Colin Van Ostern announces candidacy for US House seat
CONCORD — Colin Van Ostern, a former New Hampshire Executive Council member and Democratic gubernatorial nominee, announced his candidacy Thursday for the state's 2nd Congressional District seat in the U.S. House.
The announcement comes just one day after Rep. Annie Kuster, D-New Hampshire, announced she will not be seeking another term for her seat, which she has held since 2012. The district covers the western, northern, and part of the southern part of the state, stretching from the border of Massachusetts to Canada.
“I'm running for Congress in 2024 here in New Hampshire because I know that the only way to fix what's broken in our country today is to make our government work for everyday people and middle class families again,” Van Ostern said in his statement.
He said Washington is “broken.”
“Fixing Washington starts with passing a national law to protect reproductive rights – from IVF & birth control to abortion access – and by getting serious about cutting household costs like housing, higher ed, health care, and child care,” Van Ostern said in a prepared statement.
Van Ostern served two terms on the Executive Council, elected in 2012 and 2014. He ran for governor in 2016, losing to Republican Chris Sununu, who won the first of his four terms that year. Van Ostern also mounted a challenge for secretary of state in 2018, losing to longtime incumbent Bill Gardner.
Van Ostern was formerly Kuster's campaign manager.
Kuster has not yet made an endorsement, but she signaled plans to do so Wednesday.
“I want to make sure that we have a candidate that can win my seat and I feel confident about that,” Kuster told Fox News. “I'll let them make their own announcement, but I feel very, very good about us keeping the seat.”
Van Ostern is the first Democrat to announce their candidacy since Kuster exited the race. The filing period isn't until June and more candidates may follow.
On the Republican side, Lily Tang Williams has announced she will be running again after losing in the primary in 2022. Robert A. Burns, who won the GOP primary for the district in 2022, told the Boston Globe it is “very likely” he will run this year.
Lesser known declared Republican candidates include Mark Kilbane, who finished ninth in the GOP primary for New Hampshire's first Congressional district in 2022, and Jason Riddle, who drank a lawmaker's wine while storming the Capitol on Jan. 6.