Democrat Carol Shea-Porter, a political newcomer whose anti-war campaign was shunned at one time by her own party's leaders, upset two-term Rep. Jeb Bradley in the 1st District race yesterday.

Shea-Porter, a social worker from Rochester, becomes the first woman elected to Congress from New Hampshire and the first Democrat to represent the 1st District since Norm D'Amours in 1984. She edged Bradley 51 to 49 percent.

"We're going to make a difference in Washington because we have our own voice here," she told cheering supporters at Portsmouth's Frank Jones Center after claiming victory."

And I'm going go to Washington to do what I promised, to speak up for the rest of us."

Shea-Porter opposed the Iraq war from the start and has called for a deadline to withdraw American troops, a move that Bradley adamantly opposed. Shea-Porter said she would represent the "bottom 99 percent" of Americans. She had touted her grassroots campaign of 650 volunteers and her refusal to take money from companies and political action committees that she didn't agree with.

Bradley, a Republican from Wolfeboro, congratulated his opponent, wished her luck and told his backers to hold their heads up. Bradley said his days of public service weren't over.

"The voters will make sure she too is held accountable, but that's for another day and we look forward to that debate," he said.

With 95 percent of votes counted, Shea-Porter led Bradley last night 96,429 to 91,207 votes.

Bradley led in polls throughout the race, but his lead dwindled as the election neared.

Shea-Porter's supporters were jubilant throughout the evening, buoyed by results that showed the race neck and neck. People were dancing to speakers that blared "Hit Me With Your Best Shot" and the theme from Rocky.

Bradley supporters had been optimistic while watching the results at Jillian's in Manchester, but they became more concerned as the night wore on. When Bradley was still holding a slim lead, Wayne Semprini, the chairman of the state party, blamed the Republicans' tough night on the Bush administration's declining popularity, but he said that Bradley would eke out a victory. Bradley and his staff huddled over tables in front of spreadsheets, laptops and Blackberries poring over numbers, and supporters stood watching televisions. Bradley's mother, Ellen Bradley, wearing a white hat covered with campaign pins, sat in front of a flat-screen television.

Shea-Porter, who worked in Gen. Wesley Clark's presidential campaign but had never held elected office, beat the odds just to win her party's nomination. In the September primary, she defeated Jim Craig, a leader in the Legislature who had received the endorsement of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee and had six times the campaign money. She drew differences from Craig by unequivocally supporting a deadline to withdraw American troops from Iraq. She also did not receive any money from national Democrats or political action committees, instead relying on volunteers and family members.

The day after she became the nominee, Bradley called Shea-Porter's views "extreme." WMUR-TV reported that Shea-Porter had once been escorted out of a Portsmouth event featuring President Bush while wearing a T-shirt protesting his re-election.

Bradley, first elected to Congress in 2002, ran his campaign around local issues. His first television commercial featured people praising him for his efforts to save the Portsmouth Naval Shipyard. Another spot starred a woman thanking Bradley for helping her to bring her adopted Romanian daughter to New Hampshire. In his concession speech, he said his supporters should never forget helping to keep the Manchester VA Medical Center emergency room open, working to protect the environment and strengthening the military.

"They will continue to be an important part for the debate of our country," Bradley said, "but we got caught in perfect storm, no question about it."

Single page