Talk Show Host Enters Race Against Hodes

Radio talk show host and conservative columnist Jennifer Horn announced today that she will run against freshman Rep. Paul Hodes (D-N.H.), emerging as an early frontrunner for the Republican nomination.

“I spent my whole life saying what I believe and why I believe it. Sometimes people agree with me, sometimes they don’t, but I hope that in the end they respect the fact that I’m willing to tell you exactly how I feel,” said Horn in an interview with Politico.

Horn described herself as a conservative Republican, but said she is more moderate in supporting civil unions for same-sex couples and favoring “common-sense restrictions to protect kids from guns.’

National Republicans have been attempting to recruit her into the race for the last several months. She currently faces a nominal primary challenge from attorney Jim Steiner, though other candidates could emerge before the June filing deadline.

Horn hosts a daily talk show on a statewide talk-radio station, and writes a weekly column for the Nashua Telegraph.  In the run-up to the presidential primary in New Hampshire, she interviewed many of the Republican and Democratic candidates on her show.

She said she entered the race because “it’s time we stop electing lawyers and politicians and people who have spend their entire lives setting themselves up for the next office.”

Hodes, who upset former GOP Rep. Charlie Bass last election, was a practicing attorney before being elected to Congress. He starts off with a solid financial head-start, banking over $550,000 in his campaign coffers at the end of September.