Emily Gibson

Professor Owens
American Political Institutions and Processes
6 November 2014
Election Brief: New Hampshire U.S. Senate
The election for the U.S. Senate seat in New Hampshire proved to be a very competitive
race between candidates Democrat, Jeanne Shaheen and Republican, Scott Brown. Shaheen is
the incumbent and was previously the New Hampshire governor from 1997-2003. She has been a
U.S. Senator from New Hampshire from 2009-present. Opponent Scott Brown was a U.S.
Senator in Massachusetts from 2010-2012, elected in a special election for Ted Kennedys seat
but lost his reelection bid in 2012. Since Browns loss in 2012, he moved into his summer home
in New Hampshire and in April 2014 announced his campaign for U.S. Senator in New
Hampshire.
Shaheen created distance from her opponent, Scott Brown, by relying on incumbency
advantages such as voting records to show steps she has already taken to better the lives of the
people of New Hampshire. Additionally, Shaheen used a strong campaign message that she
works for the people of New Hampshire; while also releasing ads stating that Scott Brown is
only for himself. These commercials pointed out that Brown only recently established his
primary residence in the state after losing his reelection bid to the U.S. Senate in Massachusetts
back in 2012. Brown on the other hand, fueled his campaign by trying to become an
independent voice for the state and focusing on large issues that presented themselves
throughout the year; including ISIS, ebola and immigration. A large focal point of his was also
comparing Shaheen to President Obama and how similar the two were on certain issues. Since
the midterm approval rating of the president in the state dropped to 40% according to a report in
the Christian Science Monitor, its the best strategy in a midterm election. You tie the
millstone of an unpopular president around [your opponents] neck, says Andrew Smith,
director of the University of New Hampshire Survey Center in Durham. Top issues from the
debates included ISIS and national security. Brown described ISIS as the greatest threat to
America and that this was a very rationale fear. Shaheen, however, claimed her disagreement
and said she didnt believe this organization would cause the collapse of our nation. In addition
to national security issues, the moderator brought up whether or not troops should be left in Iraq.
Shaheen was not in favor of having an occupying force there and Brown, because of his past
military experience, was quick to react, Were a liberating force and I and every other person
who has served in the military resents that you are calling us occupiers. Overall, different areas
of national security played a large role in the last days of the campaigns.
Shaheen has held a small lead throughout most of the race. As the race got closer to
election day the poll results showed the margins becoming slimmer and slimmer. Familiar faces
stopped by the battleground state to endorse the candidates such as New Jersey Governor Chris
Christie in support of Scott Brown and Hilary Clinton to support Shaheens campaign. With a
growing competition to steal her seat, Shaheen spent and raised nearly twice the amount of
money Scott Brown did, gathering funds from organizations such as EMILY's List and

Morgan&Morgan. In the end, as Shaheen clinched her spot in a 51.6% to 48.4% victory, the
money spent was clearly worth it. Not to mention she has almost two million on hand that was
not spent in the campaign. Although money through PACs and outside contributions can make a
difference in a campaign, the largest factor in this race seemed to be the two candidates
themselves. Commercials didnt focus on the issues they fought for or against but who the other
candidate was similar to and whether or not they were running in this race for the right
reasons. Its possible that if Scott Brown was a New Hampshire native and not from another state
this race would have been much more focused on key issues that separated the two. In
conclusion, due to voting records that showed the work she was already doing for the state of
New Hampshire and the irregular nature of her opponent and where he was from, Jeanne
Shaheen won the election and will remain the incumbent.