Democrats get boost in effort at Senate gains

WASHINGTON -- Democrats' efforts to pad their slim Senate majority got a boost Sunday when former New Hampshire governor Jeanne Shaheen announced that she'll challenge Sen. John Sununu, R-N.H., next year.

Shaheen cited the Senate deadlock over the Iraq war as one of the chief reasons she decided to make the race. In 2002, she lost to Sununu by five percentage points. "We are not any closer to a resolution today than we were last year. That needs to change," Shaheen told a crowd gathered at her home.

Shaheen, 60, who played a key role in helping Sen. John Kerry of Massachusetts win the Democratic presidential nomination in 2004, became the second popular ex-governor in a week to take aim at a Senate seat now held by a Republican. The other is Mark Warner, who jumped into the race Thursday for the Democratic Senate nomination in Virginia.

A July poll by the University of New Hampshire showed Shaheen leading Sununu by 16 percentage points. In Virginia, a Rasmussen Reports poll released earlier this month showed Warner with a 20 percentage point lead over his nearest potential GOP foe, Jim Gilmore, another former governor.

Sen. Charles Schumer, a New Yorker who heads the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee, called the entrance of Shaheen and Warner into their state's races "a tremendous shot in the arm."

Not that the party needed it. "The political environment certainly is in the Democrats favor right now," acknowledged Rebecca Fisher, spokeswoman for the National Republican Senatorial Campaign Committee. Fisher insisted party operatives aren't panicked because "we've got a ways to go" before Election Day.

Schumer agreed. "It's a long, long way to go," he said.

Heading into the 2008 elections, Republicans face several challenges, including:

•Numbers:The GOP is defending 22 Senate seats next year compared to 12 for Democrats. Republican fundraising is lagging. Reports filed at the Federal Election Commission last month showed the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee raising $34 million so far this year. The National Republican Senatorial Committee's total: $18 million.