New Democrats Pose Challenge - New York Times

New Democrats Pose Challenge - New York Times: "November 9, 2006

WASHINGTON, Nov. 8 — Carol Shea-Porter is a New Hampshire social worker who campaigned on the cheap and ran hard against the war in Iraq. Heath Shuler is a North Carolina football star who is pro-gun and anti-abortion. Jerry McNerney is a California alternative-energy entrepreneur with a doctorate in mathematics.
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“Every type of Democrat won last night, Northeastern, Midwestern, Southern, Texan, Western, liberal, moderate, conservative and many whose ideology defies easy description and should be best described just as a Democrat,” said Simon Rosenberg, head of the New Democrat Network, an advocacy group.

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Mr. McNerney is a giant killer who, with help from the party and environmental groups, knocked off Representative Richard Pombo, chairman of the Natural Resources Committee. Mr. Shuler, one of the most conservative incoming Democrats, defeated Representative Charles H. Taylor, an eight-term Republican who had served on the Appropriations Committee since 1993. Ms. Shea-Porter, with no help from the party, pulled off one of the upsets of the night in defeating Jeb Bradley.

Keith Ellison of Minnesota, a state lawmaker and the first Muslim elected to the House, sees himself as a champion of economic justice. John Hall of New York, a rock musician and writer of pop hits like “Still the One,” is a longtime critic of the nation’s energy policy. Harry Mitchell, the former mayor of Tucson, is a veteran politician with a keen interest in immigration policy who is already the subject of a statue in his hometown.

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They include Ed Perlmutter of Colorado, a former state senator who had a legislative reputation for working with Republicans; Michael A. Arcuri of upstate New York, a seasoned district attorney; and Tim Mahoney, the Florida businessman who won the seat that the Republican representative Mark Foley resigned because of the Congressional page scandal.
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