Before the 2006 elections, both of the state houses were Republican (the NH House was probably the most conservative state legislature in the country) and the governor before the current governor was Craig Benson who was also a pretty conservative Republican. Also before 2006, both US Senators from NH and both congressmen were Republicans.
True enough that in 2006, Republicans took a drubbing in NH (losing both congressional seats and both houses of the state legislature) but Republicans nationwide took a drubbing and NH Republicanism is the old fashioned, more libertarian type of Republicanism...no taxes, no regulations and small government...and the small government philosophy applies to both domestic and foreign policies...so...it hard to know whether 2006 is part of a trend left in NH...or whether it was just a reaction to Iraq...that remains to be seen
>> True enough that in 2006, Republicans took a drubbing in NH (losing both congressional seats and both houses of the state legislature) but Republicans nationwide took a drubbing and NH Republicanism is the old fashioned, more libertarian type of Republicanism.
Thn how do you explain John McCain’s victory in the 2000 New Hampshire Primary? He’s certainly not and “old-fashioned more libertarian type” Republican.
New Hampshire is no different than any other northeastern State ... a New England Republican would be a liberal Democrat in a truly conservative state (like Texas, for instance).
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Good summary. Based on election results from the two congressional districts, I believe the 06 vote was a protest vote against Iraq war.
Both Republican incumbents lost a huge number of votes from the 04 election (Bradley and Bass lost almost 50% of their voters), while the D-moonbats each picked up only a handful more, meaning that much of the R base simply stayed home.
I'm here. I can tell you it was Iraq.