Kuster coasts to record, 4th straight win in 2nd Congressional District race

New Hampshire Union Leader

Nov. 07--CONCORD -- U.S. Rep. Annie Kuster, D-NH, made history Tuesday as the first Democrat to win a fourth straight two-year term to represent the 2nd Congressional District.

The Hopkinton lawyer and former lobbyist handily defeated state Rep. Steve Negron, a one-term state legislator from Nashua and successful owner of his own defense contracting firm.

With 36 percent of voting precincts reporting, Kuster, 62, held a commanding lead of 60 percent to 38 percent for Negron, 58, in a district that hasn't voted for a Republican for President since George H.W. Bush in 1988. Libertarian Justin O'Donnell was at 2 percent.

"The biggest difference between my opponent and I is that he sees government playing a big role in the most personal decisions we make but he doesn't see a role for government in repairing our roads and bridges and dealing with our economy," Kuster said after celebrating with supporters at The Common Man restaurant in Concord.

Kuster said she's committed to working on "bread-and-butter issues" of concerns to working families, making progress on the opioid crisis, helping with the high cost of education and housing along with investing more on infrastructure.

"I want to look at this in a holistic way," Kuster said. "This President keeps bragging about the economy but our middle class faces an impossible situation, with costs going up for everything."

Kuster said throughout the campaign that voters confronted her about needing to change the uncivil tone and partisan bickering that dominate Capitol Hill.

"I think what you have seen is Republicans just aren't getting the jobs done," Kuster said.

Negron said this setback hasn't dampened his spirits and he's grateful New Hampshire voters heard him out on the issues.

"I'm not going anywhere," said Negron, a former Air Force officer who said he's clearly open to making another run for the seat in a presidential year that might be more hospitable to a GOP candidate.

Who knows what the future holds?

If U.S. Sen. Jeanne Shaheen, D-NH, were to decide not to seek a third term in 2020, Kuster would emerge as a leading Democrat to try to replace her in the upper chamber.

Shaheen has yet to reveal her plans for 2020.

Prior to his election night party at the Courtyard by Marriott, Negron spoke about the spirited grass roots campaign he ran and remarked that the state's congressional district proved much bigger than he thought it was.

"One of the things we set out to do was to run a campaign the way we thought it should (be) and not be influenced by outside chatter," Negron said. "We ran a great, civil campaign."

Both Kuster and Negron said while the race was spirited, it remained upbeat and never got personal.

Negron had little choice to make this a ground game as he raised a little more than $100,000 in outside donations. Kuster's reelection campaign broke the $3 million mark.

"I am very positive about it. We took our message to the people of New Hampshire," he said, adding his campaign knocked on more than 27,000 doors throughout the past several weeks.

If Democrats take control of the U.S. House of Representatives, Kuster will become the ranking Democrat on the subcommittee in charge of oversight of the Department of Veterans Affairs.

Kuster said she urged whistleblowers reporting on the "Third World" conditions at the Veterans Affairs Medical Center in Manchester to bring their complaints to the inspector general and the media.

She praised the Trump White House for cleaning out the top management.

With former U.S. Rep. Frank Guinta, R-NH, Kuster formed a bipartisan opioid task force that helped produce a few dozen bills and a record increase in federal resources to battle the epidemic.

Kuster said she wants to work on preserving the health of Social Security and Medicare and pursue a federal paid family and medical leave law.

Throughout the campaign, Negron and Kuster went after one another on a range of issues, from abortion rights, gun control and immigration to tax cuts and foreign policy.

Negron started his own small business, Integron, building on his management experience at Lockheed Martin, GTE and General Dynamics.

The son of Mexican and Puerto Rican parents, Negron pushed for improving border security but said the federal government needs to show some compassion for innocent people fleeing violence in their homeland.

Negron and his wife, Terry, have lived in Nashua for 28 years, where they have raised three children.

Kuster comes from a political family starting with her great-grandfather, John McLane, a Republican elected as governor just after the turn of the 20th century.

Her mother, Susan McLane, was a pro-income tax Republican who once ran for this seat and finished second in 1980 when Judd Gregg won the first of his three terms before becoming governor and U.S. senator. Her father, the late Malcolm McLane, was a moderate Republican on the Executive Council who also ran for governor.

Annie and her husband, Brad, an environmental attorney, have raised two sons.

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Union Leader Correspondent Kimberly Houghton contributed to this report.

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