Rep. Carol Shea-Porter

Party: Democrat
State: New Hampshire - 1st District
Race results: Shea-Porter won her bid for re-election against Republican challenger Joseph "Jeb" Bradley.

In one of the biggest upsets in the 2006 elections, Carol Shea-Porter defeated the heavily favored incumbent Republican Rep. Jeb Bradley in New Hampshire's 1st Congressional District.

Shea-Porter's 2006 campaign was a grass-roots effort powered in part by her strong opposition to the war in Iraq. Shea-Porter first attracted attention when she defeated the party-backed favorite in the Democratic primary by a twenty point margin. The race received very little national attention until the day after the general election, when reporters and pundits awoke to realize she had defeated Bradley by just 5,000 votes, the upset of the year.

The story that the reporters had missed was that Shea-Porter had mobilized a small army of volunteers and a network of supporters. They were inspired by both her sharp criticism of the Iraq war and her pledge to work on a domestic agenda that helps the “bottom 99%” of Americans. The amateurs outworked the professionals.

In Washington, Shea-Porter has been a vocal advocate for ending the war, living up to her campaign promises. Following a December 2007 vote in which she opposed continued funding for the war, Shea-Porter said:

"I have not been fooled by the President's rhetoric about Iraq. Iraq is a sinkhole, the Iraqi government has been unwilling to reconcile, and I do not believe in making our soldiers and the American people pay for President Bush's war any longer. I believe the Iraqi Parliament meant it when the majority of them asked us to leave, and I think we should do exactly that. I have voted to provide funds for a safe exit, but I will not vote to provide funds for an endless war."

Shea-Porter has also voted against cutting funding for the United Nations, against funding for new nuclear weapons development, and in favor of implementing the recommendations of the 9/11 Commission, which passed the House of Representatives and was signed into law.

Shea-Porter's narrow victory in 2006 makes her a top target in 2008. She is again facing Jeb Bradley in a rematch of the 2006 race she narrowly won.

Carol Shea-Porter will continue to be a vocal opponent of the Iraq war, but she needs your support. You can help her by making a contribution.

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