The Democratic primary for New Hampshire’s 1st Congressional District is beginning to look like a contest between Maura Sullivan and Stefany Shaheen. That’s the easy description. The more interesting one is that voters are being asked to decide what experience means—and where it ought to come from.
Sullivan is a Marine and Iraq War veteran who worked at the Pentagon and the Department of Veterans Affairs. Shaheen grew up in New Hampshire, served in Portsmouth city government and built much of her public identity around health care, reproductive rights and the problems that eventually land on the kitchen table.¹ ²
Their policies aren’t dramatically different. Both want lower health-care costs, more housing, stronger reproductive protections and less corporate control over government and the economy.
The real argument is whether New Hampshire should send someone to Washington who already understands the machinery—or someone whose strongest claim is that she understands the people the machinery keeps failing.
Two résumés, two stories
Sullivan’s campaign begins with service. She joined the Marines through ROTC, extended her service to deploy to Iraq and later worked inside two of the largest institutions in the federal government. She knows military families, veterans’ health care and the distance between a promise made in Washington and the person waiting for it to be kept.¹
Her résumé looks like preparation for Congress.