page_title: 2006 United States House of Representatives elections in New Hampshire
section_title: District 2
hierarchical_section_title: 2006 United States House of Representatives elections in New Hampshire / District 2
caption_attribution_description: From the Biographical Directory of the US Congress.
context_page_description: The 2006 House of Representatives elections in New Hampshire took place on November 7, 2006 to determine who would represent the state of New Hampshire in the United States House of Representatives during the 110th Congress from January 3, 2007 until January 3, 2009.
  New Hampshire had historically been a stronghold of the Republican Party. Both congressional seats were held by Republicans going into the election, in addition to most state and local offices. However, New Hampshire gave its four electoral votes to John Kerry in 2004 and to Bill Clinton in 1992 and 1996. Democratic Governor John Lynch, who defeated incumbent Republican Governor Craig Benson in 2004, was widely popular, and defeated his Republican opponent, Jim Coburn, in the simultaneous 2006. As a result, New Hampshire is commonly classified by the media as a tossup or battleground state in many federal elections.
  In this particular election, Democrats were not initially expected to unseat either of the Republican incumbents, Jeb Bradley and Charlie Bass.
context_section_description: Incumbent Charles Bass (R) won reelection in 2004 with 58% percent of the vote, even as his district was won by John Kerry 52% to 47%. Bass was, like his colleague Bradley, a self-described political moderate and fiscal conservative. Bass also embraced environmentalism and pro-choice politics. 
  Bass easily defeated primary challenges from Berlin Mayor Bob Danderson and 9/11 critic and constitutionalist Mary Maxwell. The Democratic nominee was 2004 challenger Paul Hodes, an attorney. Hodes is a strong critic of the Bush administration, supporting issues such as universal healthcare, deficit reduction, raising the minimum wage, and an immediate withdrawal of National Guard and Reserve troops from Iraq. 
  In late September, a top Bass staffer resigned after news broke that a US Government computer from Bass's DC office had been posting anonymous concern troll messages to NH blogs. In these messages, "IndyNH" claimed to be a supporter of Paul Hodes who was discouraged by Bass's unbeatable lead and urged other Hodes supporters to turn their efforts to other, more winnable races.
  The Bass-Hodes matchup was considered more competitive than that of Bradley and Shea-Porter, since voters in the 2nd district had sided with the Republican Party less consistently in recent years. Additionally, Hodes raised more campaign funds than the incumbent. Therefore, the 2006 election was expected to be a great deal closer than Bass's easy win in 2004. Initially, Bass maintained early leads over Hodes in most non-partisan polls, ranging from just 7-points in one poll to 27-points in another.  However, as the election drew nearer, polls indicated either a slight Hodes lead or a tossup. Just before election day, Hodes pulled in front of Bass in several polls. 
  On election day at 10:30pm, Charlie Bass conceded defeat to Paul Hodes, who garnered 53% of the vote as opposed to 45% for Bass.
caption: Defeated Republican incumbent Charles Bass.
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