ABC News
The Dole reign has ended in North Carolina as Democrat Kay Hagan upset incumbent Sen. Elizabeth Dole, marking the first time in 35 years that the state has not voted a Republican into the Senate.
In New Hampshire, Democrat Jeanne Shaheen grabbed another seat for her party in a win against incumbent Republican Sen. John Sununu.
The new balance of power now has Democrats leading Republicans 48-31, with another 14 races still to be decided tonight.
Having served in both President Ronald Reagan’s and George H.W. Bush’s presidential administrations before becoming the first female senator from North Carolina, Dole’s legacy seemed almost impossible to overcome when the campaign season began.
But a large turnout of early African-American voters in North Carolina offered an indication that Sen. Barack Obama’s relentless campaigning in the state may have paid off for Hagan.
“This is an example of a Democratic senator riding on Obama’s coattails,” said Jennifer Duffy, the senior editor at The Cook Political Report. “At least 500,000 early voters have been African-American, and Elizabeth Dole isn’t getting those votes.”
A negative campaign ad released by Dole just days before election that referred to Hagan as “godless” created controversy and may have led to Dole’s demise.
In the ad, Dole suggested that Hagan received money from the “Godless Americans” PAC, and an actress with a voice similar to Hagan’s was heard saying, “There is no God.”
In an ad of her own later that same day, Hagan defended herself and called Dole’s add “offensive.”
“I believe in God,” Hagan says in the ad. “I taught Sunday School.”
“My faith guides my life and Sen. Dole knows it,” said Hagan, who has since filed a defamation lawsuit against Dole over the ad.
In New Hampshire, polling numbers showed Shaheen leading Sununu throughout the race.
Despite Sununu’s well-known name — his father once helped run the White House, and the Sununu family is as prominent as you get in state Republican quarters — he was unable to fend off the Democratic challenger.
In the days leading up to the election, presidential historian Julian Zelizer said that “A loss for Sununu would be a lost Northeastern Republican.”
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