A combustible mix of personalities and politics is causing a rift between Democrats in New Hampshire’s 2nd Congressional District.
The seat has been safely in the hands of Democrat Ann McLane Kuster for the past six terms, according to Politico.
But the race to succeed her has become “brutally ugly,” Politico opined, as Colin Van Ostern, a former Kuster staffer, fends of a challenge from Maggie Goodlander, who happens to be the wife of White House National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan.
The candidates have dueled over abortion, with each trying to paint the other as less supportive of one of the Democratic Party’s most revered of issues.
Kuster launched an ad saying Goodlander “gave thousands to pro-life Republicans.”
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Goodlander, who had shared with voters her personal story of losing her child when she was pregnant, said she did donate to two Republicans — former Rep. Justin Amash of Michigan, an anti-Trump Republican, and a former classmate taking on former Rep. Madison Cawthorn of North Carolina in a GOP primary.
“He knows my personal experience and story, and I think the kind of campaign that he’s decided to run is deeply dishonest and disgraceful,” she said. “My opponent worked for an anti-choice congressman, but I am not questioning his commitment to reproductive freedom.”
From Kuster’s ad onward, the battle has escalated in intensity.
“Maggie is not only an exceptionally qualified candidate, but she’s also the type of leader that New Dems should be welcoming into our ranks,” Democratic Rep. Seth Moulton of Massachusetts said. “We should be fighting Republicans and supporting candidates in frontline races, not attacking the strongest Democrats who are most aligned with our values in primaries.”
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Kuster, however, said she was only responding to an attack from Goodlander on Van Ostern that focused on his multiple campaigns for office.
“New Hampshire has never seen a negative attack ad like that in a Democratic ad. That has never happened,” Kuster said. “I would not have been involved without that ad.”
But some say Van Ostern is the one who went low. Former New Hampshire Gov. John Lynch, a Democrat, withdrew his backing of Van Ostern and now supports Goodlander, according to NBC.
“I respect Colin, but I don’t respect his campaign,” Lynch said when he changed sides.
“I became increasingly upset at the kind of campaign that Colin was running. I think it was sort of the tension and the nastiness that kept escalating that caused me to withdraw my support for Colin,” he said.
Van Ostern’s side said Goodlander opened the floodgates and is using out-of-state money to run her campaign.
“Let’s be clear: At the direction of Maggie Goodlander and her campaign, dark money groups and super PACs started all this with over $1 million in deceptive attack ads,” said Jordan Kathleen Burns, Van Ostern’s campaign manager.
Whichever Democrat wins Tuesday will have an opponent in November. According to the Associated Press, there are about a dozen candidate seeking the GOP nomination in the race. Vikram Mansharamani, an author and economist, and Lily Tang Williams, the 2022 candidate in the race, have set the pace in raising money.
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