"What I think the tea party has done is shape both of the candidates on the Republican side in a negative way," Mr. Brunelle said, quipping, "Frank Guinta has run so far to the right that I think he crossed the Maine border the other day."
Political analysts rate both New Hampshire races as tossups. Elsewhere in New England, the closest races are open seats in Massachusetts and Rhode Island and the seat of Connecticut freshman Rep. Jim Himes, who knocked off Mr. Shays in 2008. The Cook Political Report recently downgraded the seat of Connecticut incumbent Rep. Christopher S. Murphy from "likely Democratic" to "lean Democratic" as his opponent, Republican state Sen. Sam Caligiuri, climbs in the polls.
National Democrats say they expect to hold those seats.
"Republicans are delusional if they think they're going to make big gains across New England this November," said Shripal Shah, spokesman for the House Democrats' campaign arm. "Republican candidates are limping towards the finish line and being exposed for their flaws along the way, so they shouldn't be surprised when they're rejected at the ballot box in just over two weeks."
In Massachusetts, bloggers who crunched the numbers said Mr. Brown won in five, and possibly six, of the state's 10 congressional districts, racking up his biggest margin in the 10th district, making it the GOP's clearest target as Republican Jeff Perry battles Democrat Bill Keating to replace retiring Rep. Bill Delahunt there.
Mr. Brown ran about even with his Democratic opponent in Mr. Frank's seat in the 4th District. In both that district and the 5th District, Cook analysts downgraded the races from "solid Democratic" to "likely Democratic," though Mr. Wood still rates both Mr. Frank and incumbent Rep. Niki Tsongas as safe.
"We are running candidates that are a serious and viable alternative to the cast of characters that we have in Congress," said Jennifer Nassour, executive director of the Massachusetts GOP, citing Mr. Frank's upstart Republican opponent, 35-year-old Marine reservist Maj. Sean Bielat. "We're going to see these races tighten up even more."
Ms. Nassour argued that people in the Bay State are "sick and tired of one-party rule," and said more than 50 percent of voters are unaffiliated and up for grabs.
Mr. Bielat's surprise challenge has led Mr. Frank, who as head of the House financial services panel was a chief author of Democrats' Wall Street overhaul bill, to cut back on his campaign assistance to other Democrats. This year, the 15-term lawmaker has given just $35,000 to a dozen candidates compared, with $240,000 to 86 candidates in 2008, according to a Wall Street Journal analysis of campaign-finance statistics compiled by the Center for Responsive Politics.
A Republican source with knowledge of the campaign described that reality as a victory in and of itself, along with the fact that the party was able to recruit challengers in nine of the 10 Massachusetts House races this year after fielding only four candidates in 2008.
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