The granite state's new, softer look: even the women who planned to take the majority in the New Hampshire Senate were surprised by the outcome.

• Author: Boulard, Garry

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The unprecedented sweep of women elected to the New Hampshire legislature last fall, giving them for the first time in history a majority in the state Senate, came as a surprise even to those who were trying to encourage more women to run for what is known as the General Court.

"It didn't occur to us until late last summer or early fall as we were looking over our slate of candidates that we had so many women and could very possibly end up with a majority in the Senate," says Senate Majority Leader Margaret "Maggie" Hassan. "We knew we had done well, but we didn't know how well."

The number of female legislators in the Senate went from 10 to 13, two more than their male counterparts.

"It very much came as a surprise, even though we thought it could happen," says Senate President Sylvia Larsen, who credited voters for recognizing the abilities of women.

"I hope that someday having a female majority like this may not be newsworthy, but will be accepted the same way that President Obama is accepted for his abilities and not his race," she says. "We hope we will be seen for our agenda and not our gender."

OUT IN FRONT

The victory of the female candidates put New Hampshire in the forefront of states with elected female leaders. With a woman in the U.S. Senate, one in the U.S. House and 144 of 400 in the House, women now make up 37 percent of New Hampshire's elected leadership.

Only two states have a higher rate of elected women: Colorado at 39 percent and Vermont with 37.2 percent.

"It is a victory for New Hampshire to be in this category," says Debbie Walsh, the director of the Center for American Women and Politics. "But it is important to remember that New Hampshire is also a state that has historically elected women in very large numbers and high percentages to its state legislature. With the exception of 2001 and 2006, New Hampshire has always been in the top 10 in terms of its rank in the percentage of women serving in the legislature."

The female takeover of the Senate also had much to do with which way the political winds were blowing in New Hampshire last fall. Democrats from Obama on down swept the state, and because there were a lot of Democratic women on the ballot, that helped, too.

"It's true that our state has always had a high percentage of women in the legislature," says House Speaker Terie Norelli. "But it is also true that the Democratic caucuses in both the Senate and House have a higher percentage of...