Annie Kuster | |
|---|---|
 Official portrait, 2013 | |
| Chair of theNew Democrat Coalition | |
| In office January 3, 2023 – January 3, 2025 | |
| Preceded by | Suzan DelBene |
| Succeeded by | Brad Schneider |
| Member of theU.S. House of Representatives fromNew Hampshire's2nd district | |
| In office January 3, 2013 – January 3, 2025 | |
| Preceded by | Charles Bass |
| Succeeded by | Maggie Goodlander |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Anne McLane (1956-09-05)September 5, 1956 (age 69) Concord,New Hampshire, U.S. |
| Political party | Democratic |
| Spouse | Brad Kuster |
| Children | 2 |
| Relatives | Malcolm McLane (father) Susan Neidlinger (mother) |
| Education | Dartmouth College (BA) Georgetown University (JD) |
Ann L. McLane Kuster (born September 5, 1956) is an American lawyer and politician who served as theU.S. representative forNew Hampshire's 2nd congressional district from 2013 to 2025. A member of theDemocratic Party, she previously worked as a lobbyist.[1]
Kuster chaired theNew Democrat Coalition, a centrist caucus amongHouse Democrats.
Kuster announced on March 27, 2024, that she would not seek re-election to a seventh term in the U.S. House.[2]
Kuster was born inConcord, New Hampshire, on September 5, 1956. Both her parents were politicians. Her father,Malcolm McLane, was mayor of Concord, a member of theNew Hampshire Executive Council, and an owner ofWildcat Mountain Ski Area. In 1972, he ran forgovernor of New Hampshire as an independent. He received 20% of the vote in an election that RepublicanMel Thomson won with a plurality of 40%.[3]
Kuster's mother,Susan McLane, was elected to theNew Hampshire Senate as a Republican.[4] In 1980, she ran forNew Hampshire's 2nd congressional district, coming in second in the crowded Republican primary, with 25% of the vote.Judd Gregg won with 34% of the vote, whileCharles Bass (whom Kuster defeated in 2012) came in third with 22%.[5] Kuster's maternal great grandfather,John McLane, wasgovernor of New Hampshire from 1905 to 1907. He was elected as a Republican in 1904 with 58% of the vote, defeating DemocratHenry Hollis.[6]
Kuster graduated fromDartmouth College in 1978 with a degree inenvironmental policy. She received a J.D. fromGeorgetown University Law Center in 1984.[7]
After college, Kuster became the director of Concord law firm Rath, Young and Pignatelli's education and nonprofit law practice group.
Kuster was a consultant and owner of Newfound Strategies LLC, a consulting firm.[7][dead link]
Kuster also worked as an "of-counsel" partner at Rath, Young and Pignatelli. Her legal practice focused on education, nonprofit, andhealth care policy.[4] Kuster has also worked as an adoption attorney.[8]
Kuster has served as chair and board member of theCapitol Center for the Arts and as a founder and vice chair of the Women's Fund of New Hampshire. She has also served on the boards of theNew Hampshire Charitable Foundation,New Hampshire Public Radio, Child and Family Services of New Hampshire, the Alumni Council and Tucker Foundation at Dartmouth College, and Womankind Counseling Center.[8][dead link]
From 1989 to 2009, Kuster worked as a lobbyist in New Hampshire, earning more than $1.3 million in fees from various businesses and nonprofits. $460,000 of that money came from ambulatory surgical centers, $150,000 from investment companies, and $145,000 from pharmaceutical manufacturers and their association. In an editorial, theUnion Leader wrote, "she's also a career lobbyist, not in dreaded Washington, but in Concord. But she's refused to use that word." Rather, Kuster called herself a "public policy advocate".[9][10]
