New Hampshire's 2nd Congressional District election, 2024 (September 10 Democratic primary)

	2026 → ← 2022
New Hampshire's 2nd Congressional District
	Democratic primary; Republican primary; General election
Election details
	Filing deadline: June 14, 2024
	Primary: September 10, 2024; General: November 5, 2024
How to vote
	Poll times: Varies by municipality; Voting in New Hampshire
Race ratings
	Cook Political Report: Solid Democratic; DDHQ and The Hill: Safe Democratic; Inside Elections: Solid Democratic; Sabato's Crystal Ball: Likely Democratic
Ballotpedia analysis
	U.S. Senate battlegrounds; U.S. House battlegrounds; Federal and state primary competitiveness; Ballotpedia's Election Analysis Hub, 2024
See also
	New Hampshire's 2nd Congressional District; 1st • 2nd; New Hampshire elections, 2024; U.S. Congress elections, 2024; U.S. Senate elections, 2024; U.S. House elections, 2024; Alabama U.S. House racesAlaska U.S. House racesArizona U.S. House racesArkansas U.S. House racesCalifornia U.S. House racesColorado U.S. House racesConnecticut U.S. House racesDelaware U.S. House racesFlorida U.S. House racesGeorgia U.S. House racesHawaii U.S. House racesIdaho U.S. House racesIllinois U.S. House racesIndiana U.S. House racesIowa U.S. House racesKansas U.S. House racesKentucky U.S. House racesLouisiana U.S. House racesMaine U.S. House racesMaryland U.S. House racesMassachusetts U.S. House racesMichigan U.S. House racesMinnesota U.S. House racesMississippi U.S. House racesMissouri U.S. House racesMontana U.S. House racesNebraska U.S. House racesNevada U.S. House racesNew Hampshire U.S. House racesNew Jersey U.S. House racesNew Mexico U.S. House racesNew York U.S. House racesNorth Carolina U.S. House racesNorth Dakota U.S. House racesOhio U.S. House racesOklahoma U.S. House racesOregon U.S. House racesPennsylvania U.S. House racesRhode Island U.S. House racesSouth Carolina U.S. House racesSouth Dakota U.S. House racesTennessee U.S. House racesTexas U.S. House racesUtah U.S. House racesVermont U.S. House racesVirginia U.S. House racesWashington U.S. House racesWest Virginia U.S. House racesWisconsin U.S. House racesWyoming U.S. House racesSubmit

New Hampshire 2024 elections

U.S. House • Governor • State executive offices • State Senate • State House • Special state legislative • State ballot measures • How to run for office

Maggie Goodlander (D) defeated Colin Van Ostern (D) in the Democratic primary for New Hampshire's 2nd Congressional District on September 10, 2024. Incumbent Rep. Annie Kuster (D), who was first elected in 2012, did not run for re-election. Click here for more detailed results. The general election will be held on November 5, 2024.

New Hampshire Public Radio's Josh Rogers said, "So far in this race, there's little to choose between the two Democrats, save for their biographies. As far as issues go, both Goodlander and Van Ostern mostly agree."^[1] According to Rogers, the candidates used their backgrounds to distinguish themselves in the primary.^[1] Referencing Goodlander's government experience, Van Ostern said, "I'm in this race to fix Washington, not to defend it."^[1] Regarding Van Ostern's past runs for office, Goodlander said, "I'm not a perennial candidate; I'm not a professional politician."^[1]

Goodlander was a senior White House aide in President Joe Biden's administration, where she led Biden's Unity Agenda.^[2] From January 2021 to February 2024, she served in the U.S. Department of Justice as a counselor to the attorney general and later deputy assistant attorney general.^[2] Between college and law school, Goodlander was an advisor to U.S. Sens. John McCain (R-Ariz.) and Joe Lieberman (I-Conn.).^[2] After completing law school, she was a law clerk for then-U.S. Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer and then-U.S. Courts of Appeals Chief Judge Merrick Garland.^[2]

Goodlander said one factor that led her to run for Congress was when she lost her son during the 20th week of her pregnancy: "I needed immediate in-patient ob/gyn care and yet getting a timely appointment was not possible as doctors were inundated with patients traveling north from states with abortion bans and other draconian post- Roe restrictions. My access to care was scheduled one day too late, and I was forced to manage a stillbirth by myself in a hotel bathtub."^[3]

