Advertisement NH Primary Source: The Rauhs, longtime prominent NH Democratic activists, endorse Buttigieg Share Shares Copy Link Copy

(New Hampshire Primary Source is a regular feature of WMUR.com on Thursday mornings, with frequent updates throughout the week.)>> Download the FREE WMUR appTHE RAUHS BACK BUTTIGIEG. John Rauh was the Democratic U.S. Senate nominee in 1992 and the founder of a national campaign finance reform group. Mary Rauh co-chaired former President Barack Obama’s campaign in New Hampshire in 2008 and has been a leader on women’s issues.The longtime and well-known Democratic activist couple on Thursday night endorsed Mayor Pete Buttigieg for president in 2020.The New Castle couple remain active in the NHDP and represent a significant “get” for the 37-year-old Buttigieg.Mary Rauh was a longtime board member and past president of Planned Parenthood of Northern New England. She was a founding board member of the Women’s Fund of New Hampshire and the New Hampshire Women’s Initiative. She, along with Jim Demers, state Sen. Martha Fuller Clark and Ned Helms, were Obama's first supporters in the Granite State.In 2012, she served on Obama's reelection steering committee in New Hampshire and was one of four people to be chosen as an elector to vote for Obama in the general election. In 1998, Mary Rauh was the Democratic 2nd District U.S. House nominee, but was defeated by Republican incumbent Charlie Bass. John Rauh was the Democratic U.S. Senate nominee in 1992, losing a close election to Republican Judd Gregg. But he remained active and in 2003, founded Americans for Campaign Reform, which advocated for public funding of federal elections, with former U.S. Sens. Warren Rudman, Alan Simpson, Bob Kerrey and Bill Bradley. The group merged with the Fund for the Republican to become the nonprofit known as Issue One.He has also served on the board of several New Hampshire institutions and nonprofit organizations, including New Hampshire Public Radio, New Hampshire Alliance for the Mentally Ill and Franklin Pierce College.“The two conclusions we reach was that, among the candidates with a realistic opportunity to win the nomination, Pete has the potential to be not just a good president, but a great president,” John Rauh said in an interview. “The Trump era sets up that potential. Just as the Great Depression and World War II set up the need for a great president, Franklin Roosevelt, during the Trump era, our relationships with other nations have been damaged, we have been hurt domestically and our institutions have been torn apart. All of that sets up the potential for Pete to be a great president.”Rauh called Buttigieg brilliant and courageous “as a young gay man who is the mayor of a middle-sized city.” He cited Buttigieg’s Douglass plan to dismantle “racist structures and systems” in the U.S.And he cited Buttigieg’s youth. “It’s a new generation,” he said. “As he travels throughout the world as the new young president of the United States, to a great extent, it puts Trump behind us more than would normally be the case. It says that this is a new America.I think he can win because of his calm demeanor. I don’t think you can win by trying to ‘out-Trump’ Trump but by presenting one’s vision for the future.Mary Rauh added in a separate interview that Buttigieg has been strong on women’s issues, particularly equal pay. In separate statements provided by the Buttigieg campaign, the Rauhs praised their chosen candidate.“Pete Buttigieg has stood out as a staunch defender of every Americans’ right to health care and economic freedom — no matter their gender,” said Mary Rauh. “At a time when women’s basic rights are under assault, Pete has strongly supported a women’s fundamental right to control her own body. He is committed to ushering in a new era when no one is discriminated against because of their gender.”John Rauh said: “Of the candidates with a realistic opportunity to win the nomination, I believe Pete Buttigieg has the best potential to be a great president in the post-Trump era.“He not only possesses the necessary intellect, but importantly, the necessary wisdom and courage to restore our commitment to the values we hold dear, while tackling the extremely complex challenges our nation faces at this unique time. Pete’s confidence and unflappable calm will also be central to his defeating Trump. He will not be distracted by Trump’s toxic behavior, and instead keep his focus on our nation’s future.”