NH Senate: Governor Lynch will NOT run against Sununu in 2008 (with Poll)

This comes as no surprise to many of us, but Governor John Lynch will not for Senate in 2008 against John Lynch:

http://www.unionleader.com/...

I've heard for awhile now from his staff that he had no interest, but this seems to confirm it. This puts Democrats in a tough spot, as there are few high-profile Dems in this state. Former Governor Jeanne Shaheen is a possiblity, as are some of the State Senators, but we don't seem to have that knockout candidate that we can be confident about.

It will be interesting to see who Chuck Schumer recruits for this race, as it should be one of our top 3 or 4 targets in 2008 Senate elections.

•  Dick Swett???

  Teehee!

  by Boris Godunov on Thu Nov 16, 2006 at 02:59:11 PM PDT

  •  That is a great name. n/t

    by GTPinNJ on Thu Nov 16, 2006 at 03:01:01 PM PDT

  •  He Doesn't Sell Swetty Balls By Any Chance?

    SNL - Swetty Balls

    by Rimjob on Thu Nov 16, 2006 at 03:22:02 PM PDT

  •  I believe he's run for Senate before

    If memory serves me right, his campaign slogan was "Make Our Senator Swett".

    Unfortunately, when the votes were counted, it was no Swett.

    by Dump Terry McAuliffe on Thu Nov 16, 2006 at 03:40:14 PM PDT

    •  OT, but you have, IMHO, the best username

      on dKos.

      by Republic Not Empire on Thu Nov 16, 2006 at 03:41:44 PM PDT

    •  Actually,

      he ran against Bob Smith in 1996 and it was a sweater--the networks called the race for Swett early and had to retract it.  The final tally was 52-48 IIRC.

      by Superribbie on Thu Nov 16, 2006 at 04:50:32 PM PDT

•  Does Shaheen get any extra boost

  for being on the receiving end of the illegal phone-jamming scandal in 2002? In a similar vein, does Sununu suffer at all from being the beneficiary? Has he ever disowned the RNC folk who were responsible?

  by sardonyx on Thu Nov 16, 2006 at 03:10:23 PM PDT

•  Shaheen should run

  Although I have one question: did she support creating a state income tax? If so, did that help make the race as close as it was? Aside from that, she would be a good candidate, especially with the phone-jamming scandal helping her.

  by Progressive Moderate on Thu Nov 16, 2006 at 03:16:22 PM PDT

  •  Progressive Moderate

    No, she did NOT support a state income tax. However, she ran in a tremendously Republican year where the Democratic candidate for Governor DID support a state income tax.

    by Scoonie on Thu Nov 16, 2006 at 03:18:03 PM PDT

    •  Craig Benson was a fucktard

      I'm glad NH voters had the commonsense to kick him out. Just curious, how many terms did Shaheen serve as Governor? And yes I do know that Governor's terms in NH are only two years.

      by Progressive Moderate on Thu Nov 16, 2006 at 03:25:46 PM PDT

      •  3 Terms

        nt

        by Scoonie on Thu Nov 16, 2006 at 03:29:43 PM PDT

      •  Cabletron ex-employees ...

        were telling everyone that Benson was a raging asshole, but they were all "disgruntled".

        by Jon Meltzer on Thu Nov 16, 2006 at 03:41:17 PM PDT

•  Good. I wasn't looking forward to

  Lynch v. Sununu for a number of reasons.

  I'd love to see Shaheen do it, because between that and the continued phone jamming prosecution, it would constantly remind people that Sununu's electoral win lacking in legitimacy.

  I'd also be thrilled to see Burling try for it, just because I know him and I think he'd be a better candidate than many realize.

  by Republic Not Empire on Thu Nov 16, 2006 at 03:40:05 PM PDT

•  I guess this is a bit

  of a repeat of the above posts, but what kind of Campaign did Shaheen run? Was it good?? Did the phone-jamming play a major role in her defeat? If the answers are yes, I think she should run again.

  by jj32 on Thu Nov 16, 2006 at 03:48:32 PM PDT

  •  Answers

    1. Decent

    2. Yes

    She was running against Smith and got knocked for a loop when Sununu beat Smith in the primary.  She led in the polls all the way up to the election, but 2002 was a bad Dem year.

    by Superribbie on Thu Nov 16, 2006 at 04:52:34 PM PDT

•  She ran a good campaign

  She emphasized her pro-choice stand in her ads, which helped her win over some moderate Republicans.  But, this emphasis hurt her with more conservative Democrats in Manchester.  She did not end up doing very well in Manchester, which may have cost her the election.

  by DCal on Thu Nov 16, 2006 at 04:24:13 PM PDT

•  Shermanesque?

  "No plans" doesn't necessarily mean no.  Having to run every two years is a tough gig, no matter how popular a governor is.

  I doubt Schumer has made his final run at Lynch.

  by poliscizac on Thu Nov 16, 2006 at 05:55:42 PM PDT

•  Sununu must go

  Take down this pro-war, anti-stem cell phone jammer. Make him be the next Santorum.

  by jfern on Wed Nov 22, 2006 at 07:10:54 PM PDT