Kuster's career has also involved many years of lobbying on behalf of clients such asMerck Vaccines; thePharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America (PhRMA), with which she helped created the NH Medication Bridge program, a public-private partnership that provides free prescriptions to patients in need;Fidelity Investments, with which she helped create the NH UNIQUE College Savings Plan to help families save money for college tax-free; Dartmouth College and Medical School; NARAL Pro-Choice New Hampshire; Bedford Ambulatory Surgical Center; and theNew Hampshire College & University Council.[4][9]
According toOpenSecrets, Kuster took $192,553 in contributions from lawyers and lobbyists during the 2010 election cycle.[11]
In 1998, while working on behalf of the pharmaceutical manufacturerHoffman-LaRoche, Inc., Kuster lobbied against HB 1553. The bill would have reclassified three drugs, includingRohypnol, linked to date rapes, assaults, robberies, and driving offenses, as Schedule 1 Controlled Substances, making them illegal to possess. The University of New Hampshire Sexual Harassment and Rape Prevention Program's coordinator called the rescheduling of Rohypnol an "imperative", as the drug "poses an imminent and serious threat to public health and safety".[12]
Kuster served on the New Hampshire steering committees of the presidential campaigns ofBarack Obama in 2007–08 andJohn Kerry in 2003–04. She and Peggo Hodes (the wife of RepresentativePaul Hodes) also co-chaired New Hampshire Women for Obama. Kuster was a 2008 delegate for Obama at theDemocratic National Convention inDenver and a member of the 2004New Hampshire Delegation inBoston. In 2020, Kuster endorsedPete Buttigieg for president, which broke her streak of endorsing the candidate who became the Democratic nominee.[13]
In 2010, Kuster ran forNew Hampshire's 2nd congressional district against Republican nomineeCharles Bass, Libertarian nominee Howard Wilson, and Independent candidate Tim vanBlommesteyn. It was an open seat as Democratic incumbentPaul Hodes was running for the U.S. Senate.
Bass defeated Kuster 48%–47%, a margin of 3,550 votes.[14]
Kuster ran against Bass again in the 2012 election. She received the endorsement ofDemocracy for America, and was selected as one of itsDean Dozen.
On November 6, 2012, Kuster defeated Bass, 50%–45%.[1][15] In doing so, she became a part of the nation's first all-female congressional delegation. It included SenatorJeanne Shaheen, SenatorKelly Ayotte, and RepresentativeCarol Shea-Porter.[1]
Kuster ran for reelection in 2014 against Republican State RepresentativeMarilinda Garcia. Kuster beat Garcia 55-45%.[16] She was a member of theDemocratic Congressional Campaign Committee Frontline Program, designed to help protect vulnerable Democratic incumbents in the 2014 elections.[17] The primary election took place on September 9, and the general election on November 4. Republicans who ran in Kuster's district included Garcia and former State SenatorGary Lambert.[18] Former U.N. ambassadorJohn Bolton and his super PAC spent $30,000 on a two-week television ad buy opposing Kuster and her response to the2012 attack in Benghazi, Libya.[19]
Kuster was reelected in 2016, defeating the Republican nominee, former State RepresentativeJim Lawrence, 50-45%.[20]
On June 12, Kuster announced she would seek a fourth term in Congress. She ran unopposed in the primary. Four Republicans, Robert Burns, Stewart Levenson, Jay Mercer, andSteve Negron, vied to run against her in the general election, while Tom Alciere filed as a Libertarian candidate. Levenson, reported theAssociated Press, "was one of the doctors behind a 2017 whistleblower complaint about care" at the Manchester Veterans Affairs Medical Center, and had "accused Kuster, whom he approached about the issue, of being slow to act on it".[21] Negron won the Republican primary with 27% of the vote.[22] Kuster was reelected.
