Moultonborough attorney joins Democrat primary race for Congress

Christian Urrutia of Moultonborough, a former Pentagon attorney under the Biden administration and current executive with Airbnb, is running for the Democratic nomination to New Hampshire’s 1st Congressional District.

The Democratic primary race for the 1st Congressional District is crowded in the wake of longtime Rep. Chris Pappas’ announcement of his run for U.S. Senate: Urrutia is competing against Stefany Shaheen, daughter of U.S. Sen. Jeanne Shaheen; Maura Sullivan; state Rep. Heath Howard (D-Strafford); Sarah Chadzynski; and Carleigh Beriont.

“I’m a Medicare for All candidate; Stefany Shaheen, Maura Sullivan, they’re not. I have a comprehensive universal child care plan, they don’t. I don’t take corporate PAC money, they do,” he said. He said he doesn’t take American Israel Public Affairs Committee funds. 

“I’ve laid out a comprehensive vision for how do we lower the cost of housing in America,” he said.

On Thursday, in an interview with The Laconia Daily Sun, Urrutia said health care and campaign finance reform are two of his priorities, and the time has come to move on from the political dynasties that have maintained positions atop New Hampshire over recent decades.  

“I worked in the national security space, I think that’s unique in terms of the federal government, in that you’re working with political appointees, like myself, you’re working with civil servants, you’re working with the military,” Urrutia said. 

He said he suspects the Trump administration has exacerbated political division, and his experience working at the federal level taught him about the importance of compromise, working together, and finding common ground.

“When you talk to the vast majority of Americans, they really want to get away from how broken Washington is,” Urrutia said.  

For Urrutia, the political moment calls for reform, starting with reducing the influence of corporate money in politics — he said he doesn’t take corporate Political Action Committee funds — stopping the practice of members of Congress trading on the stock market, not allowing members of Congress to become lobbyists, and imposing term limits, too. 

“I just don’t think we need an Urrutia, or pick the last name, to be there for generations, I think that’s really bad,” he said. “The reason I focus on, ultimately, this question of reform is, it’s about establishing a sense of, ‘The folks that are there, are there for us, the people,’ to actually do the people’s work. I think that’s really important, and part of it is also holding the people accountable that have committed what I think are systematic violations of the Constitution and the law, and that’s, frankly, the Trump administration right now.”

It’s what Urrutia considers the abuses of the Trump administration that ultimately pushed him to jump into the race. 

“I think they’ve systematized unconstitutional behavior, I think they’ve systematized illegal actions, I think they’ve undermined the courts. That, to me, was really important,” he said.

Urrutia serves in the Army National Guard, and said he’s dedicated his professional life in service to the country. People need to step up to the plate and fix health care, for example, and ensure citizens all get “a fair shake,” including access to child care, making housing affordable, and seeing wages keep pace with the cost of living.

“We’ve got a lot of really enduring problems in our country,” Urrutia said. “These problems, they’ve been around for Republican administrations and Democratic administrations.” 

“We need leaders that come with a service ethos that say, ‘My main focus is to do that, and to give people an opportunity to actually live a good life, without feeling that at any moment, that they may drown if something goes wrong in their life,'” he said.  

Reform of the immigration system and changing the way Immigration and Customs Enforcement works should be priorities, too. 

“We need something that’s actually much more rooted in the Constitution and the rule of law. I think we probably need to get it out of [the U.S. Department of Homeland Security], I think [the U.S. Department of Justice] is a much better place for an institution like ICE to be present,” he said. “I think its focus needs to be on violent criminals, people who are committing serious crimes that are here in the United States in an undocumented status.

“This question of immigration is a political problem, because [we’ve failed] to have immigration reform in the country for decades,” he said. “I’m the child of immigrants, I’ve seen how incredible and how challenging it is to be in this country for the first time as a family. We are a country that benefits from bringing in the top talent in the world, and being a welcoming place for that. It makes our country so much better, it makes our country what it’s been.” 

Urrutia said the government should empower Medicare to negotiate against pharmaceutical companies to lower drug prices.

“The American consumers are getting fleeced by pharma,” he said. “We pay more for drugs than many other countries, because in the United States, we don’t allow Medicare to negotiate a bunch of drugs.

“I don’t think people are getting a fair shake, and I think when we think about why are people so angry in this country, why are they so upset, I think there’s a lot of people that are really feeling, ‘the deck’s stacked against me, I’m not getting a fair shake, Washington isn’t actually solving the problems,'” he said.  

Urrutia said he’s opposed to the war in Iran — which has escalated over the previous two weeks and has resulted in the deaths of American service members — and Congress should leverage control of money and ability to conduct oversight.

“Why are we here? What are we trying to get done? And then make a decision, do we think this is in the national interest, or not?” he said. “If the administration isn’t willing to start reducing our footprint, reducing our commitment there, it should use the power of the purse.”

Noting the competition with the People’s Republic of China is stark, Urrutia said the government should focus on that, and not lose sight of what’s most important. 

“History shows a multipolar world is much more dangerous, unless you have thoughtful leaders of states managing risk. This administration is not thoughtful at all,” he said. “I think China is a serious threat to our allies, it’s certainly a serious threat to American companies and innovation — stolen massive amounts of information from us, haven’t had to pay to develop this stuff and then build it out on the cheap in China. How do we compete against that?” 

The U.S. should strengthen its existing alliances with friendly nations and keep in mind that, at the height of the Cold War, the Soviet Union was strong militarily, but weak economically, relative to the United States, he said. The paradigm is different today with the development of strength in China. 

“We’re in a competition, this administration is focused on Iran. They’re focused on all this stuff, they’re focused on dividing the American people,” he said. “We need to actually keep our eye on the ball.”