After the truly terrible 2010 election in New Hampshire that installed a far-right Tea Party supermajority in the Legislature, it was a very good night for Democrats (and women!) across the Connecticut River.
Historic accomplishment: New Hampshire is the only state with a female Governor and an all-female Congressional delegation. Maggie Hassan easily beat Republican Ovide Lamontaigne for Governor, and the two Democratic women — Carol Shea-Porter and Anne Kuster — defeated Republican incumbents Frank Guinta and Charlie Bass.
The Dems have a real shot at gaining a dead-even split in the state Senate, and are making big gains in the House as well. And, of course, President Obama won the state handily. A great night for New Hampshire Democrats, and yet another repudiation of Tea Party politics.
It’s fair to say we dropped the ball badly in 2010, and were surprised by the number of Tea Party/Free-Staters who were elected and chose to caucus with the Republicans. They quickly figured out that they only had a 2-year window and tried to overturn 200 years of social contract. Fortunately a Dem governor and an increasing sense of shame on the part of “normal” Republicans stemmed the tide.
This year we mobilized right from the start, targeted the worst of the TP/FS offenders and now have a reasonable set of legislators. With Obama & Hassan at the top of the ticket and a ton of local fervor at the bottom, the Congressional delegation sweep was a wonderful side-effect. Just great news all around.