Kuster easily defeats Burns in US House race

Annie Kuster, who has represented New Hampshire’s 2nd Congressional District for a decade, won another two-year term on Tuesday, defeating Robert Burns, an unabashed supporter of twice-impeached former President Donald Trump.

The Democratic attorney from Hopkinton easily beat Burns, who owns a Bedford pharmaceutical quality-control company, is a former Hillsborough County treasurer and worked on Trump’s 2016 presidential campaign.

As of about 5 a.m. Wednesday, Kuster had 143,860 votes, or 56.7 percent, to 109,916 votes, or 43.3 percent, for Burns, with 82 percent of the votes counted, according to The Associated Press.

Kuster released a statement thanking voters for “trusting me to be their representative in Congress.

“It is the honor of my life to bring the voices of Granite State families, seniors, veterans, small businesses, and communities to Washington and to deliver real change for our state,” she said.

Burns, 44, of Pembroke, who defends the former president’s actions leading to the Jan. 6, 2021, insurrection at the U.S. Capitol and favors an abortion ban after 12 weeks of pregnancy, narrowly won the Sept. 13 Republican primary by running well to the right of the more-moderate George Hansel, mayor of solidly Democratic Keene.

Kuster, 66, said Trump incited the mob that stormed the Capitol, and she voted to impeach him for it. On the abortion issue, she said women should have the right to the procedure before a fetus is viable, the same standard in Roe v. Wade, the landmark decision overturned by the U.S. Supreme Court in June.

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Democratic groups spent $100,000 on commercials to support Burns’ candidacy during the primary, part of a $19 million effort in eight states to boost Republicans deemed vulnerable in general-election races, The Washington Post reported.

During the campaign, Kuster touted the Inflation Reduction Act, which was approved by congressional Democrats in August and quickly signed into law by President Joe Biden. It is aimed at reducing medical costs for families, combating climate change and reducing the federal deficit.

She said price gouging and profiteering from big oil and other corporations led to inflation, and called for improving antitrust laws to encourage competition at a time when corporate consolidation has reduced food sources.

Kuster also defended trillions of dollars in federal spending during the pandemic, saying it was needed to ward off an economic meltdown. And she urged an increase in the federal minimum wage from its current level of $7.25 an hour, where it stands in New Hampshire, to $15.

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Rick Green can be reached at RGreen@KeeneSentinel.com or 603-355-8567

These articles are being shared by partners in The Granite State News Collaborative. For more information visit collaborativenh.org.