Don't make too much of GOP wins in New Hampshire

November 4, 7:25 AMManchester Democrat ExaminerPaul Briand

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New Hampshire State Republican chairman John H. Sununu is making the most of GOP wins in the state and elsewhere.

But voters shouldn't make too much of a leap that GOP wins yesterday for some mayoral and governor races will mean a new Republican Revolution come the mid-term elections in 2010.

“The results in Manchester and the other important Republican victories across the country show that Americans want to elect fiscally conservative candidates who will fight to lower taxes and bring fiscal sanity back to our government," Sununu said in a statement last night.

Yes, Republican Ted Gatsas won as mayor in Manchester. And Republicans won the governors' races in New Jersey and Virginia.

In other areas of New Hampshire, however, where races are non-partisan, known Democrats were victorious. The New Hampshire Democratic Party noted that Democrats held their mayoral seats in Portsmouth, Keene, and Claremont and picked up seats in Berlin and Somersworth.

And a Republican seat in the U.S. House went from a Republican to a Democrat in upstate New York.

There is a problem with assessing local elections against a national political backdrop.

Some pundits believed yesterday's election might be a referendum on the presidency of Barack Obama. But local decisions for mayor and even for governor are based on local issues like property taxes, the delivery of public services, education, and corruption.

According to CNN, in the much-watched races in New Jersey and Virginia, Obama didn't come into play. CNN noted that 56 percent of Virginians said that the president was not a factor when it came down to their vote. In New Jersey, that number increased to 60 percent of the people who went to the polls on Tuesday.

The war of words between Democrats and Republicans has only just begun.

Derek Richer, press secretary for the New Hampshire Democratic Party, said in a statement last night:"Tuesday's results offers further evidence of the emerging permanent Democratic majority in the Granite State. If the trends continue, 2010 will be yet another great year for N.H. Democrats."