Paul Hodes

Content sourced from Wikipedia, licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0.

Paul William Hodes (born March 21, 1951) is an American lawyer and musician who served as the U.S. representative for New Hampshire’s 2nd district from 2007 to 2011. A Democrat, he was New Hampshire’s first Jewish member of Congress. He ran for the U.S. Senate in 2010 but lost to Kelly Ayotte. After leaving Congress, Hodes took on roles in public policy, the arts, and law, and he later worked as a green energy consultant.

After Congress, Hodes joined the Public Advisory Board of the New Hampshire Institute of Politics at Saint Anselm College and served on the boards of the ADL New England and the National Jewish Democratic Council. In 2012, President Obama named him to the National Council on the Arts. He has worked as a green energy consultant with Shanti Energy, LLC, and as Of Counsel at Shaheen & Gordon, P.A. He also hosts radio programs on WKXL.

Hodes was born in New York City, the son of Florence R. Rosenberg and Robert Bernard Hodes. His family are Jewish immigrants from Russia, Poland, and Austria. He graduated from The Collegiate School in 1968, then from Dartmouth College in 1972 with a BA in French and Theater; he spent a semester in 1971 studying theater at the National Theater Institute. He earned a JD from Boston College Law School in 1978. He began playing guitar at 15 and has been active as a performer and in the arts community. He helped create the Capitol Center for the Arts in Concord and served on the New Hampshire State Council on the Arts. He manages musical acts through Big Round Music, LLC.

Hodes’s wife is Peggo Horstmann, a children’s musician. The couple perform as "Paul & Peggo," and they won the 1996 Parents’ Choice Honors Award for their album Patchwork Quilt and performed at the White House. They live in Concord, New Hampshire, and have two children, Max and Ariana. Professionally, Hodes worked for the New Hampshire Department of Justice, then served as Assistant Attorney General and later as a special prosecutor before entering private practice. He is currently Of Counsel at Shaheen & Gordon, P.A.

In Congress, Hodes voted against the 2008 Emergency Economic Stabilization Act (the financial bailout). He voted for the American Clean Energy and Security Act (cap and trade) and for the Affordable Care Act. He was among the early Democrats to call for Charlie Rangel to resign after ethics findings.

Hodes ran for New Hampshire’s Senate in 2010 but lost in the primary. In 2019, he joined Marianne Williamson’s presidential campaign as a senior advisor and New Hampshire state director.