Hillary Clinton endorses Maggie Goodlander, spotlighting N.H. congressional candidate’s political ties – The Boston Globe

The high-profile endorsement underscores just how politically connected Goodlander is at the national level. She worked as an advisor to US senators Joe Lieberman and John McCain, clerked for US Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer, and served as a deputy assistant attorney general in the US Department of Justice before her stint as a senior White House aide under President Biden.

Goodlander left the White House to move back to her hometown of Nashua, N.H., and launched her campaign in May. Her husband, Jake Sullivan, still serves as Biden’s National Security Advisor. He was a top aide to Clinton ahead of the 2016 election.

When Goodlander and Sullivan married in 2015, their guest list was a veritable who’s-who of Democratic power players. Clinton even delivered a reading during the wedding ceremony.

While Goodlander’s proponents see her connections and work experience in the nation’s capital as an asset, her opponents have sought to portray her as more closely linked to Washington, D.C., than to her district.

Colin Van Ostern, who is competing with Goodlander for the Democratic nomination, served four years on New Hampshire’s five-member Executive Council and ran for governor in 2016.

“We appreciate and respect the role Secretary Clinton has played in our nation,” Van Ostern’s campaign manager, Jordan K. Burns, said in a statement Thursday. “But respectfully, this primary election is for the people of New Hampshire to decide, not outside interests — no matter how powerful.”

Burns said the endorsements that Van Ostern has collected from Democratic mayors in the district, state lawmakers, labor unions, and others reflect the trust he has built locally.

Van Ostern had served as Kuster’s campaign manager in 2010 and locked in her endorsement in April very shortly after Kuster announced her retirement.

While Goodlander’s fund-raising in the second quarter alone outstripped what Van Ostern had raised since he launched his bid, she trailed him in terms of funds coming directly from Granite Staters, according to The Boston Globe’s analysis of their Federal Election Commission filing data.

About 88 percent of Goodlander’s campaign cash came from donors whose addresses are outside New Hampshire, while about 41 percent of Van Ostern’s came from out-of-staters — which means his in-state fund-raising more than tripled hers.

Goodlander has also faced critical coverage stemming from a comment she made to the Globe in her first interview confirming her candidacy. While sitting in her Nashua living room, she pointed out the window to the hospital where she was born, to the place where she cast her vote for president, and other sites where she said generations of her family had settled and made a living. She also confirmed that she and Sullivan still own their home in Portsmouth, which is in the state’s other congressional district, and recently signed a lease for the place in Nashua.

“I am a renter, and there should be more renters in Congress,” she added, leading to a round of dubious coverage from The New York Times, the Daily Beast, and other outlets.

During a radio forum Wednesday on “Good Morning New Hampshire,” Van Ostern made the case that he has a stronger sense for what Granite Staters want and need.

“I’ve devoted my adult life to the people of New Hampshire,” he said. “I’ve been here — a year ago, five years ago, 10 years ago, 20 years ago — in our communities, fighting for us.”

Goodlander, meanwhile, defended the depth of her local roots and said her experience in all three branches of the federal government positions her for success in Congress.

“Look, the people’s house is a crazy place,” she said. “But we need people who are work horses, not show horses. We need people who are ready to roll up their sleeves and get things done, and that’s what I’ve been doing my entire life.”

In a statement Thursday, Goodlander said she is honored to have Clinton’s endorsement.

“She has led on so many of the toughest fights throughout her career,” Goodlander said. “Our freedoms are on the ballot this year: our reproductive freedom, our economic freedom, and our very democracy. … I’ll be ready to deliver on day one for the people of New Hampshire.”

Democratic primary voters will decide between Goodlander and Van Ostern on Sept. 10. The winner will face off with the GOP nominee in the Nov. 5 general election.

Republican candidates in this race include Lily Tang Williams, William P. Hamlen, and Vikram Mansharamani. Their FEC filings show they have raised significantly less than Van Ostern so far, in a district that analysts view as tending to favor Democratic candidates.

Steven Porter can be reached at steven.porter@globe.com. Follow him @reporterporter.