Dem
47
GOP
53
Sen. Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH) has had a long and honorable career, starting as a high school teacher in Mississippi and working her way up to being a three-term governor of New Hampshire and then a three-term senator. She decided to call it a day at 78 and won't run for reelection next year. This left Democrats with a problem: an open seat in a swing(ish) state. Their first choice was Rep. Chris Pappas (D-NH), who represents the eastern and most populous part of the state. Pappas is now telling his friends that he will announce his Senate run probably next week. The other representative, Maggie Goodlander, might also run, but she has only been in the House for 2 months, so that seems a bit ambitious.
The Republicans have a number of potential candidates, including current governor Kelly Ayotte, former governor Chris Sununu, and former Massachusetts senator and Cosmo model Scott Brown, who seems to be geographically challenged. Pappas' entry may discourage Ayotte, who would be the underdog in a Senate race but the overdog in a gubernatorial reelection race. It could also discourage Sununu, who has his eye on the big chair in D.C. Maybe Brown would jump at the chance, but Pappas, whose family goes back four generations in New Hampshire to his great grandfather's ice cream shop, founded in Manchester in 1917, would yell CARPETBAGGER CARPETBAGGER CARPETBAGGER all year long at Brown. (V)