New Democrat Coalition Chair Annie Kuster Retiring from U.S. House This Year
The New Hampshire Democrat becomes the 44th House retirement during the 2024 cycle.
U.S. Representative Annie Kuster of New Hampshire, a Democrat, has today announced she will not seek a seventh term representing the state’s 2nd Congressional District in the U.S. House of Representatives. She first shared the news in an article for WMUR, which can be found here.
Kuster, 67, is the 44th retirement from the U.S. House of Representatives for the 2024 cycle - 25 Democrats and 19 Republicans. Vacancies in higher offices are rare in New Hampshire. This year though, the state will now see competitive primaries form for Governor and the 2nd U.S. House District.
Kuster has served in the U.S. House of Representatives since January 2013. New Hampshire’s 2nd Congressional District covers the northern and western portions of the state - notably taking in the cities of Concord and Nashua.
Kuster comes from a prominent New Hampshire political family. Her great-grandfather, John McLane, served as Governor from 1905 to 1907. Her father, Malcolm McLane, was Mayor of Concord from 1970 to 1976 and served on the state’s Executive Council from 1977 to 1982. Her mother, Susan McLane served in the State House from 1969 to 1981 and in the State Senate from 1981 to 1995. Her family members all served as Republicans. She became a Democrat before ever running for office herself. She ultimately served on the presidential campaigns of John Kerry in 2004 and Barack Obama in 2008.
In 2010, Kuster was the Democratic nominee for New Hampshire’s 2nd Congressional District. She lost that race in what turned out to be a wave election for Republicans. Former U.S. Representative Charles Bass returned to the chamber with a 48.3-46.8 victory over Kuster - a margin of just 3,550. In 2012, Kuster was again the Democratic nominee and flipped the seat with a 50.2-45.3 win against Bass. Every cycle since then has seen Republicans believe the seat was competitive but ultimately fail to unseat Kuster. In 2022, she won her now final term with a 55.8-44.0 finish against Republican Bob Burns.
Since January 2023, Kuster has chaired the New Democrat Coalition - a caucus of U.S. Representatives made up of centrist Democrats who take a pro-business stance and a moderate approach to fiscal matters. The caucus currently includes 98 members.
For the 118th Congress, Kuster serves on the House Committee on Energy and Commerce. That committee will see a lot of member turnover for the next Congress - with Kuster becoming the fifth Democrat to retire. 9 Republicans on the committee are also leaving.
No Democrats have yet announced campaigns to succeed Kuster in the U.S. House of Representatives. However, 2016 gubernatorial candidate Colin Van Ostern was immediately viewed as a prime recruit. Before today’s news, two candidates already began their campaigns for the Republican nomination - January 6th convict Jason Riddle and 2022 candidate Lily Tang Williams. Competitive primaries are still expected to form for both Democrats and Republicans. The filing deadline to appear on the September 10 primary ballot is June 14, 2024.
Under the current lines, Joe Biden won New Hampshire’s 2nd Congressional District with a 53.6-44.7 finish against Donald Trump in the 2020 presidential election. That came as Biden was carrying the state 52.7-45.4 in his ultimately successful national campaign.