Van Ostern represented District 2 on the New Hampshire Executive Council from 2013 to 2017.^[4] In 2016, he ran for Governor of New Hampshire. Chris Sununu defeated Van Ostern in the general election, 49% to 46.7%. Van Ostern previously worked for multiple companies, including Stonyfield Yogurt, Alumni Ventures, and Southern New Hampshire University.^[4] He was also a board director for NextGen Manchester: NH Biofabrication Cluster and the New Hampshire Women's Foundation.^[4]

Van Ostern said he ran for Congress to restore people's faith that the government can work for them: "I want to fix what's broken in Washington, and I have some very specific ideas about how to do that. The only way to fix what's broken in Congress right now is to put what's best for everyday people in middle-class families first again."^[5]

Kuster endorsed Van Ostern, who was a campaign manager for her 2010 congressional campaign.^[6] EMILY's List, an organization that works to elect Democratic pro-choice women to office, endorsed Goodlander.^[7]

As of September 4, 2024, four major election forecasters each rated the general election Likely Democratic.

All 435 seats were up for election. At the time of the election, Republicans had a 220 to 212 majority with three vacancies.^[8] As of June 2024, 45 members of the U.S. House had announced they were not running for re-election. To read more about the U.S. House elections taking place this year, click here.

In the 2022 election in this district, the Democratic candidate won 55.8%-44.1%. Daily Kos calculated what the results of the 2020 presidential election in this district would have been following redistricting. Joe Biden (D) would have defeated Donald Trump (R) 53.6%-44.7%.^[9]

This page focuses on New Hampshire's 2nd Congressional District Democratic primary. For more in-depth information on the district's Republican primary and the general election, see the following pages:

Candidates and election results

Democratic primary election

Democratic primary for U.S. House New Hampshire District 2

Maggie Goodlander defeated Colin Van Ostern in the Democratic primary for U.S. House New Hampshire District 2 on September 10, 2024.

	Candidate	%	Votes
✔	Maggie Goodlander	63.7	42,960
	Colin Van Ostern	36.1	24,342
	Other/Write-in votes	0.2	160

	Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 67,462
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team.

Withdrawn or disqualified candidates

Voting information

See also: Voting in New Hampshire

Election information in New Hampshire: Sep. 10, 2024, election.

What was the voter registration deadline?

In-person: Sep. 10, 2024
By mail: N/A by N/A
Online: N/A

Was absentee/mail-in voting available to all voters?

No

What was the absentee/mail-in ballot request deadline?

In-person: Sep. 9, 2024
By mail: Received by Sep. 9, 2024
Online: N/A

What was the absentee/mail-in ballot return deadline?

In-person: Sep. 9, 2024
By mail: Received by Sep. 10, 2024

Was early voting available to all voters?

N/A

What were the early voting start and end dates?

N/A to N/A

Were all voters required to present ID at the polls? If so, was a photo or non-photo ID required?

N/A

When were polls open on Election Day?

N/A

Candidate comparison

Candidate profiles

This section includes candidate profiles that may be created in one of two ways: either the candidate completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey, or Ballotpedia staff may compile a profile based on campaign websites, advertisements, and public statements after identifying the candidate as noteworthy. For more on how we select candidates to include, click here.

Maggie Goodlander

Party: Democratic Party

Incumbent: No

Political Office: None

Biography: Goodlander received a bachelor's degree and a J.D. from Yale University. Her professional experience included working as a senior White House aide in President Joe Biden's administration and as a deputy assistant attorney general in the U.S. Department of Justice. She also worked as an advisor to U.S. Sens. John McCain (R-Ariz.) and Joe Lieberman (I-Conn.).

Key Messages

The following key messages were curated by Ballotpedia staff. For more on how we identify key messages, click here.

On abortion, Goodlander said, "It is wrong that women in this state and across this country are denied the basic health care services that they need and that they deserve, and I want to fight for those freedoms every day for as long as I can."

Goodlander said she would work to update federal laws designed to protect consumers and workers: "The ideas behind these laws are as old as America itself, but they haven't been updated for the modern economy."

On foreign policy, Goodlander said she would work to hold accountable "Chinese state-owned corporations who are fueling Russia's war in Ukraine." She also said there is more to be done on China regarding the opioid epidemic.

