Lynne Blankenbeker, a U.S. Navy Reserve captain and former state legislator, is running for the state's Second Congressional District in 2018.

Blakenbeker, a Republican, served two terms in Concord as a state representative from 2009-2012 before being redeployed to Afghanistan. New Hampshire Public Radio reports she's more recently been stationed in Washington, D.C., serving as a policy adviser on medical matters at the Pentagon.

She told supporters Wednesday her resume, and her willingness to run a grassroots campaign, make her the GOP candidate to beat.

Other Republicans in the race include state Rep. Steve Negron and Dr. Stewart Levenson, was one of the doctors behind a whistleblower complaint about care at New Hampshire's only veterans' hospital.

U.S. Rep. Annie Kuster, a Democrat, is serving her third term.