Colin Van Ostern Visits The Farmington Dems


Candidate for District #2 Executive Council, Colin van Ostern, attended our Farmington Democrats meeting last Thursday, August 9th.  The Committee invited Colin to visit with us and talk to us about his campaign and vision for New Hampshire.

Colin van Ostern addressed the group comfortably after a busy day of work and travel, speaking about his experiences and the reosns behind his decision to run for Executive Council.  He talked about the issues facing the state, in terms of ideology in our State House and Republican leadership costing New Hampshire jobs, sustainability, and growth. He would like a chance to represent us and bring a solid, reasonable voice for our issues and concerns to the Executive Council.

Colin moved to New Hampshire a little over a decade ago and knew he was home.  He has lived in Concord most of the past eleven years and currently works as a business manager at Stonyfield Farm in Manchester.

He has been privileged to work with a great cross-section of New Hampshire companies and nonprofits over the past decade. Colin earned an MBA from the Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth and also worked there as Associate Director of Public Relations. He also managed the campaigns of Jeanne Shaheen and Ann McClean Kuster in their bids for elected office over the years. This is his first time as a candidate himself.

District #2 is in yellow.
Click on the map for a larger view.
He chose to run because of the extreme agenda in the State House that has already done real damage to our state, our economy and our communities.  He was particularly troubled when New Hampshire recently became one of the first states in the country to cut off all funds for the breast cancer screenings, annual exams, birth control, and other non-controversial health care provided at all Planned Parenthood health centers in our state. This was a big win for the far-right, but it was a real loss for our communities. And it came at the hands of the our state’s five-person Executive Council, whose job is supposed to be keeping an eye on spending and key state appointments – not pushing a radical social agenda.

In just the first two months after the Executive Council defunded this preventative health care, 3,718 New Hampshire men and women have had their access to care restricted.  Sadly, the all-Republican Executive Council is taking this same out-of-the-mainstream approach to governing, following the same path as Bill O'Brien and the House with across the board attacks on the Middle Class, women, and small businesses.  Last fall they rejected the state Consumer Advocate because she stood up for consumers a little bit too much. This spring, they voted down a federal contract to study the future of passenger rail from Boston to Concord — a study which private NH businesses had raised over $100,000 to request.  Colin would serve as a check on this polarizing agenda in Concord, and instead focus on growing the economy and keeping the government out of our personal lives.

This election will come down to our values: do we want an Executive Council that is willing to damage our state in order to amplify the partisan extremism in Concord, or do we want to moderate it with smart, and jobs-focused management instead?  Putting a fringe ideology ahead of what’s best for New Hampshire families and our state economy should not be tolerated by the elected leaders to whom I’ve served as senior adviser. Colin believes we must do better. If we help elect him to Executive Council, he knows we will do better.


For more about Colin and his campaign for Executive Council, visit him on the web at www.VanOstern.com or find him on Facebook at www.facebook.com/colinvanostern