A former Biden Administration senior official, and wife of the president’s countrywide security adviser, is launching a bid for Congress in a key northeastern battleground point out exactly where she was born and elevated.
Maggie Goodlander, the spouse of Countrywide Safety Adviser Jake Sullivan and a previous best lawyer in Biden’s administration who served as a deputy assistant lawyer general at the Justice Division, on Thursday introduced her candidacy for the open up seat in New Hampshire’s 2nd Congressional District.
“I know how to get items finished and provide for New Hampshire,” Goodlander mentioned in a statement. “I’ll be a workhorse for the people of the 2nd District and I’ll by no means halt fighting for a freer and more just Granite Condition.”
The announcement is probable to elevate an presently higher-profile race to succeed longtime Democratic Rep. Annie Kuster in a blue-leaning, but aggressive, district in a crucial typical election battleground point out.
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Maggie Goodlander, former deputy assistant US legal professional normal, at the Department of Justice (DOJ) in Washington, DC, US, on Monday, March 27, 2023. Goodlander was a Deputy Assistant Attorney Common at the U.S. Section of Justice where by she oversaw the international, appellate, and policy perform of the Antitrust Division. (Al Drago/Bloomberg by way of Getty Illustrations or photos)
Goodlander joins a burgeoning discipline of candidates aiming to thrive the 6-phrase Kuster, who introduced in late March that she would retire from Congress relatively than request re-election.
Goodlander could facial area a lot of scrutiny more than Biden administration polices — both of those domestic and global — in excess of her ties to Republicans, and about her residency. Goodlander’s congressional campaign will also most likely attract nationwide focus to the New Hampshire race and maybe garner substantial-profile endorsements.
Goodland married Sullivan almost 9 many years ago when he was operating as a foreign plan advisor to previous Secretary of Condition Hillary Clinton during her 2016 presidential marketing campaign. The couple’s wedding, attended by outstanding political figures which includes Clinton, now-Secretary of Point out Antony Blinken and Sen. Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota, was a snapshot of the couple’s long heritage in Democratic politics.
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Sullivan worked as Klobuchar’s chief counsel ahead of serving as an adviser on Hillary Clinton’s 2008 Democratic presidential major marketing campaign and later on former President Barack Obama’s common election presidential campaign.
He served as deputy chief of workers to Clinton throughout her yrs as Secretary of Condition in the Obama administration. Immediately after Clinton departed the administration, Sullivan turned then-Vice President Biden’s top rated safety aide.
White Residence national security adviser Jake Sullivan speaks during a press briefing at the White Property in Washington, Monday, March 18, 2024. (AP Photo/Andrew Harnik)
Sullivan then served as a best adviser on Clinton’s 2016 presidential campaign. 4 several years later on, he was just one of Biden’s initial appointments adhering to the 2020 presidential election.
When not as very well identified nationally as her significant-profile spouse, Goodlander hails from a prominent New Hampshire relatives.
Her grandfather, Sam Tamposi, was a big player in point out Republican politics. Her mom, Betty Tamposi, ran for the House in 1988 in the Next Congressional District but shed in the GOP most important.
In some methods, Goodlander’s tale mirrors that of Kuster, the lady she’s seeking to do well in Congress. Kuster’s parents ended up outstanding Republicans in New Hampshire, but 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, N.H. (Paul Steinhauser/Fox News)
Goodlander, a Yale University and Yale Law School graduate, served as an intelligence officer in the U.S. Navy Reserve and worked as an adviser to late Senators Joe Lieberman and John McCain on the Senate Homeland Stability and Federal government Affairs Committee.
She also served as a legislation clerk to Lawyer Basic Merrick Garland for the duration of his tenure as main judge on the U.S. Courtroom of Appeals for the District of Columbia.
Goodlander joins a Democratic most important field that contains Colin Van Ostern, who labored as Kuster’s marketing campaign manager in 2010 throughout her initially operate for Congress, and who later won two conditions as a New Hampshire executive councilor before winning the 2016 Democratic gubernatorial nomination.
Van Ostern introduced his bid the day after Kuster’s retirement announcement and was endorsed by the incumbent a couple of months afterwards.
Though Van Ostern has landed a excellent deal of Granite State aid, Goodlander’s entry into the race could potentially change the landscape.
“I imply, it really is quite exceptional to have somebody of this caliber who is 37, with rather unimpeachable roots in the district, a vast countrywide community, and a demonstrable bipartisan record, who just isn’t presently an elected official. It would be a genuinely enjoyable dynamic in one of the nation’s major congressional races,” a veteran Democratic operative in New Hampshire who questioned to continue to be anonymous to converse more freely advised Fox News.
State Sen. Becky Whitley, a progressive Democrat, is also functioning to succeed Kuster.
Eight Republicans, such as 2022 Senate candidate Vikram Mansharamani and Lily Tang Williams, who’s making her next straight bid for the congressional nomination, are jogging.
Goodlander’s campaign announcement highlighted her roots in Nashua, “the town her family has named dwelling for around 100 years.”
But for many years, Goodlander and Sullivan have used substantially of their time in the nation’s cash simply because of function.
The few owns a property in Portsmouth, New Hampshire. Although the port metropolis on the New Hampshire Seacoast is situated in the state’s Very first Congressional District, the geography will not stop Goodlander from operating in the Next District. The U.S. Constitution only mandates that a candidate have to reside in the point out in which they are working in, not the unique congressional district.
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The most the latest significant-profile case in point of a Democratic congressional candidate in New Hampshire campaigning in a district outdoors their home was six yrs back, when Levi Sanders — the son of Sen. Bernie Sanders — ran in the Very first District even while he lived in the 2nd District.
Whilst Goodland grew up in the Next District, documents reviewed by Fox Information Electronic demonstrate that the final time Goodlander voted there was by absentee ballot for the 2008 presidential main and typical elections.
Goodlander registered to vote in New Hampshire’s To start with District in 2016.
Fox News’ Aubrie Spady contributed to this report
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