Urrutia Rucks From Manchester To Concord To File For 1st Congressional District Race

By Leonard Robinson, NH Journal

Walking 18 miles with a 35 lb. pack on your back may seem like a strange way to start a congressional race, but Democrat Christian Urrutia says it all made sense.

NHJournal caught up with Urrutia during his 18-mile “ruck march” from Manchester to Concord on Route 3-A in Bow on Wednesday.

“The reason I’m doing this: 18 veterans today are going to commit suicide, and everyone in this country agrees we’ve got to take care of our veterans,” Urritia said. “Instead, we’re cutting the Veterans Administration. I don’t think that makes any sense.”

Urrutia, who is an executive with Airbnb, is also a member of the military.

“I still serve in the National Guard here in New Hampshire. I’m a captain, I am a public defender for our service members, a judge advocate. I’m really proud of it,” Urrutia told NHJournal.

Once he arrived in Concord, the 1st Congressional District Democrat filed his paperwork to formally enter the crowded primary field.

Urrutia wasted no time pitching himself as the progressive alternative to frontrunner Stefany Shaheen, daughter of establishment Democrat Sen. Jeanne Shaheen.

“When people say the way we get change is to elect Stephanie Shaheen, I just don’t think that’s a very serious argument,” Urrutia said. “The vast majority of people in this state are certainly aware of the name Shaheen. I’m 42 years old, and a Shaheen’s basically been on the ballot or in office my entire life.”

In the past, Urrutia has called out Stefany Shaheen for her campaign’s lack of transparency regarding her employment history with famed Segway inventor Dean Kamen, who was an associate of sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.

Urrutia isn’t the only veteran in the race. Marine combat veteran Maura Sullivan, who served in the Obama administration’s VA, is also seeking the NH-01 nomination. And he’s also not the only progressive: Harvard lecturer Carleigh Beriont, nonprofit executive Sarah Chadzynski and state Rep. Heath Howard (D-Stafford) are all running as candidates of the progressive left.

One key difference: The N.H. House Progressive Caucus, N.H. Youth Movement Action Fund, and 350NH Action have all endorsed Urrutia.

Urrutia acknowledged that progressives have not fared well in recent federal election primaries, but he says the voters aren’t focused on ideology as much as they are results.

“They’re not sitting there with some sort of litmus test to say, ‘Oh, you’re an 8.9 progressive and I’m really a 7.3,” Urrutia said. “It doesn’t work like that. People want people that have an actual vision to tackle those problems.”

And, Urrutia reminded reporters, “Bernie Sanders did win the Democratic primary here in 2016 and 2020.”

Voter frustration with “status quo” candidates, Urrutia said, explains how a Nazi tattoo-bearing, progressive oyster farmer with a rap sheet of derogatory remarks about women and minorities could become the Maine Democrats’ nominee for U.S. Senate.

“The story of Graham Platner is a story of how pissed off people are in this country at the status quo, how pissed off they are, but they don’t feel like the establishment will ever give them a fair shake of any kind,” Urrutia said. “And you’ve got to acknowledge he’s tapped into something in America that people are pissed off at, they think he’s going to do a much better job.”

Asked by NHJournal if he would vote for Platner over incumbent Senator Susan Collins (R-Maine), Urrutia said yes.

“I couldn’t vote for Susan Collins,” Urrutia said. “I think she’s done a lot of harm to things that I really care about and failed. I’m an anti-status quo candidate, and I can’t think of a more obvious example of ‘status quo’ than Susan Collins.”

Urrutia has had some fundraising success, but he’s lagged in the polls. Urrutia told reporters at the Secretary of State’s office that it’s still an open race, especially considering that 39% of voters were undecided in a January poll.

“The polls that I read show that who’s leading is ‘undecided,” Urrutia said. “We’re now in the stretch where people start to really pay attention, and they’re going to ask who can stand on their own two feet.”

Urrutia said he was interested in shaking things up for Granite State Democrats.

“I’m not some establishment hack, and I’m not running like that. I’m running to actually bring change to our country,” Urrutia said.

Asked which “establishment hacks” he was referring to, Urrutia declined to answer the question.

This story was originally published by the NH Journal, an online news publication dedicated to providing fair, unbiased reporting on, and analysis of, political news of interest to New Hampshire. For more stories from the NH Journal, visit NHJournal.com.