Hampton's Carleigh Beriont launches campaign for NH 1st District seat in US House
Beriont, a Harvard University lecturer and vice chair of the Hampton Select Board, made her announcement on June 4 at a press conference in front of the Hampton town offices. She said she was entering the race to 'fight for working families,' describing herself as 'not a career politician,' but 'a mom, an educator, a neighbor.'
'I've spent my life standing up for people who don't always have a voice in the room,' Beriont said in a press release ahead of her press conference. 'Now I'm ready to bring that same fight to Washington – not for the powerful, but for the rest of us.'
U.S. Rep. Chris Pappas, D-NH, previously announced he is running for U.S. Senate in 2026 when current U.S. Sen. Jeanne Shaheen's term is set to end. Shaheen is planning to retire after serving three terms.
Shaheen's daughter, Stefany Shaheen, a former Portsmouth city councilor, and Maura Sullivan, vice chair of the New Hampshire Democratic Party, have already announced their candidacy to fill Pappas' seat.
Beriont says her campaign will focus on building a grassroots coalition across the district 'grounded in listening, local engagement, and bold, people-first solutions.'
She is hoping her message will help her defeat candidates with name recognition and better funding.
'I want my kids and all the kids in this district to grow up knowing that there is a seat at the table for them regardless of their last name or how much money they have,' Beriont said.
Beriont described herself at her press conference before a small crowd as a mother with concerns like other families in CD1, from rising costs to challenges with insurance companies.
'I worry a lot about whether we are even going to be able to keep living in Hampton, this community that we love so much,' Beriont said. 'Like so many of us, a lot of mornings I wake up angry.'
Beriont spoke about her concerns regarding President Donald Trump's crackdown on illegal immigration.
An adjunct lecturer at the Harvard Kennedy School, she voiced concern her students could be targeted by ICE over their political statements, citing instances in which Harvard students were detained for social media posts and essays expressing support for Palestinians.
'I worry about whether one of my students is going to be picked up by ICE and deported because of something they wrote in the campus paper or posted on Instagram,' Beriont said.
Beriont is optimistic Democrats will be able to win seats in 2026 following the Republicans winning the presidency and the majority of both chambers of Congress in 2024. She believes cultural divides between the parties can be bridged by her approach as a local elected official. She said Hampton is 'purple,' much like CD1.
'I sit at a table every Monday night with people from very different political parties, and we get together and we make things better for people in this community,' Beriont said. 'I think that's what I want to see down in D.C.'
Other potential candidates have expressed interest in running for CD1. State Rep. Alice Wade, D-Dover, announced June 4 she launched an exploratory committee to consider a run for Congress.
Wade, a transgender woman, has been a vocal advocate in Concord against legislation Democrats argue restricts trans rights. She is considering a congressional run to champion affordable housing, accessible healthcare, and representation for "everyday people."
'Washington is broken. Too many Granite Staters are working harder than ever but still falling behind,' Wade said in a press release. 'I'm exploring this campaign because our district deserves a representative… who will fight every day to make life better for regular people.'
State Sen. Debra Altschiller, D-Stratham, said in April constituents encouraged her to run for CD1 and she was considering it. On June 4, she announced she would not be running for Congress and instead will pursue her third term in the state Senate in 2026. She said she plans to fight budget cuts that will harm community mental health centers, education and the fund supporting the victims of the youth center sexual assaults.
'As I look toward my tenth year of public service, I've spent time reflecting on where I can make the greatest impact - and I am incredibly grateful for the encouragement and support from my colleagues, community members, and supporters throughout this process,' Altschiller said in a press release. 'At this time, my work remains here in the Granite State.'
Editor's note: State Sen. Debra Altschiller, D-Stratham, is the wife of Howard Altschiller, Seacoast Media Group's executive editor.
This article originally appeared on Portsmouth Herald: Hampton's Carleigh Beriont running for NH 1st District US House seat
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CBS News
8 minutes ago
- CBS News
Transcript: Rep. Jason Crow on "Face the Nation with Margaret Brennan," Aug. 17, 2025
The following is the transcript of an interview with Democratic Rep. Jason Crow of Colorado that aired on "Face the Nation with Margaret Brennan" on Aug. 17, 2025. MARGARET BRENNAN: And we're joined now by Colorado Democratic Congressman Jason Crow. Good to see you in person. Before we start talking about Ukraine, I want to pick up on something, since you sit on the Intelligence Committee. The Secretary of State just said that lawmakers had come to the Trump administration with information that they've been granting visas to individuals with ties to Hamas, or with organizations with ties to Hamas. That's a pretty stunning accusation. Israel controls who enters and exits Gaza. The United States screens all visas. So, is there really a blind spot that you are aware of? REP. JASON CROW: I'm not aware of that. But if that's true, actually, that is concerning. That would be a problem. I mean, Hamas is a brutal terrorist organization. They should not be traveling anywhere. So, if that's happening, it should be stopped immediately. And, you know, the Intelligence Committee has a role to play in that. MARGARET BRENNAN: But the Intelligence Committee wasn't behind the information presented to the Secretary of State. SPEAKER: I have not been briefed on that. I have no information about it. MARGARET BRENNAN: Okay, on Ukraine: You know that the U.S. intelligence assessment is that the battlefield is turning in Russia's favor, despite the fact that Putin has to rely on Iran and North Korea to keep this thing going. If neither President Biden nor President Trump were ever willing to commit troops, doesn't the secretary have a point that it has to be hammered out at the negotiating table? REP. CROW: You know, this absolutely will end at a negotiating table, like most conflicts will. But what happened on Friday was a historic embarrassment for the United States. There's no other way to put it. Right? You listen to what Marco Rubio and the president have said. 