O P I N I O N
THE SOAPBOX
Stand up. Speak up. It’s Your Turn.
What is it about Maggie Goodlander’s campaign that irks me so much? I’ve been thinking about it a lot. There are many talking points and questions. People like to argue about whether or not she’s truly a Democrat, whether or not she truly represents NH, and more. And we could debate all of that, but here is what it comes down to for me.
The way Maggie operates feels disingenuous.
The argument: Maggie is or is not “from NH.”
The Facts
- Maggie was born and mostly raised in Nashua.
- Maggie went to a private boarding school in MA.
- Maggie hasn’t voted in NH since 2008.
- Maggie owns a million-dollar home in DC, where she lived until she moved here to NH to file to run for Congress.
- Maggie owns a million-dollar home in Portsmouth, NH (which is NOT the district in which she is now running).
- Maggie rented an apartment in Nashua so she could file to run in this district.
Holes in how Maggie has framed this narrative:
- Maggie emphasizes her NH birth story and growing up here but seems to intentionally leave out the parts where she hasn’t lived here in decades, giving the impression that she was raised here and still lives here.
- Maggie talks about teaching in NH but only taught for about a year.
- She says she worked “cases in family and drug courts in NH.” In reality, she has worked zero drug cases in NH, and ONE family case. ONE. Yet she consistently uses the term in plural when talking about her “connection to” and “work FOR” NH.
My Question:
Why isn’t she just up front about it? If it’s not a big deal and she truly feels she is still “a part of NH” why not talk about it openly?
The Argument: Maggie isn’t really a Democrat. She comes from a Republican family.
- The facts:
- Her family has a well-known, powerful Republican political legacy.
- Her mother was a career Republican politician in NH politics.
- Maggie states she has been a Democrat for a long time and tells her story of how she came to that. And her story does make sense.
- Her husband works for the Biden administration.
- She has plenty of professional experience that shows her commitment to Democratic values.
- She worked for John McCain in Washington. (She does have a reasonable backstory here).
- She has donated thousands to Republican candidates, as recently as 2020.
Holes in how Maggie has framed this narrative:
- She rarely brings up her family’s long Republican political affiliation when she highlights their political activity.
- Maggie tells the story of her mother stopping to vote on the way to the hospital the day Maggie was born. Maggie doesn’t clarify that, as a Republican politician at the time, her mom was likely voting for Republicans. The way Maggie tells the story leads the audience to believe that she and her family have always been strong Democrats, and indeed, I have heard more than one audience member interpret it that way.
When I asked her why she donated to Republican campaigns (yes, I had coffee with her), she simply said the candidates were her friends.
My Question:
Why doesn’t she just tell the whole truth when telling her stories? Why not just consistently admit her connections to Republicans? I don’t understand why someone with strong pro-choice, Democratic values would donate to Republican campaigns, even if they are friends. (I make no assumption about the answer here, but that’s the point.) What was Maggie thinking when she donated to them? I sincerely would like to know how she reconciles her values with this action, but even when asked directly, she didn’t explain in a way that fully answered the question.
Other concerns:
- At least 90% of Maggie’s campaign funds come from out-of-state, with much of it coming from DC sources.
- Maggie is “bizarrely” vague with her campaign fund filings. (Check out this article: The Hill: Ex-Biden official in NH primary raises questions with ‘bizarre’ financial disclosure).
- Maggie is vague with her stories about how/why/when she has worked towards Reproductive Rights and aggressively tries to paint Colin as not caring about Reproductive
- Rights (a debate for another day, but can’t we ALL fight for Reproductive Rights?)
- Maggie put out the first attack ad in recent Democratic primary history.
My sincere questions:
- Why does Maggie tell her story in such a misleading way?
- Why does she intentionally hide important details?
- Why did Maggie primary Colin in the first place? He’s a great candidate, who has been here and has championed women’s health for years (since before it was “cool” to talk about). We didn’t need a “better” candidate. We had a better candidate already. (Two at the time actually). So what motivated her to run?
- Why does she want this seat so bad that she left her husband, job, and home in DC so that she can run in NH, a state she hasn’t lived in for years, in Nashua, a city that is not the city where she actually owns property when she does visit?
- Why does Maggie think she is ready for a Congressional seat when she has NEVER run for a political office in NH and has never held a political office anywhere? Don’t we usually prefer candidates who have held lower offices first? It certainly works that way for every other seat in the state!
- Is it possible that her upbringing of extreme family wealth and power has influenced a sense of entitlement to this position? Does it truly allow her to represent the average working-class Granite Stater?
- Is there an outside player(s) behind her campaign?
- Does Maggie actually plan to be a part of our NH community, or will she go back to DC and spend minimal time in NH, and in our community, once securing a Congressional seat?
With all that in mind I have to ask, can we really trust Maggie Goodlander? Should we? I know how I feel. What do you think?
NH State Rep. Paige Beauchemin, D-Nashua, represents Nashua’s Ward 4.
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