John Shea added a new T-shirt to his collection this week, courtesy of his family: "I went to Belgium and all I got was elected."

Shea's ascent to the five-member Executive Council might seem like a present, the product of an exceedingly popular Democratic governor and overwhelming anti-Republican sentiment at the national level. Shea, a Nelson Democrat, has no illusions. "This was the opportune time." he said. Lynch "is just so popular. If anyone could pull the votes in, it would be this guy."

Although Shea's first four attempts at securing the District 2 seat on the council failed, he expected to win this go-around. "In the back of my mind, I did," he said.

But he was the only one: Politicians and State House watchers have deemed Shea's 1,100-vote victory over Peter Spaulding, a moderate Republican from Hopkinton, one of the biggest upsets of this month's election.

In one day, Shea vaulted from relative obscurity to one of the most talked-about figures in New Hampshire government. He was a stranger in state political circles; Gov. John Lynch had never met the man who gave the council its first Democratic majority in years. His Election Day departure for Belgium only fueled the speculation. (An above-the-fold headline in The Keene Sentinel read "Where in the world is John Shea?")

Back from Europe, Shea is ready to put the questions to rest. He is 71, a former employee of Peerless Insurance, where he managed bond operations in Connecticut, Michigan and New England from 1955 to 1996. He now runs a part-time probate bond service with his brother. And although Shea is a new face to many in the State House, his Democratic Party roots run deep in the Keene area.

In the 1960s, "the friends I had all got involved. We were dealing with a bunch of older people who had been on the (Keene) city council for years and years, and they didn't represent the younger people," Shea said. "Kennedy just excited everybody." Shea's political circle included Junie Blaisdell, who went on to become Senate president, and former Keene mayor Patricia Russell, who now sits on the liquor commission.

From 1953 to 1964, Shea served in the House. In 1964, Shea's bosses told him that his position in the House sucked up too much time.

"I said, 'I can't just not run.' And they said, 'Well, you can run for something you can't win,' " Shea said.

Thus began his failed gubernatorial campaign (he finished fourth out of five in the primary). In 1964, Shea served as a delegate to the Democratic National Convention. For seven years, beginning in 1962, he sat on Keene's city council. Volunteer work - Shea has managed Keene Little League and served as a Scoutmaster - added to his responsibilities.

Shea spent time in Michigan and Connecticut. But New Hampshire was always home. His mother's family arrived in the Granite State in 1710, and the Litchfield farm they bought in 1720 remains in family hands.

For 18 years, Shea has lived alone in a green house overlooking Nelson's Granite Lake.

When the weather permits - generally from late spring to November - he begins his day by plunging into the water. ("Cold water keeps you young," he says.) He walks the town's roads, picking up litter and chatting with neighbors. On Friday afternoons, he serves as volunteer bartender at the local Knights of Columbus. Books and the radio keep him company. He disconnected his television a decade ago, after "I found I was sitting here all the time watching TV." He travels, to Europe, Asia and across the United States.

Time and again, Shea tried for the council seat, just so Spaulding wouldn't run unopposed. In 2004, Spaulding won 67,696 votes, 10,000 more than Shea.

"He thinks that we should always fill the ballot, that there should not be any open spaces on the Democratic side," said Russell, who has known Shea for nearly 50 years. "He's his own man, and I know he's going to be very helpful to the governor."

Shea also wanted to bring geographic diversity to the council. For too long, he said, candidates from the Concord area had a stranglehold in the district, which stretches from Vermont to Maine. Spaulding, who joined the council in 1983, "has done a good job," Shea said. "But he's just - he's Concord."

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