Democrat Jeanne Shaheen beats Messner, wins 3rd Senate term
Holly Ramer | Hagadone News Network | UPDATED 4 years AGO
CONCORD, N.H. (AP) — New Hampshire Democrat Jeanne Shaheen has won a third term in the U.S. Senate.
Shaheen defeated Republican Corky Messner and Libertarian Justin O’Donnell on Tuesday. She has touted her record of working across party lines on issues including helping small businesses during the coronavirus pandemic, securing funding to address the opioid crisis and improving veterans’ access to health care.
She contrasted her long history of public service with Messner’s relatively recent arrival from Colorado, saying he lacked understanding of both her record and the state. Shaheen was the first woman elected governor of New Hampshire and the first woman ever to serve as both governor and U.S. senator.
Messner, an Army veteran and founder of a Denver-based law firm, argued the state would be better served by a political outsider.
THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. AP’s earlier story follows below.
CONCORD, N.H. (AP) — Democrats are seeking to maintain their dominance of New Hampshire’s congressional delegation on Tuesday while Republicans hope to regain lost ground.
Three of the four members of the all-Democratic delegation are up for reelection: U.S. Sen. Jeanne Shaheen, 1st District Rep. Chris Pappas and 2nd District Rep. Annie Kuster. While the state has been represented only by Democrats in Washington for the last four years, Republicans held some of the seats before that, and the 1st District in particular had swung back and forth between the parties.
As it did for the September primary, the coronavirus pandemic significantly changed both the process of campaigning and voting. Safety precautions are in place at the polls, and anyone with concerns about the virus was allowed to vote by absentee ballot.
Secretary of State Bill Gardner on Monday said he expects more than 800,000 ballots to be cast, surpassing the record of 755,850 set in 2016. As of Tuesday morning, more than 235,000 absentee ballots had been returned to city and town clerks.
On Tuesday, the state's Joint Information Center said there were long lines at some polling stations across New Hampshire but no signs of problems. Some towns required masks at the polling stations and voters were given pens to fill in their ballots. Plastic shields divided voters from the people checking them in at several locations.
Daniel Brisson, 77, who voted for President Donald Trump in Manchester, said he had no concerns about voting in person and that he had trust in the election results.
“Whomever wins the vote, that is it. He is the president whether you like it or not,” he said. “He is our president and you have got to live with it."
Shaheen, a former governor seeking her third term in the Senate, faces Republican Corky Messner, a newcomer to both politics and the state. An attorney from Colorado who turned his New Hampshire vacation home into his permanent residence about two years ago, he criticized Shaheen as a career politician while casting himself as an independent outsider with experience creating jobs and navigating bureaucracies. Shaheen has emphasized her record of helping small businesses during the coronavirus pandemic and securing funding to fight the opioid crisis as well as her commitment to the Affordable Care Act.
In the 1st District, Pappas faces Republican Matt Mowers as he seeks a second term. Pappas, a former state lawmaker whose family runs a popular restaurant in Manchester, spent much of the campaign playing up his bipartisan credentials and his work on behalf of veterans. President Donald Trump endorsed Mowers, who briefly worked in his administration’s State Department.
The 2nd District features a rematch between Kuster, who is seeking a fifth term, and Republican Steve Negron. During the campaign, Kuster emphasized her work in Congress to help pass the $2 trillion CARES Act that provided emergency relief during the pandemic and her advocacy for frontline workers. Negron, who runs a defense engineering and consulting firm in Nashua, is a conservative who supports Trump.
Trump, who faces Democrat Joe Biden, narrowly lost New Hampshire to Hillary Clinton in 2016. Further down the ballot, Republican Gov. Chris Sununu, who is seeking a third term, faces Democrat Dan Feltes. Voters also will elect 400 members of the state House and 24 members of the Senate.
Mukhtar Idhow, a 35-year-old immigrant in Manchester, said coming out to vote was a chance to exercise a right he never had in his native Somalia. Idhow, who said he voted for Biden, wasn’t concerned about the election being undermined by one candidate or the other.
“It is not up to Trump or Biden. It is up to the American people,” he said. “We have rules and laws in the country. No matter what they say, the American people will recognize who the right winner is,” he said.
___ Associated Press writers Michael Casey and Kathy McCormack contributed to this report.
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Find AP’s full election coverage at APNews.com/Election2020.