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How string Annie Kuster of New Hampshire ends his term in the House of Representatives this week. After a dozen years of representing New Hampshire in Congress, he has a message for some of his older colleagues.
“Some of my colleagues from the House of Representatives who have been in Congress for decades and get very comfortable in districts that are deep blue. They haven’t had a challenging election in a long time,” Kuster told Fox News Digital.
Kuster, 68, who won election and re-election six times in New Hampshire’s competitive Second Congressional District, decided not to run for another term in 2024, in part because he considered that it was time for a new generation of Chamber. Democratic leaders took over and that she wanted to lead by example.
“I led by example. I felt that 12 years was a good amount of time to put your shoulder behind the wheel and work hard for working families and veterans and farmers and save the planet and protect women’s rights . All of that was important to me, but I think the generational change that’s happening in the House Democratic Caucus is very important,” he stressed.
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Democratic Rep. Annie Kuster of New Hampshire marches in an Independence Day parade on July 4, 2022 in Amherst, NH (Fox News – Paul Steinhauser)
Kuster noted the generational gap between them House Democrats with top committee leaders ousted in the weeks after the November election, when the party lost control of the White House and Senate majorities and failed to regain control of the House.
Pointing to some of his fellow House Democrats in their 70s and 80s, Kuster said they “served their country well, but I don’t think there’s any shame in stepping down and saying there are other people who can do this job.”
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But Kuster emphasized that he was not referring to Sen. Jeanne Shaheen, who takes over in January as the top Democrat on the powerful Senate Foreign Relations Committee. The former governor, who turns 78 next month, is considering running for re-election to a fourth six-year term in the Senate when she takes office in 2026.
“Let me be clear. I’m not talking about Sen. Shaheen. I hope she runs for another term,” Kuster said. “I think he’s at the top of his game and he’s doing an extraordinary job.”
Rep. Annie Kuster, DN.H. (Fox News – Paul Steinhauser)
Kuster says another reason she decided not to seek re-election was because of her efforts during her time as chair of the New Democrat Coalition.
“It’s kind of left-of-center, pragmatic, get the job done, work across the aisle — I call it the can-do caucus,” he said.
Kuster noted that the New Democrat Coalition has “both a political arm and a policy arm, and so one of the reasons I resigned is that I was doing a lot of traveling around the country recruiting candidates to run for the Chamber. , and then fundraising and supporting their campaigns with strategy and consultants and communications, and I spend a lot of time there myself, welcoming them and helping them.”
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Kuster noted that while his party suffered major setbacks in the 2024 election, “(A)mong the New Democrat candidates, we protected 20 of the 22 incumbents who were challenged in tough races. We call them first line and we will welcome 25 new members of the coalition of the New Democrats will be up to 110 members.”
“We switched nine seats from what we call red to blue, and most of them won them (President-elect Donald) Trumpbut our candidates beat the top of the ticket,” he said.
Rep. Annie Kuster, DN.H. (Bill Clark/CQ-Roll Call via Getty Images)
Kuster said that “the message we had was a success” and that the message focused on “cutting costs, bringing people together to get the job done. We focused on safety and security, not just immigration and the border, but crime in the community and non-violence in the schools”.
“We’ve also talked about democracy, and we’ve also talked about women’s reproductive health, but we’ve really leaned into costs and the economy and where voters are most concerned. And so it’s a message that I think will resonate,” he added. .
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Kuster said he will spend the next two years helping his fellow Democrats as they win the House majority in 2026.
“My north star is for the Democrats to take back the House,” he said.
Kuster added that he wants to help “create the next generation of Democratic leaders” who advocate for a “center-left, pragmatic approach, working across the aisle to get the job done. I know from this cycle that it was very, very successful. and this is where we won the seats”.
