Democrat Jeanne Shaheen, the former governor of New Hampshire, is aiming to cut short Republican John E. Sununu's Senate career after only one term this fall.

This time around, though, analysts say Shaheen's position is stronger, mostly because the tide has turned against Republicans in the state lately.

In 2006, both of New Hampshire's Republican congressional representatives were unseated by Democrats, the Democratic governor won reelection with 76 percent of the vote and the Democrats took both the state House and Senate -- the first time they had won the house in more than 100 years.

To hold his seat, Sununu -- whose father, John H. Sununu, was White House chief of staff for President George H.W. Bush -- is trying to distance himself from the policies of the current Bush administration. He says he's an "independent voice," according to the Nashua Telegraph.

"I vote for New Hampshire 100 percent of the time," Sununu told reporters, according to the paper. "On issues that matter to New Hampshire, I've been willing to stand up and vote their interests," he said, citing votes against Bush administration-backed energy bills in 2003 and 2005, and the fact that he was the first Senate Republican to call for former Attorney General Alberto Gonzales' resignation.

At a campaign kickoff speech, he touted accomplishments such as helping bring about a seven-year moratorium on taxing the Internet, championing a New England Wilderness act to preserve White Mountain National Forest, and working on a health care law that allows business groups to form alliances to purchase health insurance, according to the paper.

But Shaheen countered that Sununu voted with President Bush's wishes 90 percent of the time, and said that she will bring changes the state needs.

"[Sununu] is not going to take us where we want to go on our energy policy, on health care, on ending the war in Iraq, on education. He's been on the wrong sides of those issues," Shaheen told the Nashua Telegraph. "We need to change the culture of Washington."

Polls suggest that Sununu's seat is one of the most vulnerable in the country for Republicans, according to the Concord Monitor, so voters in the state can expect to see big money spent on nationally funded advertising campaigns.

Editor's note: Due to an editing error, an earlier version of this story contained a incorrect fact about John E. Sununu's background. Sununu's father, John H. Sununu, is a former White House chief of staff.

-- By Lea Winerman, Online NewsHour