidential election, as well as

Lindsey Graham Lindsey Olin Graham (born July 9, 1955) is an American lawyer and politician serving as the senior United States senator from South Carolina, a seat he has held since 2003. A member of the Republican Party, Graham chaired the Senate Committee on ...

Bob Riley Robert Renfroe Riley (born October 3, 1944) is an American politician and businessman who served as the 52nd governor of Alabama from 2003 to 2011. A member of the Republican Party, he previously represented Alabama's 3rd district in the U. ...

Steve Forbes Malcolm Stevenson Forbes Jr. (; born July 18, 1947) is an American publishing executive and politician who is the editor-in-chief of ''Forbes'', a business magazine. He is the son of longtime ''Forbes'' publisher Malcolm Forbes and the grandso ...

and

John Thune John Randolph Thune ( ; born January 7, 1961) is an American politician and businessman serving as the senior United States senator from South Dakota, a seat he has held since 2005, and as the Senate minority whip since 2021. A member of the Re ...

. Sununu had said he would remain neutral in the New Hampshire primary. However, McCain selected

Alaska Alaska ( ; russian: Аляска, Alyaska; ale, Alax̂sxax̂; ; ems, Alas'kaaq; Yup'ik: ''Alaskaq''; tli, Anáaski) is a state located in the Western United States on the northwest extremity of North America. A semi-exclave of the U ...

governor

Sarah Palin Sarah Louise Palin (; Heath; born February 11, 1964) is an American politician, commentator, author, and reality television personality who served as the ninth governor of Alaska from 2006 until her resignation in 2009. She was the 2008 R ...

instead.

Predictions

Polling

Fundraising

Results

References

External links

Election Division
from the ''New Hampshire Secretary of State''
U.S. Congress candidates for New Hampshire
at

Project Vote Smart Vote Smart, formerly called Project Vote Smart, is a non-profit, non-partisan research organization that collects and distributes information on candidates for public office in the United States. It covers candidates and elected officials in s ...

New Hampshire, U.S. Senate

CQ Politics Congressional Quarterly, Inc., or CQ, is part of a privately owned publishing company called CQ Roll Call that produces a number of publications reporting primarily on the United States Congress. CQ was acquired by the Economist Group and combine ...

New Hampshire U.S. Senate
from ''OurCampaigns.com''
New Hampshire U.S. Senate race
from ''2008 Race Tracker''
Campaign contributions
from

OpenSecrets OpenSecrets is a nonprofit organization based in Washington, D.C., that tracks data on campaign finance and lobbying. It was created from a merger of the Center for Responsive Politics (CRP) and the National Institute on Money in Politics (NIMP) ...

Sununu (R-i) vs Shaheen (D)
graph of multiple polls from Pollster.com * Official campaign websites *
John Sununu
Republican nominee *
Jay Buckey
withdrawn *
Jeanne Shaheen
Democratic nominee
anti-Sununu website
from the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee
anti-Shaheen website
from the National Republican Senatorial Committee {{2008 United States elections

2008 File:2008 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Lehman Brothers went bankrupt following the Subprime mortgage crisis; Cyclone Nargis killed more than 138,000 in Myanmar; A scene from the opening ceremony of the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing; ...

New Hampshire New Hampshire is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the northeastern United States. It is bordered by Massachusetts to the south, Vermont to the west, Maine and the Gulf of Maine to the east, and the Canadian province of Quebec t ...

United States Senate The United States Senate is the upper chamber of the United States Congress, with the House of Representatives being the lower chamber. Together they compose the national bicameral legislature of the United States. The composition and po ...

Background

Democratic primary

Candidates

Campaign

Results

Republican primary

Candidates

Results

General election

Candidates

Campaign

Predictions

Polling

Fundraising

Results

See also

References

External links