2010 New Hampshire 2nd U.S. House District Race: Kuster Reeling in Bass' Lead

The 2nd U.S. House District in New Hampshire is being left empty by Democrat Paul Hodes, who has chosen to run for the U.S. Senate in 2010. Throughout the summer campaign season, it looked as if the Republicans would pick up this seat easily, and while they still may win it, the race has tightened considerably after the primaries.

Candidates for the U.S. House of Representatives from New Hampshire's 2nd District (two-year term)
(The district covers the entire northern half of the state as well as the western half of the southern part of the including Concord, the state capital. It is the more rural of New Hampshire's two districts, encompassing the Great North Woods and the Connecticut River valley. See a boundary map here.)

Candidate: Charlie Bass

Party: Republican

Political experience: Bass was first elected to political office in 1982 when he ran for a seat in the New Hampshire state house. After six years in that body, he served four years in the New Hampshire senate. In 1995, Bass was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives and held that office until he was unseated by Hodes in 2006, according to his biography at Congress.gov.

Professional experience: Although most of his adult life has been spent in the political arena, Bass is currently a senior advisor to the Laidlaw Energy Group, and a member of the Board of Managers for New England Wood Pellet, he says on his website.

Key issues: The Bass campaign website promises that cutting federal spending will be "his top priority in congress." He opposes the Affordable Care Act and terms it the "Democrats' massive government take-over of health care." Bass proposes instead health care reform consisting of tort reform, and allowing federal insurance charters to supersede those of individual states, while encouraging individual health care savings accounts. While Bass agrees that jobs creation is a priority, his website says it is not government's role to create jobs, but to support businesses that create jobs. He would lower corporate taxes, continue corporate investment tax credits, support clean-energy investments and aid small business.

Endorsements: Bass has been endorsed in his run for the House of Representatives by the National Rifle Association and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, according to the newsroll on his campaign website.

Chances of winning the seat: In July, a WMUR/UNH poll had Bass ahead by a more than comfortable 18-point margin over Ann McLane Kuster, his Democratic opponent. That was before the primaries on both sides. In September, both the WMUR/UNH and American Research Group polling show a much tighter race between the two. The latter showing just a two-point separation between Kuster and Bass in favor of the Republican. The WMUR/UNH poll taken between Sept. 23 and Sept. 29 shows Kuster has narrowed her deficit to just five points. The poll has a margin of error of plus or minus 6.1 percent. New Hampshire is expected to see a very high turnout of Republican voters in November, however, and that may be enough to return Bass to the seat he held for 12 years prior to his loss in 2006.

Candidate: Ann McLane Kuster

Party: Democrat

Political experience: Although Kuster has worked on the periphery of politics as a public policy advocate, according to her campaign website biography, should she win in November, this will be her first stint as an elected official.

Professional experience: Kuster lists community activist, attorney, author and public-policy advocate as her background occupations prior to her 2010 campaign for New Hampshire's 2nd District seat.

Key issues: Like her opponent, and virtually every running for office in 2010, Kuster lists the creation of jobs as her biggest priority. Among the proposals she lists on her campaign website are closing tax loopholes that encourage businesses to send jobs overseas, pushing China to properly value its currency to eliminate an artificial advantage over U.S. manufacturing, eliminating capital gains taxes on small-business investments and strengthening Wall Street reform.

Kuster supports the Affordable Care Act, but she says a public option is a necessary next step in reforming health care. The issues page of Kuster's campaign website says that she supports allowing the Bush era "tax cuts for the wealthiest Americans" to expire to help reduce the deficit. She supports a woman's right to choose and LGBT rights. She opposes the military's "Don't ask, don't tell" policy.

Endorsements: Kuster's website lists endorsement by a group of 2nd District residents she calls "Grassroots for Kuster." The list is comprised of more than a thousand of her would-be constituents, including a host of state legislators and the CEO of Stonyfield Farms, Gary Hirshberg.

Chances of winning the seat: Kuster is within striking distance of Bass with a month to go in the campaign. In order to pull out a victory on election day, however, she'll need to continue building the momentum that has helped her close the gap and show that it was more than just a primary-related bump. Democrats in close races will have a tough time in November as, according to University of New Hampshire Survey Center Director Andrew Smith, there may be a record turnout of Republican voters in New Hampshire this year.

Key Differences between Charlie Bass and Ann McLane Kuster

The division between the two candidates is perhaps sharpest on the health care issue. Bass decries the "massive government take-over" of health care while Kuster would take it a step further with a public option to increase affordable access. Both support investment in renewable energy sources. According to OntheIssues.org, Bass has an overall pro-life voting and anti-civil rights voting record although he is more moderate on these issues than many conservatives. Kuster is a strong advocate of GLBT rights and is pro-choice.

New Hampshire at a glance: One of the original thirteen colonies, New Hampshire retains a rural character. Tourism, farming, and forestry are major drivers of the New Hampshire economy. Mount Washington, the highest peak in New Hampshire at 6288 feet, holds the record for the fastest natural surface winds at 231 miles per hour, recorded in 1934 according to the New Hampshire Visitor Network website. The rugged Presidential Mountain range, which includes Mount Washington, holds many popular, but challenging hiking trails.