Political analysts say that it is a "tough call" to determine which Granite State congressman would be a better candidate to challenge U.S. Sen. Judd Gregg (R-Rye) in a 2010 race.

Reports over the past week have mentioned that U.S. Rep. Paul Hodes (D-Concord) is "seriously considering" challenging Gregg and PolitickerNH.com reported last week that U.S. Rep. Carol Shea-Porter (D-Rochester) is also taking a look at the race.

"I think it's a tough call. On one hand I do give Hodes the edge in the proven ability to raise funds and that's not insignificant, but Shea-Porter has won and survived in a more difficult district," University of New Hampshire professor Dante Scala told PolitickerNH.com when asked who would make a stronger statewide candidate.

Scala added, "The 1st Congressional District is a lot more competitive than the 2nd district so you have to give her that. I would think that because of fundraising ability, I'd give the edge to Hodes, but not a big edge."

Shea-Porter represents the 1st Congressional District while Hodes represents the 2nd Congressional District. During the 2008 cycle, Hodes raised $2 million for his race against Jennifer Horn (R-Nashua) who raised $548,125. Shea-Porter was able to raise $1.5 million for her fight against former U.S. Rep. Jeb Bradley (R-Wolfeboro) who raised $1.3 million.

Andy Smith, Director of the University of New Hampshire Survey Center, agreed with Scala that at this point in time it is difficult to judge which congressman would be a stronger candidate against Gregg.

"It's a little hard to say right now. Hodes had pretty decent favorability ratings, but so did Shea-Porter," Smith said. "Both are about equally well-known in their districts."

Smith also said that because of historical trends, 2010 might be a year in which Republicans can expect to make electoral gains.

"A run against Judd Gregg in 2010 will be difficult for any Democrat. Gregg is popular and has a more favorable rating than John Sununu did," Smith argued. "Second reason, and probably the most important reason, is that 2010 is likely to be a good Republican year. Historically the off year elections favor the party that is out of power."

Both Scala and Smith said that if Hodes and Shea-Porter want to be a position to challenge Gregg they should spent the next year raising money.

"Raise 4 to 5 million dollars," Smith said when asked what Hodes and Shea-Porter should do. "They're going to need more than Jeanne Shaheen needed to beat John Sununu."

In the race between U.S. Sen. John Sununu (R-Waterville Valley) and U.S. Sen.-elect Jeanne Shaheen (D-Madbury), Shaheen raised $8.2 million and Sununu raised $7.3 million. Shaheen defeated Sununu in November.

Scala said that Hodes would have to redefine his message and would have a difficult time connecting Gregg to President George W. Bush.

"He's going to have to run on a different message than Judd Gregg voted with George Bush ‘X' amount of times because George Bush will be ancient history in 2010," Scala said.