Former NH House Speaker William O’Brien May Run for Congress

It’s barely been three months since she was elected, but U.S. Rep. Ann McLane Kuster, D-NH, already has a second potential challenger – with a whole lot more name recognition and potential political baggage than any other possible candidate that might run in 2014.

Former NH House Speaker William O’Brien, R-Mont Vernon, told the National Journal on Feb. 8, that he is considering running for the Republican nomination to challenge Kuster next year.

O’Brien, clearly sensing blood in the water around Kuster over the revelation that she has had problems paying property taxes on two homes in the state, said he was “disappointed” that she had spend her political career calling for higher taxes and then repeatedly had problems paying her own. O'Brien said he was “concerned for the country” and Congress needed “another fiscally responsible voice in Washington.”

Kuster’s property tax flap made national political news earlier this week and state Republicans pounced, with activists calling on her to resign. Former state Sen. Gary Lambert, R-Nashua, a veteran who is also thinking about running in 2014, called on her to release her tax returns, wondering why a couple with nearly $2 million in assets would consistently have problems paying their property taxes.

Even the Concord Monitor editorial board, which endorsed Kuster, called on her to explain her actions this week to constituents while acknowledging in a note to readers that they dropped the ball not uncovering the issue themselves.

In the interview with the National Journal, O’Brien called Lambert "a good man" but also highlighted moderate to liberal positions he had taken in the past, like support for the regional greenhouse gas initiative and a multimillion dollar Capitol Corridor rail study that many Republicans deem as wasteful and unneeded.

“I think I can clear the field,” O’Brien said.

While he might be able to win the Republican nomination, it remains to be seen whether O’Brien could mount a challenge to Kuster.

The 2nd Congressional District has changed in recent years becoming less purple and more blue. During her second run at the seat, Kuster easily turned a razor thin 3,500 vote loss in 2010 into a solid 2012 win, beating incumbent U.S. Rep. Charlie Bass in November by more than 17,000 votes, with Libertarian Hardy Macia earning nearly 16,000 votes across the district.

And O’Brien’s tenure as speaker was a controversial one, often garnering national and statewide headlines in 2012.

House Republicans and O'Brien pushed to roll back New Hampshire’s gay marriage law, implement right-to-work legislation, and repeal contraception coverage provisions in Obamacare. They implemented a redistricting plan that fostered a number of lawsuits that, ultimately, were not successful. He even tangled with members of his own party who thought he was autocratic enough to warrant a Nazi salute on the House floor. O’Brien also caused a furor nationally when he barred the Monitor’s Statehouse press team from an availability in his office after an editorial cartoonist drew a likeness of him with a Hitler mustache.

Democratic organizations used O’Brien’s tenure as speaker as a rallying cry and Republicans were shellacked at the polls in November, losing control of the House, both Congressional seats, and the governor’s seat.

Democrats are already salivating at the chance to face off against O’Brien in a Congressional race, with NH Democratic Party Chairman Raymond Buckley barely containing his excitement at the possibility, writing on Twitter, “Let us pray for this!,” a few hours after the National Journal story was posted online.

In previous interviews, O’Brien and other Republicans said that after being elected in 2010, they rolled back taxes and fees and made necessary cuts to balance the budget after increases and deficits approved by Democrats and Gov. John Lynch in 2009, standing by their campaign promises. He believes his record as speaker would be an asset to a Congressional race, saying that "a lot of folks” often tell him that they appreciate what he and Republicans did when they were in power.