Democrat Katrina Swett and Republican Congressman Charlie Bass were the first two candidates to declare victory last night. The two now face each other in the race for New Hampshire?s Second Congressional District seat. In the First Congressional District Democrat Martha Fuller Clark also was able to declare an early victory. But it was nearly midnight before her Republican opponent Jeb Bradley could accept his party?s nominaiton. NHPR?s Dan Gorenstein has more.
At the start of the eight-person race for the GOP slot in the first district, there was no discernable leader. Department of Safety administrator John Stephen and state Representative Jeb Bradley traded the lead in the course of the evening with businessman Sean Mahoney running an occasional close third. For the winner, Jeb Bradley, it came down to voter results from key wards, in key towns.
Track 10
:08 it was a very interesting night. Stephen rolled up impressive wins in Manchester. And we needed to match that?by the time we had the Manchester numbers, it looked as if we had a formidable obstacle to overcome.
But Bradley?s showings in- Dover, Merrimack, Derry, Londonderry, and Bedford proved solid enough to overtakes John Stephen?s strong Manchester support.
Bradley says the main issues in the general election will be how to strengthen the military, lower the cost of health cares, and protect the environment. For her part, Democrat Martha Fuller Clark says she plans to focus on passing tougher laws to control corporations and improve child safety.
In the Second Congressional District, Democrat Katrina Swett after declaring victory, took a gentle jab at incumbent Charlie Bass, her GOP opponent.
3:34 Charlie is kind of a get along, go along guy, something of a back bencher?
?I don?t think he?s been a terribly energetic Congressman. I don?t think anyone who has met me is can doubt that I will be energy and passion to that job.
But Congressman Bass was quick to try and cast Swett as the role of carpetbagger.
4:55 Mrs Swett?s record of blithely accepting almost 100% of her donations from people outside NH, is a clear indication this is the kind of campaign she is going to run?Based on advertising, but not real good organization and connecting and communicationg with NH voters, which has been my strategy from the very beginning.
Neither Bass nor Swett had trouble defeating their opponents in the primary. In fact, the two frontrunners enjoyed such wide leads during the race, they began campaigning against each other almost immediately. Political analysts expect the two Second Congressional District candidates to differ on a number of issues including privitization of social security, corporate tax reform and senior prescription drug coverage plans.
With Congress narrowly divided, both the first and second congressional district races could attract national attention and large sums of money. For NHPR News, I?m DG.