Show sources

Sources: Maggie Goodlander campaign YouTube, "Stand Up | Maagie Goodlander for Congress," May 11, 2024; WMUR-TV, "'Separation of powers' to guide familial ties to White House says NH-02's Maggie Goodlander | CloseUp," May 19, 2024; LinkedIn, "Maggie Goodlander," accessed July 8, 2024

This information was current as of the candidate's run for U.S. House New Hampshire District 2 in 2024.

Colin Van Ostern

Party: Democratic Party

Incumbent: No

Political Office:

New Hampshire Executive Council, District 2 (2013-2017)

Biography: Van Ostern received a bachelor's degree from The George Washington University and an MBA from Dartmouth College. His professional experience included working as a board director for the New Hampshire Women's Foundation. Van Ostern also worked as a business manager and executive at multiple companies, including Stonyfield Yogurt, Alumni Ventures, and Southern New Hampshire University.

Key Messages

The following key messages were curated by Ballotpedia staff. For more on how we identify key messages, click here.

Van Ostern said he would work to pass "a national law to protect the full range of reproductive rights—including in vitro fertilization, birth control and equitable access to abortion—no matter where you live."

Van Ostern said he would work to address health care costs overall: "It's not just a question of who is paying the bill, whether it's Medicaid or Medicare or private insurance, it's also a matter of much the bill is in the first place."

Regarding firearm regulations, Van Ostern said he would support "basic measures like universal background checks and appropriate waiting periods."

Show sources

Sources: The Dartmouth, "Q&A with congressional candidate Colin Van Ostern Tu '09," April 12, 2024; The Keene Sentinel, "Van Ostern brings congressional campaign to Cheshire County," April 29, 2024; LinkedIn, "Colin Van Ostern," accessed July 8, 2024

This information was current as of the candidate's run for U.S. House New Hampshire District 2 in 2024.

Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey responses

Ballotpedia asks all federal, state, and local candidates to complete a survey and share what motivates them on political and personal levels. Candidates are asked three required questions for this survey, but they may answer additional optional questions as well.

No candidate in this race completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey.

Campaign advertisements

This section includes a selection of up to three campaign advertisements per candidate released in this race, as well as links to candidates' YouTube, Vimeo, and/or Facebook video pages. If you are aware of other links that should be included, please email us.

Maggie Goodlander

May 11, 2024

View more ads here:

YouTube

Colin Van Ostern

View more ads here:

Facebook

Endorsements

See also: Ballotpedia: Our approach to covering endorsements

Click the links below to see official endorsement lists published on candidate campaign websites for any candidates that make that information available. If you are aware of a website that should be included, please email us.

Colin Van Ostern

Election competitiveness

Polls

See also: Ballotpedia's approach to covering polls

We provide results for polls that are included in polling aggregation from FiveThirtyEight and RealClearPolitics, when available. No polls were available for this election. To notify us of polls published in this election, please email us.

Race ratings

See also: Race rating definitions and methods

Ballotpedia provides race ratings from four outlets: The Cook Political Report, Inside Elections, Sabato's Crystal Ball, and DDHQ/The Hill. Each race rating indicates if one party is perceived to have an advantage in the race and, if so, the degree of advantage:

Safe and Solid ratings indicate that one party has a clear edge and the race is not competitive.
Likely ratings indicate that one party has a clear edge, but an upset is possible.
Lean ratings indicate that one party has a small edge, but the race is competitive.^[10]
Toss-up ratings indicate that neither party has an advantage.

Race ratings are informed by a number of factors, including polling, candidate quality, and election result history in the race's district or state.^[11]^[12]^[13]

Race ratings: New Hampshire's 2nd Congressional District election, 2024
Race tracker	Race ratings
	November 5, 2024	October 29, 2024	October 22, 2024	October 15, 2024
The Cook Political Report with Amy Walter	Solid Democratic	Likely Democratic	Likely Democratic	Likely Democratic
Decision Desk HQ and The Hill	Safe Democratic	Likely Democratic	Likely Democratic	Likely Democratic
Inside Elections with Nathan L. Gonzales	Solid Democratic	Solid Democratic	Solid Democratic	Solid Democratic
Larry J. Sabato's Crystal Ball	Likely Democratic	Likely Democratic	Likely Democratic	Likely Democratic
Note: Ballotpedia reviews external race ratings every week throughout the election season and posts weekly updates even if the media outlets have not revised their ratings during that week.

