Maggie Goodlander | |
|---|---|
 Official portrait, 2025 | |
| Member of theU.S. House of Representatives fromNew Hampshire's2nd district | |
| Assumed office January 3, 2025 | |
| Preceded by | Annie Kuster |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Margaret Vivian Goodlander (1986-11-04)November 4, 1986 (age 39) Nashua, New Hampshire, U.S. |
| Political party | Democratic |
| Spouse | |
| Relatives | Betty Tamposi (mother) Theodore J. Goodlander (father) Samuel A. Tamposi (grandfather) |
| Education | Yale University (BA,JD) |
| Website | House website Campaign website |
| Military service | |
| Branch/service | |
| Years of service | 2010–2022 |
| Rank | Lieutenant |
| Unit | Naval Intelligence |
| Battles/wars | Global War on Terrorism |
Margaret Vivian Goodlander (born November 4, 1986) is an American politician, lawyer, and formernaval officer who has served as theU.S. representative fromNew Hampshire's 2nd congressional district since 2025. A member of theDemocratic Party, she is the wife of former U.S. national security advisorJake Sullivan.
Goodlander served as an intelligence officer in theUnited States Navy Reserve and worked as a foreign policy advisor in theUnited States Senate to SenatorsJoe Lieberman andJohn McCain. After law school, she was a law clerk for Chief JudgeMerrick Garland and JusticeStephen Breyer. She served as counsel on theHouse Judiciary Committee during thefirst impeachment of Donald Trump. During theBiden administration, she was an attorney at theUnited States Department of Justice and seniorWhite House advisor. She was elected to Congress in2024 to replace retiring Democratic incumbentAnnie Kuster.
Goodlander was born on November 4, 1986, and raised inNashua, New Hampshire.[1][2] She is a member of the Tamposi family, a well-connected prominent political family in New Hampshire; her grandfather,Samuel Tamposi, was aRepublican real estate developer who partially owned theBoston Red Sox, and her mother,Betty Tamposi, was a Republican member of theNew Hampshire House of Representatives before serving asAssistant Secretary of State for Consular Affairs under PresidentGeorge H. W. Bush.[3]
After graduating from theGroton School in 2005, Goodlander received aBachelor of Arts in history fromYale College in 2009 and then attendedYale Law School, where she received aJuris Doctor in 2016.[1] As a student at Yale, she was a research fellow inLebanon,Egypt,Syria, andLibya.[4]
After graduating from Yale College in 2009, Goodlander worked as a senior foreign policy advisor for U.S. SenatorsJoe Lieberman andJohn McCain.[5] She served as an intelligence officer in theUnited States Navy Reserve for 11 years, reaching the rank oflieutenant.[6][7]
After graduating from Yale Law School in 2016, Goodlander served as alaw clerk to Chief JudgeMerrick Garland of theU.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit from 2016 to 2017 andU.S. Supreme Court JusticeStephen Breyer from 2017 to 2018.[1][8] She was an associate atSkadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom in 2019.[8]
Goodlander served as counsel to theHouse Judiciary Committee during thefirst impeachment of Donald Trump, where she co-authored a 55-page report describing the constitutional grounds for impeaching Trump.[9] Following Trump'sacquittal by the U.S. Senate in February 2020, she began working as counsel to Co-Equal, an activist organization that advocates for increased congressional funding and support for federal agencies that provide research and policy advice to members of Congress.[10]
Goodlander taughtconstitutional law at theUniversity of New Hampshire andDartmouth College from 2019 to 2021. She also served on the boards of the New Hampshire Women's Foundation, New Hampshire Legal Assistance, the World Affairs Council of New Hampshire, and the Rudman Center Advisory Board.[11]
In January 2021, Goodlander joined theUnited States Department of Justice as counselor to the attorney general under Garland, who had becomeU.S. attorney general under PresidentJoe Biden and under whom Goodlander clerked after law school. She served as a deputy assistant attorney general for theAntitrust Division from September 12, 2022 to February 23, 2024, overseeing the international, appellate, and policy work, preceded by Rene Augustine and succeeded by John Elias.[12]
After leaving the Justice Department, she briefly served as aWhite House senior advisor, where she led theBiden administration's Unity Agenda for the Nation.[13]
On May 9, 2024, Goodlander announced her candidacy in the Democratic primary forNew Hampshire's 2nd congressional district in the2024 elections to succeed retiring U.S. RepresentativeAnnie Kuster.[14] Her mother, Betty Tamposi, ran for the same seat as a Republican in1988 but lost the primary toChuck Douglas, who had asserted that it would be inappropriate for a mother to hold political office while raising young children.[15] Goodlander defeated former New Hampshire Executive CouncilorColin Van Ostern, who had been endorsed by Kuster, with 63.8% of the vote to Van Ostern's 36.2%.[16] In the general election, Goodlander defeated Republican nominee and libertarian activistLily Tang Williams 52.9% to 47.1%.[17]
Goodlander assumed office on January 3, 2025. She succeeded retiring U.S. Representative Annie Kuster.[18]
Goodlander had initially expressed interest in a2026 Senate run, but announced in April 2025 that she would not run.[19]
In November 2025, Goodlander was one of six people, all Democratic lawmakers, to be part of a video telling servicemembers they can refuse illegal orders.[20][21] In response later that month, President Trump posted on social media calling those in the video, including Goodlander, traitors who should be charged withsedition punishable by death, and shared a social media post calling for them to be hanged.[22][23][24][25][26]
For the 119th Congress:[27]
Goodlander is married toJake Sullivan, who served asUnited States national security advisor under President Joe Biden from 2021 to 2025. They met at theMunich Security Conference during theObama administration when Goodlander worked for U.S. SenatorJoe Lieberman and Sullivan worked as an advisor for then-U.S. Secretary of StateHillary Clinton. They married on June 6, 2015, inNew Haven, Connecticut. They rent a home in Nashua, New Hampshire, and also own a $1.2 million home inPortsmouth, New Hampshire.[28]
Goodlander became pregnant in late 2022, but during her pregnancy, the fetus was diagnosed with a fatal condition and died in utero. While awaiting a medical procedure to remove the fetus, Goodlander went into labor and gave birth to a stillborn son in a hotel bathtub onEaster. She has cited the experience as inspiring her to campaign forabortion rights.[2]
| Primary election | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
| Democratic | Maggie Goodlander | 42,960 | 63.74% | |
| Democratic | Colin Van Ostern | 24,342 | 36.12% | |
| Write-in | 94 | 0.14% | ||
| Total votes | 67,396 | 100.00% | ||
| General election | ||||
| Democratic | Maggie Goodlander | 211,641 | 52.93% | |
| Republican | Lily Tang Williams | 187,810 | 46.97% | |
| Write-in | 367 | 0.09% | ||
| Total votes | 399,818 | 100.00% | ||
| Democratichold | ||||
| U.S. House of Representatives | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by | Member of theU.S. House of Representatives fromNew Hampshire's 2nd congressional district 2025–present | Incumbent |
| U.S. order of precedence (ceremonial) | ||
| Preceded by | United States representatives by seniority 391st | Succeeded by |