Many first time candidates run as political outsiders.
Maggie Goodlander isn’t.
The Democrat running in New Hampshire’s 2nd Congressional District is touting both her ability to raise money nationally and her deep experience navigating Washington’s power structure.
Her momentum in this race is prompting her Democratic primary opponent, Colin Van Ostern, to play up the most parochial aspects of the New Hampshire resume he’s been building for the past 25 years.
When Goodlander spoke at a Sunapee house party last week, she was blunt when asked why she’s better equipped to win than Van Ostern.
“I’ve raised double what my opponent raised in about half the time,” she said. “And we are working really hard every single day."
On this day, Goodlander was working on a spit of lakefront property called Tilson Point, at the summer house of Whitney Tilson, a prolific Democratic donor who lives and votes in New York. Throughout her remarks, Goodlander, who grew up in Nashua and has held jobs in the Biden White House, the U.S. Department of Justice, clerked at the U.S. Supreme Court, and worked for several U.S. senators, asked the crowd to view her background as proof that she knows how to operate in DC.
“Having worked in both Houses of Congress, having seen how the sausage gets made from the White House and from the Justice Department, I think what you need is — on the ready — a sense how you can get your good work on the train to get signed into law,” she said.
With this crowd — which featured some everyday New Hampshire voters, but also included a former U.S. Ambassador to Norway and a former undersecretary in the Department of Defense, Goodlander’s insider-pitch appeared to achieve the desired result.
“I would vote for her for anything: president, anything," said Ron Crowell, a doctor who splits his time between Oregon and New Hampshire and votes in Wilmot. "Talk about experience, intelligence. I mean, I didn’t know people could be that smart. I’m in love.”
“I would definitely vote for her after this," said Lisa Anderson, who lives in Sunapee. "I mean, her experience. She’s got experience in Washington, and she’s so well-educated.”
As Goodlander worked the Sunapee lake house scene, Van Ostern was lifting a glass that same evening with supporters at a Concord brew pub — and hammering a New Hampshire-centered message.
“I know what unifies some of the effective leaders in Congress, like Annie [Kuster] and Chris Pappas and Maggie Hassan and Jeanne Shaheen," Van Ostern said. "It’s not that someone gave them a decoder ring for how Washington works. It’s that they know our communities like the back of their hands. I do too.”
After more than two decades in and around Democratic politics in New Hampshire — as a political staffer, an executive councilor, and a failed candidate for governor and secretary of state — Van Ostern’s claims to knowing the state are credible. And they were very much co-signed by voters who gathered at the brew pub,
“We’ve known him for a long time because he’s been very active, so it goes back a while,” said Concord retiree Sylvia Patten, who said she was familiar with van Ostern from his past campaigns.
Over his career, Van Ostern has adopted several political branding strategies. When he ran for governor, he emphasized his non-political work, especially his time as a manager at Stonyfield Yogurt and Southern New Hampshire University. “Fair elections” was his pitch when he ran for secretary of state. This time — and particularly since Goodlander entered the race — his emphasis is on community connection of the most local sort.
“Coaching our kids’ basketball teams at Concord parks and rec, volunteering to get the Friendly Kitchen rebuilt with some of you here — or the Coalition to End Homelessness in Concord,” Van Ostern said, noting some of his local experiences for the brewery crowd.
How appealing this iteration of Van Ostern is remains an open question. His most recent job was as chief operating officer of Alumni Ventures, a venture capital firm that solicited graduates of top colleges. In 2022, the firm was sanctioned by both the SEC and state regulators for misleading investors.
As he sipped beer at the Van Ostern craft brewing stop, Ed Kaplan, a former chairman of the Hopkinton school board, said his enthusiasm for Van Ostern — at least some of it — flows from what he sees as continuity with the district’s current representative.
“In part I like Colin because he’s being supported by Annie Kuster," Kaplan said. “I think he’s adopted the same views that she has on just about everything.”
In a primary where both candidates acknowledge that their policy disagreements are few, this central question of which counts more — local engagement or national experience — is one voters will answer on primary day.
