New Hampshire: The Real Facts

Alec O’Meara interviews Jennifer Horn:

Jennifer Horn, an award-winning radio talk show host and newspaper columnist, has announced a bid for the Republican nomination for the U.S. House of Representatives 2nd District seat. A longtime resident of Nashua, with her husband, Bill, and their five children, Horn has been an active volunteer in the community since she was 18. She received the Spirit of Hope Award for her work with the Chernobyl Children’s Project, and has served with a number of civic organizations. This is her first run for public office.

Q:Why did you decide to run?
I think our Congressman has become more interested in representing his party, and I think it is time for a change. If you really want to change the way government works, you have to change the people that we send. … To me, that means remembering what the House of Representatives is all about. It’s supposed to be neighbors representing neighbors. People who are active and connected to their communities going to Washington, doing the work of the people for two years, and then coming home, with another neighbor taking their place.

Your background is in media, correct?
I was a radio talk show host at WSMN and a Sunday columnist at the Nashua Telegraph. I have five children, I live in Nashua. I have some history with working in health insurance, and I’ve run a small business, but my most recent career is mother, columnist and radio host.

From that background, what skills do you feel would help in the House?
I think the most important skill that a representative needs, and I think that I have it, is an understanding and a connection to the people that I’d represent. This Congress has failed in so many ways, whether you are talking about immigration reform, tax reform, spending. ... I see it every day in my own life, by putting gas in the car and trying to get my kids where they need to be, like lacrosse practice or to school.... We have mortgages to pay every month. I know people that are worried about losing their homes, and Congress just passed the largest tax hike in the history of our nation.

If elected, what would be your top priority?
Taxes and spending. We are overtaxed, and our government spends too much. Government has become too big and too intrusive, and it has to stop. The only way we can change that is by changing it at its core and changing the kind of people that we send.

If the goal is to avoid partisan politics, did you give any thought to running as an independent?
I did, but I have always been a Republican ... because of what the party has always stood for. The party was born of the effort to eliminate slavery. It was the Republican Party that fought for the right for women to vote. It was a Republican Congress that pushed civil rights legislation through the House. It is the Republican Party that has always fought for the rights of individuals, for lower taxation, controlled spending and smaller government. Those are the kinds of values that I will be fighting for in Congress.

What was the process you went though to decide to do this?
I’d have to say that it was a process, not a single day where I decided to do this. I have been approached many times in my life about running for office, but I never took it very seriously until now. It was after spending a couple of years on the air, listening to my neighbors complain about how dysfunctional Congress has become…. It was a long process of talking to Bill and the boys about it, but ultimately, I think that I realized that all the time and effort my husband and I had put into our preparing our children to be loving, productive, contributing citizens of their community, here was an opportunity to help grow the community that they would be growing into. All of the values, all of the things I’ve tried to teach them over the years and here was a chance to sort of put my money where my mouth is.

If there was one message you wanted readers to take away from this, what would it be?
As an individual voter in the second district, you have the power to bring about real change. This time around, you have a better choice.

Anything else going on in your life right now outside of the campaign?
Probably the biggest thing I’m involved in outside of the campaign is getting involved in the Avon breast cancer walk. I’ve done it seven times and this will be my eighth one. It’s something that I’ve always been very committed to and have been involved in for a very long time. I can’t remember how long. Forty miles is a long walk for a middle-aged mother of five, so it takes a little bit of preparation to get ready for.