Styles Bridges

Jeanne Shaheen is looking to do something that has only happened one time since 1865.  Only once since then has a Democratic candidate for US Senate in NH defeated a sitting Republican who was elected to the office.  The last time that occurred was in 1932 when Fred Brown was part of the Roosevelt landslide and defeated Republican George Moses.  Brown only served on term and was defeated.  Since then only two Democrats have held a NH U.S. Senate seat, and neither of those defeated a sitting Republican who was elected to the seat.

One of the best primaries in New Hampshire history was for the United States Senate in 1950, when Wesley Powell, a 34-year-old World War II veteran challenged 70-year-old incumbent Charles Tobey in the Republican primary.  Powell was the conservative candidate, while Tobey came from the centrist faction of the GOP.