Kuster ran for reelection to a fifth term. She defeated Joseph Mirzoeff, her sole Democratic challenger, in the primary.[23] In the general election, she faced a rematch with Negron which she won with 53.91% of the vote.[24]
Kuster was selected as the chair of theNew Democrat Coalition for the118th Congress.[25] She was previously a vice chair of the caucus and a longstanding member of the moderate caucus.[25][26]
Kuster voted with President Joe Biden's stated position 100% of the time in the117th Congress, according to aFiveThirtyEight analysis.[34]
At a November 2013Manchester town hall meeting, Kuster fielded questions about theMiddle East. After reading a written question regarding establishing a select committee to investigate the terrorist attack inBenghazi, Kuster indicated that the questions "should stay focused on the Middle East". Audience members replied thatLibya is in the "Middle East". Libya is generally not included in definitions of the Middle East, but it is part of theArab world and theArab Maghreb. The video quickly went viral online, gaining more than 260,000 views in less than 48 hours.[35][36]
Kuster supported thePatient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA).[37][38] In a joint presentation in July 2017, she and RepresentativePeter Welch asserted the need to overcome partisan disagreement on Obamacare and to "find common ground in fixing Obamacare" by focusing on "individual markets".[39]
In November 2013, Kuster charged theNational Security Agency, which had secretly tapped into data centers operated byGoogle andYahoo, with violating privacy. "It just went way beyond what most people's expectations for privacy are in this country, and I think, despite people's best efforts to protect privacy, things had developed to a place where the American people now want to have a debate and have a conversation", she said. "It's a balancing act between privacy and safety and security of our country....But my point of view is we don't want to lose our liberty in the course of trying to protect our safety." This statement came days after she supported theUSA Freedom Act, which would overhaul the NSA and curb its "worst excesses".[40]
| Year | Democratic | Votes | Pct | Republican | Votes | Pct | 3rd Party | Party | Votes | Pct | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2010 | Ann McLane Kuster | 105,060 | 46.8% | Charles Bass | 108,610 | 48.3% | Tim vanBlommesteyn | Independent | 6,197 | 2.8% | * | |||
| 2012 | Ann McLane Kuster | 169,275 | 50.2% | Charles Bass (incumbent) | 152,977 | 45.3% | Hardy Macia | Libertarian | 14,936 | 4.4% | * | |||
| 2014 | 130,700 | 54.9% | Marilinda Garcia | 106,871 | 44.9% | * | ||||||||
| 2016 | 174,495 | 49.7% | Jim Lawrence | 158,973 | 45.3% | John Babiarz | Independent | 17,088 | 4.9% | * | ||||
| 2018 | 155,358 | 55.5% | Steve Negron | 117,990 | 42.2% | Justin O'Donnell | Libertarian | 6,206 | 2.2% | * | ||||
| 2020 | 207,863 | 53.9% | 168,491 | 43.7% | Andrew Olding | 9,093 | 2.4% | * | ||||||
| 2022 | 171,636 | 55.8% | Bob Burns | 135,579 | 44.0% |
* Write-in and minor candidate notes: In 2010, Libertarian candidate Howard L. Wilson received 4,796 votes. In 2012, write-ins received 206 votes. In 2014, write-ins received 613 votes. In 2016, write-ins received 236 votes. In 2018, write-ins received 151 votes. In 2020, write-ins received 147 votes.
In 2000, Kuster received the Eleanor Roosevelt Award for "dedicated service to the Democratic Party at the local, state and national levels".[41]
Kuster is married to Brad Kuster, a fellow lawyer. They reside in Hopkinton and have two sons.
Kuster and her mother, State Senator Susan McLane, coauthored a book,The Last Dance: Facing Alzheimer's with Love and Laughter.[42] After her mother's death, Kuster and her father, Malcolm McLane, toured New Hampshire speaking publicly about aging andAlzheimer's disease and the resulting burdens on families and caregivers.
In February 2013, WMUR-TV reported that Kuster had been late paying property taxes on a home in Hopkinton starting in 2010 and had failed to pay two tax bills for a property inJackson in 2012. After the report, Kuster said the bills were being paid.[43] Kuster, whose assets have been estimated at $1.8 million, was reported to have been late on taxes six separate times since 2010, totaling $40,000 in back taxes. Kuster ultimately paid the taxes. When asked why she was consistently late, Kuster said, "Life is expensive."[44][45]
On June 21, 2016, Kuster announced from the floor of the House that she had been sexually assaulted as a college student. She also said that when she was 23 and working as an aide on Capitol Hill, her boss took her to dinner with a "distinguished guest of the United States Congress" (South African heart surgeonChristiaan Barnard) who, under the table, put his hand under her skirt. Not long after, she was assaulted and mugged on a Washington street. She had never previously told anyone about these incidents. She said she had been motivated to come forward by a sexual assault case atStanford University.[46]
In Washington, Kuster lived with her close friend House Minority WhipKatherine Clark and other members.[47]
| U.S. House of Representatives | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by | Member of theU.S. House of Representatives fromNew Hampshire's 2nd congressional district 2013–2025 | Succeeded by |
| Party political offices | ||
| Preceded by | Chair of theNew Democrat Coalition 2023–2025 | Succeeded by |
| U.S. order of precedence (ceremonial) | ||
| Preceded byas Former U.S. Representative | Order of precedence of the United States as Former U.S. Representative | Succeeded byas Former U.S. Representative |
| People | |
|---|---|
| Other | |
