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September 23rd , 2024 Len’s Political Note #673 Maggie Goodlander New Hampshire 02
2024 General Election
Maggie Goodlander
People from New Hampshire and Rhode Island are both New Englanders and have a few things in common. They root for the Red Sox. They root for the Patriots. They root for the Celtics who are the NBA champions and for the Bruins who are definitely not NHL champions. If Maggie Goodlander is elected to represent New Hampshire’s second Congressional District, both New Hampshire and Rhode Island will be represented by people in their thirties who worked for the White House.
Rhode Island’s Gabe Amo’s parents immigrated to Rhode Island from Africa – one from Liberia, the other form Ghana. Raised in Pawtucket, his mom was a nurse, his dad owns a liquor store (as did, some might recall, Joe Lieberman’s dad in Connecticut). Amo went to the Providence prep school Moses Brown and to Wheaton College, a small private college in nearby southeastern Massachusetts. An outstanding student, he won a Truman and a Marshall and studied at Oxford. He worked in the Obama administration and campaigns and for Gina Raimondo when she was Rhode Island’s governor. As US Commerce Secretary under Joe Biden, Raimondo could not keep him. Amo became special assistant and then deputy director of the White House office of intergovernmental affairs, the position he left in order to run for Congress when David Cicilline resigned.
Maggie Goodlander was raised in Nashua. Her grandfather, Samuel Tamposi, was a Republican, a real estate developer, a minority owner of the Red Sox, and a friend of Ted Williams. Her mom, Betty Tamposi, was an Assistant Secretary of State under GHW Bush. Maggie Goodlander went to the Groton School, whose headmaster, Endicott Peabody, well before her time, but famously (in New England, anyway) served in that role for 56 years. Peabody was a friend of Teddy Roosevelt which, in New England is not quite as impressive as being a friend of Ted Williams. The Tamposi family have had their troubles. Six family members jointly filed for bankruptcy in 1991.
Maggie Goodlander went from Groton to Yale. At Yale, she received research fellowships that took her to Lebanon, Egypt, Libya, and Syria. She stayed at Yale for Law School after which she clerked for Supreme Court Justice Breyer and Chief DC Circuit Judge Merrick Garland. In Congress, she worked for Senator Joe Lieberman, Senator John McCain, and for Democratic Representative Tom Lantos. She served as counsel to the House Judiciary Committee during Donald Trump’s first impeachment trial. She taught constitutional law at the University of New Hampshire and Dartmouth College and then joined the Justice Department as a deputy assistant attorney general. Briefly, she served in Joe Biden’s White House as a senior advisor. Her husband, Jake Sullivan, has served in Joe Biden’s White House as the National Security Advisor from the beginning of Biden’s term. Maggie Goodlander is banned from Russia for her part in developing a law to impose sanctions on Vladimir Putin and on Russia.
Maggie Goodlander’s primary win, like Gabe Amo’s, was no gimme. Unlike Gabe Amo, who won a primary against almost 20 opponents, she had one candidate against whom she was running and a bunch of opponents on the sidelines. The outgoing Congresswoman and a slew of local officials endorsed her opponent, an executive councilor. Despite the endorsements, Maggie Goodlander won the primary 64-36.
Could she lose the election? It is unlikely. Cook describes the seat as likely Democratic. Her opponent is Lily Tang Williams, a former lawyer and law professor in Communist China who describes the oppression she experienced as a child and in her profession. She left China at age 24 and has been here for 20 years, the last four working with the Victims of Communism Memorial Foundation. As compelling as her story may be, it is unlikely that the voters of New Hampshire’s Second Congressional District would prefer her to Maggie Goodlander. You can DONATE a little to Maggie Goodlander. You can VOLUNTEER.
Why write about Maggie Goodlander? I wrote this piece because it was an opportunity to describe two young New Englanders who are likely to have an impact on the country for years to come.
