Swett A Likely Candidate In NH
After months of little in the way of public activity, '02 nom. Katrina Swett (D) is making preparations to enter the race to succeed Rep. Paul Hodes (D-NH), she tells Hotline OnCall.
"I'm moving pretty strongly in that direction. Very, very strongly," Swett said when asked whether she would run for the open seat. Swett is in DC Thursday for meetings focused on her race.
Swett, an atty and Ph.D., wife of ex-Rep. Dick Swett (D-NH) and daughter of the late Rep. Tom Lantos (D-CA), has been busy working on the Lantos Foundation, which she founded after her father passed away last year. The group held a ceremony earlier this year with the Dalai Lama, and this week held a fundraiser in Concord, NH, with ex-Pres. Bill Clinton.
"To some degree, my professional responsibilities with the Lantos Foundation have crowded out a little bit of time I might otherwise have been focused on campaign stuff," Swett said. "I'm pretty gung-ho about turning my attention to other matters."
Swett hinted she is likely to get in the race after the New Year, when she said both her contest and the race for Rep. Carol Shea-Porter's (D) seat "are going to gel."
"After the first of the year, frankly in both Congressional districts and on both sides, there are going to be a number of pretty heavyweight people coming in," she said.
But Swett will hardly have the race to herself. Atty Ann McLane Kuster (D) has already raised more than $340,000 for the contest, and earlier this week state Rep. John DeJoie (D) said he would run as well.
Swett's absence has been noted by some prominent Dem activists, several of whom told OnCall they had not heard from her in months. EMILY's List is already backing Kuster, and the pro-choice group is concerned that Swett is not sufficiently on their side on the abortion issue.
But her name is a commodity all its own. Swett said a poll she commissioned showed she is the best known of anyone in the Dem primary, and that she leads her nearest rival by 20 points. She will have the financial resources as well; Swett has $870,000 in the bank after contemplating a SEN bid in '08, before bowing out to give Sen. Jeanne Shaheen (D) a clear shot at the nomination.
If she does make it through the primary, she could face a troubling case of deja vu. Ex-Rep. Charlie Bass (R) is considering a comeback, and if he runs he would be the heavy favorite in the GOP primary. Bass beat Swett by a 57%-41% margin in '02.
UPDATE: The New Hampshire Union Leader's John DiStaso reports in today's print edition that Kuster will be a guest at the WH tomorrow, when Pres. Obama welcomes several political allies from the Granite State.