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In addition to keeping the majority in the State Senate, New Hampshire Democrats will still have a majority in the House of Representatives. It appears like we will have 222-227 House Democrats (we currently have 231) and the balance will be about 173-178 Republicans. Not bad. That's an amazing back-to-back accomplishment. Tied in with the fact that all of our incumbent Democrat State Senators won re-election, we're in good shape. We will continue to have 14 Democrats in the Senate, assuring cooperation with the House and the Governor's Office on some of the more important issues of the next two years.
I had hoped for a few more House members, and with a little bit of wishful thinking and some cheerleading I had projected we'd have some 262 Democrats. I'm not disappointed with around 225. We've had 231 and we've done some great things. I remember well being in the House when we had about 112 Democrats, so twice that is something that's fun to have to live with. I'm saddened by the loss of almost 20 of our Democratic incumbents, but many of them will be back in two years.
The rest of my projections were fairly on the mark. For the past six months, despite getting some abuse from certain Republicans and some laughs from fellow Democrats when at times things looked bleak, I projected we'd see the reelection of John Lynch, Carol Shea-Porter, and Paul Hodes, as well as the election of Jeanne Shaheen. They did it! Plus, I projected that we'd continue to have three Democratic Governor's Council members, including John Shea. He shouldn't be underestimated, and showed that he does well when the competition is tough.
My projections were made based not on polls but rather on the enthusiasm we saw going into the New Hampshire First-In-The-Nation Presidential Primary, and the new registrations, and the motivating factors for voters -- the need for health care, the Iraq War, the economy, and George W. Bush/Dick Cheney. We have to thank those guys for encouraging our supporters to get out and throw them out.
I was a bit low on my 7 percent projection for Barack Obama/Joe Biden in New Hampshire. I mean, he did incredible. I originally supported Hillary Clinton, but was so proud to vote for Barack Obama yesterday. And nationwide I projected half a dozen new Democratic United States Senators and a dozen or more new Democratic Congressmen. It turned out that way.
What an incredible job our Democrats did in the NH State Senate, with all incumbents getting reelected. We have 14 Democrats in the Senate now, and will have 14 for the next two years, and that back-to-back is another great accomplishment. I was hoping for better results with our other excellent candidates -- Jay Phinzy, Mike Kaelin, Bob Martin, Bob Backus, and Martha McLeod -- but maybe next time. Wasn't it fantastic the way our incumbents and new candidates fended off challengers? Peggy Gilmour, Matt Houde, Bette Lasky, Harold Janeway, Jackie Cilley, and Amanda Merrill will continue to be great, with the others.
Oh, AND WE WILL HAVE 13 WOMEN IN THE NEW HAMPSHIRE STATE SENATE. THAT'S A MAJORITY!
I should add that Ray Buckley, who can drive some of us up the wall sometimes but who knows his job and does it, should be thanked for his work on the State Senate succcesses -- and others statewide; and Kevin Hodges should be thanked for coordinating much of the success in the House of Representatives. Decent work all around by them and other staff and volunteers.
The "pendulum of politics" teaches us that victory is often temporary -- including the victory of ideas. We have much to do to keep our level of success in what might be a more difficult year for us, in 2010. But if Democrats act like Democrats -- and that is open to debate and definition, which I hope those of us on www.BlueHampshire.com will continue to engage in freely -- we'll continue to win, and do good things to help people in the process.
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