Wife of top ex-Biden advisor easily advances to House showdown in November

Rep. Maggie Goodlander, D-N.H., won her primary to advance to a general election showdown in a Democrat-leaning seat comprising generally the western half of New Hampshire from Massachusetts to the Canadian border.

Goodlander is the wife of former Biden National Security Adviser Jacob Sullivan, and won her first race for the seat in 2024 – succeeding the retiring Rep. Ann Kuster, D-N.H.

While Republicans have dominated the governor’s office in New Hampshire in recent years, Democrats have been largely successful at the congressional level.

The district has been in Democratic hands since 2013 and, prior to that, largely held by Rep. Charles Bass, R-N.H., who served two lengthy tenures interrupted by a Democrat in the mid-1990s.

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Goodlander faced New Hampshire State Rep. Paige Beauchemin, D-Hillsborough, and there is also an independent running in the general election. The winner of a four-way Republican primary Tuesday night was Goodlander’s last opponent, Lily Tang Williams.

Goodlander’s husband’s role in the White House was prominent, as Sullivan was front-and-center during the disastrous Afghanistan withdrawal in 2021, had a role in foreign relations during the early part of the Russia-Ukraine War and helped manage the U.S. relationship with China.

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Beauchemin ran against Goodlander from the left, arguing the incumbent has not been sufficiently progressive or effective during her first term.

The district is the more rural of the two, and includes cities like Pittsburg in the forests of northern New Hampshire.

With neighboring Rep. Chris Pappas, D-N.H., giving up his House seat to run for the Senate seat being vacated by Sen. Jeanne Shaheen, D-N.H., the political landscape in the Granite State will look much different no matter what come January.