Race Warming Up in 2nd Congressional District

The State Democratic Convention was billed as “A New Day” by the party.
The stage at Southern New Hampshire University was decorated with pictures of the state’s top Democratic officeholders and President Obama.
Right above the podium hung a banner reading “The Majority Party,” referring to the Democrat’s current registration advantage in the state.
Signs reading “Paul Hodes for US Senate” flanked either side of the stage, and Hodes received enthusiastic cheers from the crowd.
“…and I intend to make the people of New Hampshire proud of me as their next United States Senator.”
Paul Hodes’s Senate candidacy has thrown the race for New Hampshire’s Second Congressional District wide open.
On the convention floor, three booths for potential nominees sat next to each other.
Ann McLane Kuster’s campaign is already in gear.
She declared her candidacy last week.
Kuster says she is unconcerned about candidates entering the race who already enjoy good name-recognition.
“I come from a very political family and I think our name, the McLane name, is well known. And I also think that I’ve got new ideas. I haven’t run for office before but I haven’t lost for office before either. So I’m looking forward to a great campaign.”
One of the candidates Kuster may have to contend with is Mark Fernald.
Fernald’s campaign says that he will announce his candidacy today.
He still has significant name recognition from his unsuccessful run for governor in 2002.
Fernald’s loss was widely attributed to his support for a state income tax.
He says he does not think that previous position will hurt his chances in this race.
“I think people understand that I was working to do something about the unfairness of the property tax. Everybody in New Hampshire believes the property tax is unfair. We haven’t been able to agree to a solution yet, but we still know we have a problem. People appreciate that I was coming from principle and I’ll take that same principle to Washington where we have tax fairness issues as well.”
The third table at the convention belonged to State Representative John DeJoie.
He says he is still considering whether or not to jump into the race, but his booth was well-adorned with signs and campaign literature promoting him for Congress.
DeJoie says he isn’t worried about too many candidates for the nomination.
“I think that it’s also important to have a lot of people in the race. I know people have announced recently. I hope we have ten people in the race. You know, I think the more of us that are out there talking about the issues, the more it becomes a matter of issues and less about how much money you have to run a campaign.”
Regardless of whether any of these three potentials would prefer more contenders or not, they may face stiff competition.
Katrina Swett ran unsuccessfully for Congress in the second district in 2002.
She also mounted a campaign for US Senate in 2008, but withdrew when Jeanne Shaheen announced her candidacy.
Swett says she’s paying a lot of attention to the race.
“Well I’m very seriously considering it and I think honestly come the fall I’m gonna have a, a good announcement to make.”
Swett’s candidacy could have a significant impact on this race because she has name recognition and a substantial supply of money that she raised for her Senate run.
“I certainly, if I get into the race as I anticipate I will, feel very fortunate to have a little bit of a head start there with some money in the bank.”
Still others are considering joining the field.
Democratic Chairman Ray Buckley mentioned both Senate President Sylvia Larsen and Executive Councilor Debra Pignatelli as potential nominees in his speech, and said there may be half a dozen more.
The race is getting off to a vigorous start, especially considering the voters don’t go to the polls until September of 2010.
For NHPR News, I’m Phil Sletten.