50Seats.Com, The Series: Part XXXII, NH-1 Incumbent Carol Shea-Porter

“New Hampshire’s 1st congressional district covers the southeastern part of New Hampshire. The district consists of three general areas: Greater Manchester, the Seacoast and the Lakes Region. It is currently represented in the United States House of Representatives by Democrat Carol Shea-Porter. The district includes: all of Belknap County except the communities of Sanbornton and Tilton, all of Carroll County, the communities of Bedford, Goffstown, Manchester, and Merrimack in Hillsborough County, the community of Hooksett in Merrimack County all of Rockingham County except the communities of Atkinson, Salem, and Windham, and all of Strafford County.”

Carol Shea-Porter is winding down her second term in this seat, and her voting record, like so many other Democrats she’s worked side by side with to make a mess of things up there in DC, is a mess. The good news here is that it looks like Porter just might get bounced out of that seat by a fine field of GOP hopefuls vying to send her packing in November. Let’s take a closer look at the details of the race for this House seat in 2010 after the jump…

Hmm…Shea-Porter hardly ever voted NO on anything…one of the glaring exceptions was her no vote on the bill to prohibit Federal funds being used for abortion. And, like so many others on the Left side of the aisle, Shea-Porter voted yes on Tarp, yes on Cap & Trade, yes on the Stimulus, and yes on that Health care fiasco. That should be enough, but I would suggest again that now is not the time to send a Democrat YES man (or woman) to Washington so they can make even more of a mess than they already have. Let’s peek at what’s going on with the primary in New Hampshire…

New Hampshire’s September 14 primary, for the Democrats, has Shea-Porter running unopposed. The GOP, on the other hand, has four according to Our Campaigns (Robert “Bob” Bestani, Mayor Frank C. Guinta, Rich Ashooh, and Sean Mahoney) while DC Political Report tells us there are 2 more; cook Mike Castaldo, and party activist Fergus Cullen. As always, we go to CQ Politics to clear it up. Great news-they’ve got this one as a “Toss Up” too:

National Republicans recruited Manchester Mayor Frank Guinta early in the cycle. And even though his campaign has stumbled and sometimes reported lackluster fundraising, some of the national party apparatus appears to be sticking with him for the time being — or at least cutting checks to his campaign. Guinta also cut a six-figure personal check to boost his coffers last quarter.

But at least a couple other Republicans with significant personal funds are also in the race: Defense contractor Rich Ashooh and former Republican National Committeeman Sean Mahoney. Banking executive Bob Bestani is also running, although local observers do not view his campaign as competitive compared with that of Mahoney or Ashooh.

If all of the Republicans in the primary play nice until the September contest, the party increases its shot of taking this seat. But there is no doubt that an intraparty battle could ruin the GOP’s chances of winning here, even if Shea-Porter’s voting record is — as the national GOP says —“out of touch” with her constituents.

Now, the Washington Post map (calling this one a “Race to Watch”) suggests that Guinta is doing fairly well in the dollars department…not very far behind Shea-Porter at the moment. September is still a ways off, so there’s plenty of time for any of these guys on the GOP side to catch up.

Frank Guinta’s website is HERE. Rich Ashooh’s is HERE. Bob Bestani’s is HERE. Sean Mahoney’s is HERE. Mike Castaldo’s is HERE…but I can’t seem to find a website for Fergus Cullen.

Whichever one you support now, go all in for the September 14 winner. Shea-Porter can be taken out of this seat…and like so many of her colleagues, it’s time for her to go.

Note: This post originates at 73Wire.

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