Sixteen months before the congressional elections, Jeb Bradley spends his days attending meetings of Republican county committees, New Hampshire GOP events and picnics. He chases down money: A recent fundraising letter netted more than $50,000. And he brainstorms ways to win back the First District congressional seat, which Democrat Carol Shea-Porter won in an upset in November.

"I'm really buoyed by the fact that there are hundreds of New Hampshire people who have financially supported my re-election efforts," said Bradley, who served two terms before losing to Shea-Porter. "We're going to start by focusing on Carol Shea-Porter's voting record. Last time, she was a blank slate."

While the presidential race has consumed the political spotlight, New Hampshire's congressional campaigns are well under way. The contests are being fueled by many Republicans' belief that last year's election - which swept Democrats Paul Hodes and Shea-Porter into office, pushing out Republican incumbents - was an aberration, the result of anger over the war in Iraq and Gov. John Lynch's record-high approval ratings.

"We feel confident about our ability to pick up one if not both of the seats again," said New Hampshire GOP Chairman Fergus Cullen. "Everyone acknowledges that the First District is slightly more Republican and Republican-leaning than the Second District, but they're both competitive."

But Hodes and Shea-Porter won't relinquish their seats easily.

Hodes's staff wouldn't disclose his fundraising total, since receipts are being tallied in advance of a reporting deadline this month. But the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee is helping Hodes prepare for the upcoming contest: Hodes is one of 29 participants in a DCCC fundraising program designed to protect Democratic incumbents by helping them raise money, recruit volunteers and build their campaigns. Between January and the end of March, Hodes raised more than $247,000, according to a Federal Election Commission report.

Shea-Porter - who won election by building a grassroots network on a shoestring budget - turned down an invitation to participate in the DCCC program, saying that she wants to run another low-cost campaign. Shea-Porter wouldn't disclose her fundraising tally yesterday, saying she didn't know the final amount. But in the first three months of the year, she raised nearly $107,000, according to a Federal Election Commission report.

"I'm not really focusing on the fundraising. We just put one letter out, and obviously we plan to run the same kind of campaign that we ran before, which is message over money," Shea-Porter said.

Bradley, meanwhile, raised about $7,000 in that period. Since then, Bradley sent out his first fundraising letter, which reaped more than $50,000. Bradley said that he's still calculating his second quarter fundraising total.

Both Shea-Porter and Hodes said that after watching a Democratically controlled Congress for the past six months, voters will be more likely to support Democratic candidates. The GOP is "dominated by a far-right, reactionary contingency," Hodes said. "I think folks are seeing how hard Congress is working, and they understand that it's hard to get legislation past a president who's threatening a veto rampage and a Senate where the Democratic majority is slim to none."

"I'm very pleased to say that I now have a record," Shea-Porter said. "This year, I can say that I've been representing the bottom 99 percent of us."

But Bradley argues that a voting record will make his campaign easier. Shea-Porter has "voted 100 percent of the time with Speaker Nancy Pelosi, a classic liberal from San Francisco," Bradley said, repeating what has become a theme of New Hampshire Republicans.

Of the two seats, Shea-Porter's is considered more vulnerable. While the DCCC poured money into Hodes's campaign towards the end of the 2006 race, demonstrating the national party's faith in his candidacy, Shea-Porter attracted little notice from national Democrats. She later credited her grassroots style - she spent hours walking through her district and attracted numerous middle-aged volunteers - with her win. (next page »)