Jennifer Horn Biography

Jennifer Horn (born 1964) was a two-time challenger for the New Hampshire's 2nd congressional district, She won the Republican nomination in 2008, and became the first woman nominated by the Republican Party in the state. She lost to Paul Hodes in the general election. In 2010, she ran again and lost to Charles Bass in the Republican primary.

Early life and education

Horn was born in Albany, New York. She attended The College of Saint Rose from 1982 to 1986.

Career

Horn worked as a liaison between Blue Cross-Blue Shield and physicians from 1986-1990, worked with her husband at his management-consulting firm from 1990 to 1997, was a print journalist at The Telegraph from 2002 to 2008, and a radio talk-show host from 2006 to 2008.

Political involvement

2008 Congressional campaign

In the 2008 campaign for U.S. Representative for the Second Congressional District of New Hampshire, Horn ran against incumbent Paul Hodes. Horn first defeated four other primary opponents in her first political race. The campaign included a televised debate.

2010 Congressional Primary

In 2010, Horn ran for the Republican nomination for District Two's House seat against former U.S. Representative Charlie Bass. Bass defeated Horn by 8 points.

Political activism

In 2011, Horn founded the conservative non-profit organization We the People: A First in the Nation Freedom Forum, which she terminated following her election as Chairman of the NH GOP. Its founding principle was the bolstering of freedom via the promotion of personal responsibility and limited government The organization sponsored town hall type meetings through New Hampshire in the lead up to the state's first-in-the-nation primary. Rick Santorum spoke at one of the organization's events on April 30, 2011.

Horn chaired the New Hampshire Republican State Committee"?s platform committee in 2012.

Chair of the New Hampshire Republican Party

Horn won the GOP Chairmanship on January 26, 2013, defeating Andrew Hemingway in an election to replace the outgoing Chairman, Wayne MacDonald. She had the backing of U.S. Senator Kelly Ayotte and outgoing U.S. Representatives Frank Guinta and Charlie Bass, along with 40 other elected officials. In the closing weeks of the election, she had faced scrutiny for a $92,000 IRS lien and another $230,000 in campaign debt. The debt was in the form of a loan that Horn had made to the campaign. Thus, it was money due to Horn personally from the campaign. . Both Horn and her opponent Hemingway had characterized the release of the information by fellow Republican Joe Barton as a "personal attack" that had no place in the election.

As NH GOP chair, she has attacked the state Democratic Party for what she has termed "Drive-Thru" voting. Horn contends that voting by out-of-state Democratic volunteers, including the niece of Vice President Joseph Biden, in New Hampshire elections is illegal and constitutes voter fraud. She accused Democratic State Senator Martha Fuller Clark of midwifing a "sanctuary of voter fraud" by allowing four out-of-state campaign volunteers to use her address for their voter registrations.

Horn also announced she supports Republican National Committee Reince Priebus's proposed boycott of CNN and NBC, threatening to deny them Republican participation in the 2016 presidential debates, if the two networks go ahead with their proposed projects featuring Hillary Clinton.

Personal life

Horn resides in Nashua, New Hampshire, with her husband William Horn and five children.