Ann McLane Kuster, a retiring congresswoman from Washington, has angered her allies with her aggressive approach in the race for her replacement.

The relatively peaceful six-month Democratic Primary Season is ending with a bitterly competitive race between a local politician and a D.C. lawyer with strong ties to Biden’s White House.

Abortion rights, which has united Democrats ever since Roe v. Wade was overturned in 2022, is now fueling internal conflicts.

This race, which was already heated, became even more so over the summer, when a prominent candidate, Colin Van Ostern launched an ad in which he claimed that Maggie Goodlander was not fully committed to abortion rights because she had donated money to “pro life Republicans.” Ann McLane Kuster was his former boss and a respected, centrist politician who is retiring.

Goodlander’s allies reacted with fury, anger and vehemence, citing their own experiences of a late miscarriage. Goodlander claimed that her donations were not related to reproductive rights. One was made to a former Republican, who had supported the impeachment of then-President Donald Trump. The other donation went to an old classmate.

Kuster initially wanted to quietly transfer her New Hampshire seat, which leans blue, to Van Ostern. Her former campaign manager. Goodlander, a lawyer who worked for the Biden Administration, has risen in recent weeks, and is a slight favorite in Tuesday’s primaries.

Goodlander has also faced accusations of foul play. Her allies were among the first to criticize her on television. Some Van Ostern supporters privately complain that Goodlander’s husband Jake Sullivan is the White House National Security Advisor. Sullivan discussed his wife’s candidacy with other Democrats in conversations, according to people familiar with these interactions.

It’s a Democrat-on -Democrat fight less than two months from Election Day. The party claims it has never before been so united in its battle for 2024, and that unity is crucial to their attempt to regain control of Congress.

Kuster’s fervent support of Van Ostern has riled some members of the centrist New Democrat Coalition, which she leads. They are upset that a chunk from the super PAC aligned with her group was used to attack Goodlander after it endorsed Goodlander. Kuster’s persistent promotion of Van Ostern riled members of her centrist New Democrat Coalition, which she leads. They are angry that a portion of their super PAC, aligned with the group, has been used to attack Goodlander, when they have more seats in November that are competitive.

Rep. Seth Moulton, D-Mass. said: “Maggie is an exceptional candidate and she’s the type of leader we should welcome into our ranks.” Goodlander is backed by a New Democrat. “We should fight Republicans and support candidates in frontline elections, not attack the strongest Democrats in primaries who are most in line with our values.”

Kuster claimed that she was trying to defend the swing seat, which she has held since 12 years and where only 30% of voters are Democrats. She insists that Van Ostern is the best candidate to keep the seat Democratic.

Kuster stated that he had a better understanding than Seth Moulton of what it would take to win the November election.

The race-shaking ad

Before Kuster’s advertisement, tension was rising.

Van Ostern supporters claim that the pivotal moment was an ad by VoteVets – a group supporting Goodlander – which branded him as a “perennial” candidate and highlighted fines imposed on his venture capital company in 2022 due to misleading investors. Goodlander spent nearly $600,000 more on air than Van Ostern. VoteVets provided her with a substantial amount of support — over $1 million.

Van Ostern’s campaign sent a survey to voters in the district, which, in this small state, is a lot of people involved in local politics. The survey asked for their opinions on the statement made by the incumbent congressperson, who had attacked Goodlander over abortion and other issues.

Kuster’s team started to prepare for an attack centered on abortion from Goodlander. On August 24, the attack hit the airwaves.

Kuster attacked Goodlander from multiple angles in a direct to camera ad. Kuster criticized Goodlander for living outside of the district for “decades” despite the fact that she has worked for the three branches in Washington, D.C. (Goodlander also owns a house in the other district in the state). She rented a house in the district where she is running just before she launched her campaign.

Seven words ignited the firestorm. “She gave thousands of dollars to pro-life Republicans.”

Democrats in Washington and New Hampshire, including some who were furious, were shocked by Goodlander’s story. She had to deliver her stillborn child in a bathtub in a hotel because she could not receive medical attention in time in the post Roe era.

Kuster stated in an interview that she felt “incredible sympathy” for Goodlander and was surprised at the amount of backlash from the mention of abortion in the advertisement. She said that Goodlander’s previous donations in the race should not be a “secret”.

According to Federal Election Commission filings, Goodlander gave to one former Republican and one current Republican candidate in 2020. One was Rep. Justin Amash, a Republican-turned-independent, who supported the impeachment of President Donald Trump. One was a former classmate from law school who was running against then-Rep. Madison Cawthorn, R-N.C. in a primaries.

Kuster claimed that the only reason why she was negative was because VoteVets had attacked her favorite candidate after Goodlander indicated she wanted help.

New Hampshire has never seen an attack ad as negative and aggressive as that of a Democratic advertisement. Kuster stated that this had never been done before. I would not have been in this business without the ad.

The impact was rapid

Some prominent New Hampshire supporters shifted their support from Goodlander to the ad.

Former Democratic Gov. John Lynch, the co-founder of Stonyfield Yogurt, Gary Hirshberg (Van Ostern’s ex-boss), and Gary Hirshberg – Van Ostern’s former boss – both disendorsed him in favor of Goodlander. Lynch cut an advertisement for her.

Lynch told POLITICO that after receiving an “incredibly negative” mailer against Goodlander, he called Van Ostern and said: “I can’t be a part of this campaign.”

Van Ostern was also praised by Lynch as a person he respects. “But I do not respect his campaign.” He’s getting the wrong advice from people — and he shouldn’t be listening to them.

Goodlander stated in an interview that she was shocked by Kuster’s attacks, but her attention was focused on Van Ostern.

“He is aware of my story and experience, and I believe the type of campaign he will run will be successful.