Jay Buckey, a Dartmouth Medical School professor and former astronaut, formally announced his candidacy for the United States Senate on June 14, three months after forming an exploratory committee to evaluate his candidacy. Buckey will enter the Democratic primary in September 2008, running against several other candidates. The primary determines who will challenge Sen. John Sununu, R-N.H., in the 2008 general election.
"I've been increasingly concerned over the years about the way the country is going," Buckey said. "I've been fortunate and had a lot of great opportunities in this country, and I do feel we're on the wrong track."
Buckey said that the exploratory committee allowed him to gauge reactions to his candidacy.
"It gave us a chance to talk to people and find out if there was a good response to the candidacy, which there was," he said.
The Cook Political Report, which provides an analysis of electoral politics, last listed Sununu's seat as "likely Republican" on June 20, meaning that the seat is not currently considered competitive but that it "has the potential to become engaged."
"I think that he doesn't have a good record," Buckey said of Senator Sununu. "He's been very supportive of the policies that have led us to the situations that we're in now and I would think that he would have a lot to answer for in 2008."
Sununu, a first-term Senator, won his seat in 2002 after defeating former New Hampshire governor Jeanne Shaheen. Recent speculation has centered on the possibility that Shaheen will enter the race, setting up a rematch with her former opponent.
So far, Buckey will face two competitors in the primary -- Steve Marchand, the mayor of Portsmouth, and Katrina Swett, a former congressional candidate for New Hampshire's 2nd District.
Buckey's campaign involves working to solve the nation's energy problems and navigating the war in Iraq, which he has opposed since its start. Buckey's campaign website features a letter he wrote to Sen. Judd Gregg, R-N.H., in October 2002, urging the senator to vote against the resolution for war in Iraq.
"I support my country and am very concerned about Iraq, but I cannot support the current resolution," Buckey wrote. "This resolution provides the President with too much power and doesn't prepare the nation for what might be a long-term and costly commitment. I STRONGLY URGE YOU TO VOTE AGAINST IT."
Both Senators Gregg and Sununu ultimately voted for the resolution.
Buckey also wrote that possible resolutions Congress reviews should "clarify that, if a draft is required, all eligible selective service enrollees would be treated equally (i.e. no deferments for college as in Vietnam)."
"If we have a situation we believe is so critical for our national security that it requires a draft, then everyone should be the same," Buckey said, explaining that portion of the letter. "In the past it didn't happen," he said in reference to the war in Vietnam, but that, "It did happen in World War II and we had a successful outcome in that war."
Buckey, who grew up in Levittown, NY, attended Cornell University as an undergraduate and earned a medical degree from Cornell Medical College. He served as a major in the U.S. Air Force Reserve for eight years.
In 1998, Buckey orbited the earth on the Space Shuttle Columbia, serving as a payload specialist for the mission.
Since 1996 he has been a member of the Dartmouth faculty as a professor of medicine and an adjunct professor of engineering.
Buckey currently lives with his wife and three children in Hanover.
