MANCHESTER, N.H. – The last competitive Democratic House primary of the year hasn’t been shaped much by the centrist vs. progressive narrative that has dotted intraparty contests around the country this year.
What’s more noticeable is how the crowded contest for New Hampshire’s 1st District seat being vacated by Democratic Rep. Chris Pappas has turned negative over the past month, especially between the two front-runners: Stefany Shaheen, a former Portsmouth City councilor and the daughter of retiring New Hampshire Democratic Sen. Jeanne Shaheen, and Maura Sullivan, a Marine Corps veteran who’s making her second bid for the seat.
Shaheen has attacked Sullivan’s fundraising base, releasing an ad last month that accused her campaign of being funded by donors to the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, as well as a Jeff Bezos-backed super PAC and Palantir executives. Sullivan, in turn, launched an ad that rebutted claims that she took AIPAC money and went after Shaheen’s “fancy last name.”
The clash has raised questions about whether a lane is emerging for a third candidate — Hampton Select Board Chair Carleigh Beriont — to mount a late surge to the nomination, which will be decided next week.
