Rep. Ann McLane Kuster wasn’t going to become one of those lawmakers accused of lingering too long in the halls of Congress.
“I think people get into a comfortable pattern,” Kuster said this month, as she wrapped up 12 years representing New Hampshire’s 2nd District.
She led the New Democrat Coalition, a powerful center-left caucus that managed to grow its ranks this election cycle. And she made many friends, like Democratic Whip Katherine M. Clark of Massachusetts, her longtime roommate while in Washington. But her belief that the party needs new blood, as well as partisan fatigue and memories of Jan. 6, 2021, guided her decision not to run again.