Election spending

Campaign finance

Name

Party

Receipts*

Disbursements**

Cash on hand

Date

Maggie Goodlander

Democratic Party

$4,358,978

$4,300,981

$57,998

As of December 31, 2024

Colin Van Ostern

Democratic Party

$1,574,893

$0

As of September 30, 2024

Source: Federal Elections Commission, "Campaign finance data," 2024. This product uses the openFEC API but is not endorsed or certified by the Federal Election Commission (FEC).

* According to the FEC, "Receipts are anything of value (money, goods, services or property) received by a political committee."
** According to the FEC, a disbursement "is a purchase, payment, distribution, loan, advance, deposit or gift of money or anything of value to influence a federal election," plus other kinds of payments not made to influence a federal election.

Satellite spending

See also: Satellite spending

Satellite spending describes political spending not controlled by candidates or their campaigns; that is, any political expenditures made by groups or individuals that are not directly affiliated with a candidate. This includes spending by political party committees, super PACs, trade associations, and 501(c)(4) nonprofit groups.^[14]^[15]

If available, satellite spending reports by the Federal Election Commission (FEC) and OpenSecrets.org are linked below. FEC links include totals from monthly, quarterly, and semi-annual reports. OpenSecrets.org compiles data from those reports as well as 24- and 48-hour reports from the FEC.^[16]

Details about satellite spending of significant amounts and/or reported by media are included below those links. The amounts listed may not represent the total satellite spending in the election. To notify us of additional satellite spending, email us.

By candidate	By election
Maggie Goodlander John Neenos Colin Van Ostern	Open Secrets Federal Election Commission

District analysis

Click the tabs below to view information about voter composition, past elections, and demographics in both the district and the state.

District map - A map of the district in place for the election.
Competitiveness - Information about the competitiveness of 2024 U.S. House elections in the state.
Presidential elections - Information about presidential elections in the district and the state.
State party control - The partisan makeup of the state's congressional delegation and state government.

District map

Competitiveness
Presidential elections

State party control

Below was the map in use at the time of the election. Click the map below to enlarge it.

See also: Primary election competitiveness in state and federal government, 2024

This section contains data on U.S. House primary election competitiveness in New Hampshire.

New Hampshire U.S. House competitiveness, 2014-2024
Office	Districts/ offices	Seats	Open seats	Candidates	Possible primaries	Contested Democratic primaries	Contested Republican primaries	% of contested primaries	Incumbents in contested primaries	% of incumbents in contested primaries
2024	2	2	1	24	4	2	2	100.0%	1	100.0%
2022	2	2	0	19	4	0	2	50.0%	0	0.0%
2020	2	2	0	12	4	1	2	75.0%	1	50.0%
2018	2	2	1	25	4	1	2	75.0%	0	0.0%
2016	2	2	0	14	4	0	2	50.0%	1	50.0%
2014	2	2	0	10	4	0	2	50.0%	0	0.0%

Post-filing deadline analysis

The following analysis covers all U.S. House districts up for election in New Hampshire in 2024. Information below was calculated on July 17, 2024, and may differ from information shown in the table above due to candidate replacements and withdrawals after that time.

Twenty-four candidates ran for New Hampshire’s two U.S. House districts, including four Democrats and 20 Republicans. That’s an average of 12 candidates per district. There was an average of 9.5 candidates per district in 2022, 6.0 candidates per district in 2020, and 12.5 in 2018.

The 2nd Congressional District was the only open district in 2024. Incumbent Rep. Annie Kuster (D-02) retired from public office. This was the second time in the last 10 years in which a district was open in New Hampshire.

Fifteen candidates—two Democrats and 13 Republicans—ran in the open 2nd Congressional District, the most candidates who ran in a district in 2024.

Four primaries were contested in 2024, that’s the most contested primaries in New Hampshire in the last 10 years.

Incumbent Rep. Chris Pappas (D-01) was in a contested primary in 2024. This was the third year in the last 10 years in which an incumbent in New Hampshire was in a contested primary.

Democratic and Republican candidates filed to run in both districts, meaning neither district was guaranteed to either party.

