World Courant
A former Biden administration senior official and the spouse of the president’s nationwide safety adviser is on the verge of launching a bid for Congress in the important thing northeastern battleground state the place she was born and raised.
Maggie Goodlander, the spouse of nationwide safety adviser Jake Sullivan and a former high lawyer in Biden’s administration who served as a deputy assistant lawyer normal on the Justice Division, is more likely to announce her candidacy for the open seat in New Hampshire’s Second Congressional District, Democratic sources verify to Fox Information.
The announcement, which might come as early as this week, would elevate an already high-profile race to succeed longtime Democratic Rep. Annie Kuster in a blue-leaning however aggressive district in a key normal election battleground state.
Goodlander would be part of a burgeoning subject of candidates aiming to succeed the six-term Kuster, who introduced in late March that she would retire from Congress reasonably than search re-election.
SHOCKER: LONGTIME DEMOCRATIC CONGRESSWOMAN IN BATTLEGROUND STATE ANNOUNCES RETIREMENT
Maggie Goodlander, former deputy assistant U.S. lawyer normal, on the Division of Justice in Washington, D.C., on Monday, March 27, 2023. (Photographer: Al Drago/Bloomberg by way of Getty Photographs)
“Maggie is grateful for the encouragement she’s acquired from Granite Staters and shall be making a call within the coming days,” Scott Merrick, a Democratic operative and veteran of a number of Democratic campaigns in New Hampshire, informed Fox Information.
Goodlander, if she runs as anticipated, might face loads of scrutiny over Biden administration polices – each home and worldwide – over her ties to Republicans and over her residency. Goodlander’s congressional marketing campaign would additionally possible draw nationwide consideration to the New Hampshire race and presumably garner high-profile endorsements.
Goodland married Sullivan almost 9 years in the past when he was working as a overseas coverage advisor to former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton throughout her 2016 presidential marketing campaign. The couple’s marriage ceremony, attended by outstanding political figures together with Clinton, now-Secretary of State Anthony Blinken and Sen. Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota, was a snapshot of the couple’s lengthy historical past in Democratic politics.
TOP BIDEN ADVISER’S WIFE MULLING CONGRESSIONAL BID
Sullivan labored as Klobuchar’s chief counsel earlier than serving as an adviser on Clinton’s 2008 Democratic presidential main marketing campaign and in a while former President Obama’s normal election presidential marketing campaign.
He served as deputy chief of employees to Clinton throughout her years as secretary of state within the Obama administration. After Clinton departed the administration, Sullivan grew to become then-Vice President Joe Biden’s high safety aide.
White Home nationwide safety adviser Jake Sullivan speaks throughout a press briefing on the White Home in Washington, D.C., on Monday, March 18, 2024. (AP Picture/Andrew Harnik)
Sullivan then served as a high adviser on Clinton’s 2016 presidential marketing campaign. 4 years later, he was one among Biden’s first appointments following the 2020 presidential election.
Whereas not as well-known nationally as her high-profile husband, Goodlander hails from a outstanding New Hampshire household.
GOODLANDER MAY FACE SCRUTINY OVER RESIDENCY
Her grandfather, Sam Tamposi, was a serious participant in state Republican politics. Moreover, her mom, Betty Tamposi, ran for the Home in 1988 within the Second Congressional District however misplaced within the GOP main.
In some methods, Goodlander’s story mirrors that of Kuster, the lady she is making an attempt to achieve Congress. Kuster’s dad and mom have been outstanding Republicans in New Hampshire, however she ran as a Democrat.
Democratic Rep. Annie Kuster of New Hampshire (NH-02) marches in an Independence Day parade on July 4, 2022 in Amherst, New Hampshire. (Fox Information – Paul Steinhauser)
Goodlander, a Yale College and Yale Regulation Faculty graduate, served as an intelligence officer within the U.S. Navy Reserve and labored as an adviser to late Sens. Joe Lieberman and John McCain on the Senate Homeland Safety and Authorities Affairs Committee.
She additionally served as a regulation clerk to Legal professional Normal Merrick Garland throughout his tenure as chief decide on the U.S. Courtroom of Appeals for the District of Columbia.
TOP BIDEN ADVISER’S WIFE MULLING CONGRESSIONAL BID
Goodlander would be part of a Democratic main subject that features Colin Van Ostern, who labored as Kuster’s marketing campaign supervisor in 2010 in her first run for Congress, and who later gained two phrases as a New Hampshire govt councilor earlier than profitable the 2016 Democratic gubernatorial nomination.
Van Ostern introduced his bid the day after Kuster’s retirement announcement and was endorsed by the incumbent a few weeks later.
Whereas Van Ostern has landed a great deal of Granite State help, Goodlander’s entry into the race might probably shift the panorama.
“I imply, it is fairly uncommon to have somebody of this caliber who’s 37, with fairly unimpeachable roots within the district, an enormous nationwide community, and a demonstrable bipartisan document, who is not already an elected official. It might be a very thrilling dynamic in one of many nation’s high congressional races,” a veteran Democratic operative in New Hampshire who requested to stay nameless to talk extra freely informed Fox Information.
State Sen. Becky Whitley, a progressive Democrat, can also be operating to succeed Kuster.
A handful of Republicans, together with 2022 Senate candidate Vikram Mansharamani and Lily Tang Williams, who’s making her second straight bid for the congressional nomination, are operating.
Goodlander and Sullivan spend a lot of their time within the nation’s capital attributable to work, however they personal a house in Portsmouth, New Hampshire.
Whereas the port metropolis on the New Hampshire Seacoast is positioned within the state’s First Congressional District, the geography wouldn’t forestall Goodlander from operating within the Second District. The U.S. Structure solely mandates {that a} candidate should reside within the state wherein they’re operating in, not the particular congressional district.
The newest high-profile instance of a Democratic congressional candidate in New Hampshire campaigning in a district outdoors their residence was six years in the past, when Levi Sanders – the son of Sen. Bernie Sanders – ran within the First District despite the fact that he lived within the Second District.
Whereas Goodland grew up within the Second District, data reviewed by Fox Information Digital present that the final time Goodlander voted there was by absentee poll for the 2008 presidential main and normal elections.
Goodlander registered in New Hampshire’s First District in 2016.
Fox Information’ Aubrie Spady contributed to this report.
Get the newest updates from the 2024 marketing campaign path, unique interviews and extra at our Fox Information Digital election hub.
Paul Steinhauser is a politics reporter primarily based in New Hampshire.
High Biden adviser’s spouse on verge of launching run for Home seat in key swing state
World Information,Subsequent Large Factor in Public Knowledg
