CONCORD, N.H. — Vikram Mansharamani announced Wednesday he will seek the Republican nomination to represent New Hampshire’s 2nd Congressional District.
Mansharamani, a businessman from Lincoln who finished fourth in the GOP’s 2022 primary for US Senate, described himself as a frank outsider who can clean up the nation’s “completely dysfunctional” capital.
“The politicians have made a mess of things and we need to shake things up,” he said in a statement. “Throughout my career I haven’t been afraid to push back and speak the truth, whether in the boardroom or the classroom, and that’s exactly what I will do in Congress.”
Mansharamani’s announcement comes two weeks after Representative Annie M. Kuster, a Democrat, revealed she won’t seek a sixth term, setting off a wide-open race for the seat. Kuster endorsed Colin Van Ostern as her preferred successor, though other Democrats are exploring their potential candidacies.
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Mansharamani is up against several Republicans. The declared candidates include Lily Tang Williams of Weare, who finished third in the GOP’s 2022 primary for this seat. The candidate who finished second in 2022, former Keene Mayor George S. Hansel, is still deciding whether to run again, and the GOP’s 2022 nominee, former Hillsborough County Treasurer Robert A. Burns of Bedford, has decided to run for Executive Council instead.
Mansharamani said he favors both stronger border security and legal immigration. He said his parents immigrated legally, and he has realized their American dream.
“America is more than a country,” he said, “it’s a promise — a promise of equal opportunity, not equal outcomes.”
Mansharamani called for Congress to rein in its spending and regulations.
“We must acknowledge that we simply can’t do everything,” he said. “We can’t write unlimited checks for never-ending wars, we can’t spend billions on illegal immigrants, and we can’t keep funding our ever-expanding federal government.”
Steven Porter can be reached at [email protected]. Follow him @reporterporter.