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MARGARET BRENNAN: Well, they have put in place some secondary sanctions, at least on India here, and they haven't pulled back. They need Congress to help them repeal a lot of these sanctions. But bigger picture, in hindsight, do you think the United States to date has been too hesitant to actually help Ukraine win this war? President Obama did not send offensive weapons to Ukraine. President Biden was criticized for being perhaps too slow in delivery of certain weapons. REP. CROW: There's no doubt. As you know, I was one of the members of Congress that, on a bipartisan basis, pushed really hard in the first two years of this war, under the Biden administration, to do more, to do more quicker. And I was concerned that we were doing just enough to prevent Ukraine from losing and not doing enough to help them win. 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New York Times
8 minutes ago
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CNN
8 minutes ago
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President Donald Trump's foreign envoy Steve Witkoff — one of three American participants in Friday's summit with Russian President Vladimir Putin — described on Sunday several major agreements reached during the Alaska talks that he said created strong momentum toward a peace agreement with Ukraine. Witkoff told CNN that Putin had signed off on allowing 'robust' security guarantees as part of an eventual peace accord, including a provision that would provide for a collective defense of Ukraine by the United States and Europe should Russia attempt another invasion. 'We agreed to robust security guarantees that I would describe as game changing,' Witkoff told Jake Tapper on 'State of the Union,' adding the Russians had also pledged 'legislative enshrinement' of a promise not to invade Ukraine or another European country in any forthcoming peace plan. Neither provision has been mentioned in Russian accounts of the summit. Witkoff's public description of Friday's summit was the most fulsome yet of what was discussed for nearly three hours behind closed doors in Anchorage. Trump will meet Monday at the White House with Ukrainian President Volodomyr Zelensky and several European leaders to discuss the matter in more detail. Still, many questions remained about how the US is assessing Putin's seriousness about reaching a deal, whether his promises can be trusted after a track record of violating previous peace agreements and what exactly Trump is willing to offer to ensure Ukraine isn't invaded again. Heading into Friday's meeting, Trump said he would be disappointed if a ceasefire wasn't reached and threatened 'severe' consequences on Russia if Putin didn't end the fighting. But as he departed, Trump said he was no longer aiming for an immediate ceasefire and declared 'we don't have to think' about sanctions after the talks. Witkoff said significant progress during the summit led Trump to abandon his push for an immediate ceasefire and instead work toward advancing a larger peace agreement. 'We made so much progress at this meeting with regard to all the other ingredients necessary for a for a peace deal that we, that President Trump, pivoted to that place,' Witkoff said. The other US participant in the talks, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, offered a more guarded assessment of how close a peace agreement may be. 'We made progress in the sense that we identified potential areas of agreement, but there remains some big areas of disagreement. So we're still a long ways off,' he said on ABC's 'This Week.' 'We're not at the precipice of a peace agreement, we're not at the edge of one, but I do think progress was made.' He said later on CBS' 'Face the Nation' that any agreement to end the war would cause disappointment on both sides. 'It may not be pleasant, it may be distasteful, but in order for there to be an end to the war, there are things that Russia wants that it cannot get and there are things that Ukraine wants that it's not going to get,' he said. The agreements Witkoff described will be at the center of meetings Monday between Trump and Zelensky. A large delegation of European officials — including the leaders of France, Germany, the United Kingdom, Italy, Finland, the European Union and NATO — will accompany the Ukrainian leader for the talks. European leaders have been pressing Trump to follow through on his threat of tough new economic penalties on Russia, but Rubio cautioned such steps could scuttle progress on a peace deal. 'The minute he takes those steps, all talks stop,' he said. 'The minute we take those steps, there is no one left in the world to go talk to the Russians and try to get them to the table to reach a peace agreement.' A breakout session during Monday's talks at the White House will explore options for security guarantees for Ukraine that would ensure Russia is unable to re-invade the country once a peace deal is in place. Zelensky and European leaders have said such assurances are necessary as part of a peace accord. Witkoff said the clause agreed to by Russia — akin to NATO's 'Article 5' agreement that an attack against one country is an attack against all — was a workaround for Russia's insistence Ukraine never be able to join NATO. He described it as the 'first time we had ever heard the Russians agree' to such a provision being included in a peace deal. What the United States would contribute to the effort — versus the the Europeans — remained unclear. Trump has previously stated clearly that American troops won't be on the ground in Ukraine, and has said the onus is on European nations to take the lead in protecting it. Some officials believe a robust security infrastructure for Ukraine could make it easier for Zelensky to accept some of Russia's demands for land concessions as part of a peace deal. Putin has not abandoned some of his maximalist ideas, including that Ukraine give up the entire eastern Donbas region, where Russia currently occupies large swaths of territory. But Witkoff said Putin did make some concessions on his land requirements, suggested the Russians now see 'land swapping' occurring at the current frontlines of the war rather than the administrative boundaries of at least some of the five regions long in Putin's sights. 'The Russians made some concessions at the table with regard to all five of those regions,' he said, adding the issue would be discussed with Zelensky on Monday and 'hopefully we can cut through and make some decisions right then and there.'
