Voters in New Hampshire’s 2nd Congressional District will elect a new member of Congress this fall for the first time in 12 years on Tuesday, sparking a contentious and expensive primary among influential Democrats.
Colin van Ostern, a former New Hampshire executive, and Maggie Goodlander, a former deputy assistant attorney general at the Department of Justice, are vying in the Democratic primary to replace retiring six-term Rep. Annie Kuster.
Van Ostern entered the race first and quickly won Kuster’s approval. But his direct shot at the Democratic nomination in one district rated as “probably democratic”. When Goodlander, a longtime congressional and legal staffer in Washington, began campaigning in May, the nonpartisan Cook Political Report with Amy Walter was overwhelmed.
Goodlander, originally from New Hampshire and married to White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan, has since risen through the ranks. starts his campaign in MayIt’s getting endorsements from EMILY’s List and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.
In the final weeks of the race, tensions rose, money poured in, and one high-profile Van Oster supporter, former Gov. John Lynch, switched his support to Goodlander.
Van Ostern still has the endorsement of several high-profile New Hampshire leaders, including two former Democratic Party chairmen, Kathy Sullivan and Ned Helms, and former state elected officials such as former state Attorney General Joe Foster and former state Senate President Sylvia Larsen.
Focus on reproductive rights
Goodlander and Van Ostern have particularly sharpened their attacks on one another over reproductive rights.
“Access to health care and access to reproductive rights has been a major issue for me for the last 15 years of my life,” Van Ostern told NBC News, citing her funding for Planned Parenthood while on the New Hampshire Executive Board.
“I think the voters of New Hampshire know to judge someone by their actions, not their words,” he said.
Asked to respond, Goodlander told NBC News: “My opponent’s primary attack against me is an attack on my commitment to reproductive freedom, and he made that attack knowing my professional record.”
Along the way, Goodlander clerked for former Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer and the Supreme Court’s 2022 Roe v. Wade highlighted his work at the Justice Department after the decision to dismiss his case.
In her campaign ads and videos, Goodlander also shared her personal experience seeking emergency reproductive care to reach out to voters. in a television commercial“I have fought my own painful battles. When I was 20 weeks pregnant [my husband] and I lost my son.”
“He knows all of this, and yet he attacked my commitment to reproductive freedom,” Goodlander told NBC News.
Each candidate criticized the other for working with Republicans, including those who oppose abortion rights.
In a WMUR-hosted debate last week, Van Ostern attacked Goodlander over health care, telling the audience, “When you give thousands of dollars to Republicans or spend years of your life working for Republicans … that’s a problem.”
He was referring to Goodlander’s previous work for the late Arizona GOP Sen. John McCain and donations to two GOP congressional candidates during his 2020 campaign: former Rep. Justin Amash, who voted to impeach former President Donald Trump, and Goodlander’s former member Dan Driscoll. law school classmate.
In his rebuttal, Goodlander told him, “Colin, it was you a spokesman for an anti-choice congressman. I don’t question your commitment to reproductive freedom, and how dare you question mine?
His rebuttal cited former Texas Democratic Rep. Jim Turner, whom Van Ostern worked with in the early 2000s.
Goodlander repeated what he said in an interview with NBC News, saying that “his attack is completely wrong, dishonest and, frankly, a disgrace. [my commitment to reproductive rights].”
An unusually expensive race
Van Ostern also went after Goodlander for his support from super PACs and out-of-state campaign donors.
Campaigns and outside groups have spent more than $3.5 million on digital, radio and television campaign ads in the Democratic primary since Goodlander joined the race in May, according to AdImpact.
Van Ostern told NBC News that the amount of outside money being spent on the district’s primary was “one of the defining issues of the race,” adding that the purpose of the money being spent “is to confuse people, but we’re not going to allow that” as powerful out-of-state black money groups try to buy elections here. they work”.
One of the biggest spenders is Vote Vets, a Democratic group that tries to elect veterans to Congress. The organization spent more than $900,000 on ads supporting Goodlander, according to AdImpact, an ad-tracking firm.
“These are not dark money groups. These are the groups that support the effort to elect more pro-choice women to Congress at a time when less than 30% of Congress is women … and these are veterans’ groups,” Goodlander said, adding, “I had strong support. From veterans in New Hampshire and across the country, including Vote Vets.
The heightened rhetoric in the race has led at least one high-profile Van Ostern endorser to jump ship. Former Gov. Lynch, an early endorser of Van Oster, chose to endorse Goodlander instead.
“I respect Colin, but I don’t respect his campaign” Lynch said in announcing his decision Supporting Goodlander.
“I’m getting more and more frustrated with Colin’s campaign. I think it was the tension and the nastiness that kept pulling back my support for Colin.”