Partisan Voter Index

See also: The Cook Political Report's Partisan Voter Index

Heading into the 2024 elections, based on results from the 2020 and 2016 presidential elections, the Cook Partisan Voter Index for this district was D+2. This meant that in those two presidential elections, this district's results were 2 percentage points more Democratic than the national average. This made New Hampshire's 2nd the 201st most Democratic district nationally.^[17]

2020 presidential election results

The table below shows what the vote in the 2020 presidential election would have been in this district. The presidential election data was compiled by Daily Kos.

2020 presidential results in New Hampshire's 2nd based on 2024 district lines
Joe Biden	Donald Trump
53.6%	44.7%

Inside Elections Baselines

See also: Inside Elections

Inside Elections' Baseline is a figure that analyzes all federal and statewide election results from the district over the past four election cycles. The results are combined in an index estimating the strength of a typical Democratic or Republican candidate in the congressional district.^[18] The table below displays the Baseline data for this district.

Inside Elections Baseline for 2024
Democratic Baseline	Republican Baseline	Difference
49.8	47.4	R+2.5

Presidential voting history

See also: Presidential election in New Hampshire, 2020

New Hampshire presidential election results (1900-2020)

13 Democratic wins
18 Republican wins

Year	1900	1904	1908	1912	1916	1920	1924	1928	1932	1936	1940	1944	1948	1952	1956	1960	1964	1968	1972	1976	1980	1984	1988	1992	1996	2000	2004	2008	2012	2016	2020
Winning Party	R	R	R	D	D	R	R	R	R	D	D	D	R	R	R	R	D	R	R	R	R	R	R	D	D	R	D	D	D	D	D

See also: Party control of New Hampshire state government

Congressional delegation

The table below displays the partisan composition of New Hampshire's congressional delegation as of May 2024.

Congressional Partisan Breakdown from New Hampshire
Party	U.S. Senate	U.S. House	Total
Democratic	2	2	4
Republican	0	0	0
Independent	0	0	0
Vacancies	0	0	0
Total	2	2	4

State executive

The table below displays the officeholders in New Hampshire's top three state executive offices as of May 2024.

State executive officials in New Hampshire, May 2024
Office	Officeholder
Governor	Chris Sununu
Secretary of State	David Scanlan
Attorney General	John Formella

State legislature

New Hampshire State Senate

Party		As of February 2024
	Democratic Party	10
	Republican Party	14
	Other	0
	Vacancies	0
Total		24

New Hampshire House of Representatives

Party		As of February 2024
	Democratic Party	193
	Republican Party	201
	Independent	1
	Other	1
	Vacancies	4
Total		400

Trifecta control

The table below shows the state's trifecta status from 1992 until the 2024 election.

New Hampshire Party Control: 1992-2024
Four years of Democratic trifectas • Thirteen years of Republican trifectas
Scroll left and right on the table below to view more years.

Year	92	93	94	95	96	97	98	99	00	01	02	03	04	05	06	07	08	09	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20	21	22	23	24
Governor	R	R	R	R	R	D	D	D	D	D	D	R	R	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R
Senate	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	D	S	R	R	R	R	R	R	D	D	D	D	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	D	D	R	R	R	R
House	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	D	D	D	D	R	R	D	D	R	R	R	R	D	D	R	R	R	R

Election Context

Ballot access requirements

The table below details filing requirements for U.S. House candidates in New Hampshire in the 2024 election cycle. For additional information on candidate ballot access requirements in New Hampshire, click here.

Filing requirements for U.S. House candidates, 2024
State	Office	Party	Signatures required	Filing fee	Filing deadline	Source
New Hampshire	U.S. House	Ballot-qualified party	100^[19]	$50.00	6/14/2024	Source
New Hampshire	U.S. House	Unaffiliated	1,500^[20]	$50.00	8/6/2024	Source

District election history

2022

See also: New Hampshire's 2nd Congressional District election, 2022

General election

General election for U.S. House New Hampshire District 2

Incumbent Annie Kuster defeated Bob Burns in the general election for U.S. House New Hampshire District 2 on November 8, 2022.

	Candidate	%	Votes
✔	Annie Kuster (D)	55.8	171,636
	Bob Burns (R)	44.1	135,579
	Other/Write-in votes	0.1	369

	Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 307,584
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team.