Luke Flood
In their second Congressional face-off, Ann McLane Kuster soundly defeated U.S. Rep. Charlie Bass Tuesday in the race to represent the Second Congressional District of New Hampshire. According to WMUR, with 54 percent of precincts reporting, Kuster led Bass 52 to 43, with over 4,000 more votes than Bass. According to Keene Equinox poll watchers, Keene voters supported Kuster with 7,476 votes, while Bass could only muster 3,636 votes.
Kuster also raised $2,829,874 for her campaign, which was $958,987 more than Bass, according to opensecrets.org.
Kuster’s previous experience includes working as an adoption attorney, a public policy advocate, an author and an active volunteer in the state nonprofit community, according to her website.
Kuster also graduated from Dartmouth College in 1978, in the third class with women, and received her law degree from Georgetown University Law Center in 1984.
Her mother Susan McLane was a State Senator and pioneer for women in New Hampshire politics and her father Malcolm was a prominent attorney who served as Mayor of Concord, on the Executive Council and ran for Governor as an Independent in 1972.
In 2010, Kuster squared off for the first time with Bass and was narrowly defeated by 1 percent, in a race that was said to be the closest Congressional race of that decade, according to the Huffington Post.
Kuster based her second congressional campaign on education, protecting Medicare, and equality, according to her campaign ads. With the stance that education and innovation should come first, Kuster told WMUR that she hoped to reach some of the youth voters hitting the polls on Tuesday.
Going into this year’s campaign, Kuster said that in the last two years she believes she took her role in the community to the next level.
A Keene resident was standing outside of the Marlboro precinct, holding numerous signs, showing his support for Ann Kuster, as well as Barack Obama and Joe Biden.
“I hope that things will change if Kuster wins, but I am positive that Bass is not my guy this year,” said Paul Ellis, a Keene resident.
Ellis said that he voted for Bass in 2010, but with the state of the economy and with his kids moving out of High School and into college, his beliefs shifted towards someone who would be able to help him and his family in a more direct way.
Another Keene resident just leaving the Keene High School polls expressed his support for Kuster.
“We need someone who knows what it is like to fight for the people in our community and connect with them,” said John Lamana.
Addressing her supporters in her acceptance speech, Kuster said, “You proved that a grassroots, people-powered campaign can overcome the special interests, overcome the status quo and overcome the odds.”