Competitive House races in New England
Connecticut 05
Former national teacher of the year, Jahana Hayes always seems somewhat vulnerable in this western Connecticut, Republican leaning district. The last actual poll was in November of 2023 – a poll funded by her Republican opponent, former State Senator George Logan. The poll attempted to demonstrate he would be competitive in 2024 and suggested he was up by 2 points. On June 30, Hayes reported she had $2 million available to Logan’s $1 million. Hayes is pro-union, pro-education, pro-gun safety, pro-women, and against climate change. Logan is focused on reducing inflation, especially the cost of gasoline. With the price of gasoline having dropped so far and so rapidly, maybe he will claim success. Help Jahana Hayes stay in Congress. DONATE. VOLUNTEER. See Len’s Political Note #542
Maine 02
One of the most conservative Democratic Members of Congress Jared Golden is from a district which consistently delivers an electoral college vote to the Republican presidential candidate. Jared Golden was initially elected to Congress in Maine’s first use of ranked voting. His story is a great one. Discovered by a Bates faculty members working in a pizza joint, he recovered from a bad war in Iraq and Afghanistan and PTSD by attending Bates and figuring out how to become a Democratic fixture in the most conservative part of Maine. He is opposed in 2024 by state rep and former racing car driver Austin Theriault. One area where Theriault differs from Jared Golden is his opposition to abortion. In the state legislature, Theriault has either opposed or been absent for every vote that would protect abortion. Jared Golden has been clear from his earliest time in politics that he favors women’s control of their own reproductive health. There are no polls for this race. On June 30, Golden led in the financial race $3.3 million to $900,000. Support Jared Golden. DONATE. VOLUNTEER. Theriault is capable of putting up a fight. See Len’s Political Note #575
There are competitive Senate races in the northeast, though not in New England
Pennsylvania
Bob Casey is the son of a former Pennsylvania governor who was the leader of anti-abortion Democrats nationally. During his time as state auditor, state treasurer, and his three terms in the US Senate, Bob Casey Jr has moved to being pro-choice on abortion and to favor a national effort for gun safety. The murder of school children in Newtown, CT moved him on the gun safety issue. His shift on abortion has been gradual.
On June 30, Bob Casey had a tiny lead in the financial race — $8.4 million to $8.2 million – against former hedge fund head Dave McCormick. McCormick is so wealthy personally, the only financial obstacle he faces is how far he can reach into his pocket. McCormick is deeply embedded in the Republican story and supports the fiction that Trump won the election in 2020. He is spending his money now, swamping the airwaves. Despite the spending, so far, Bob Casey is holding his own. In polls in September, he has led by 7, 8, and 9 points. Help Bob Casey keep that lead. DONATE. VOLUNTEER See Len’s Political Note #581
Maryland
Angela Alsobrooks has been a prosecutor and a county executive. Her family moved to Washington DC from South Carolina when her great grandfather was forced to dance away from bullets shot at his feet by a local sheriff. Eventually, the sheriff shot and killed him, claiming an escape attempt. You could properly say a lynching drove her family out of the deep south.
Angela Alsobrooks had to defeat a millionaire businessman Democrat in the primary. She stresses her success as a prosecutor and her focus on creating jobs as a county executive. As the first woman and youngest ever County Executive in Maryland’s heavily Black Prince George County, she would bring a new perspective to the US Senate if she can defeat George Hogan, Maryland’s former Governor. Hogan, a moderate Republican and a Trump antagonist, was among the most popular governors in the country when he retired because of term limits. He retains that popularity. Alsobrooks had the edge, on June 30, in the financial race: $3.6 million to $2.7 million. Despite an Even result on an August 20 poll, she has an edge in August and September polls with leads of 5 and 6 points. This is too close. Help her expand her lead. DONATE. VOLUNTEER. See Len’s Political Note #643
WE HAVE A PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION TO WIN
Kamala Harris and Tim Walz
As we look toward November, we see a brand new campaign. Kamala Harris’s entrance into the campaign, the exciting convention and the extraordinary debate performance are all reflected in her 20 or 30 point leads in Maryland in August and September polls. If that lead can rub off in the seven most contested states, especially in Pennsylvania,
