Rep. Chris Pappas is entering the race for New Hampshire’s open Senate seat.
The fourth-term congressman is the first high-profile candidate to launch a campaign to succeed Sen. Jeanne Shaheen, a fellow Democrat who is retiring after three terms.
“I’m running for Senate because our economy, our democracy, and our way of life are on the line, and New Hampshire deserves a Senator who is grounded in the people, places, and values of this state,” Pappas said in a statement. “You can count on me to lead the charge to confront this administration, self-dealing billionaires, and extreme politicians who threaten our future and our ability to get things done for New Hampshire.”
Pappas is set to hold a campaign launch Thursday night at the Puritan Backroom, the Manchester restaurant owned by his family that’s been considered a regular spot for presidential candidates campaigning in the Granite State. He recently completed a tour of the state’s 10 counties, which included a town hall.
In a campaign launch video, Pappas lamented “special interests and big corporations that have outsize influence in our political system.” He referenced potential Medicaid cuts and a Social Security office in Littletown, N.H., that reportedly could close.
First elected to New Hampshire’s 1st District in 2018, Pappas is the state’s first openly gay member of Congress. He won a crowded Democratic primary that year before winning the general election for the swing seat by 9 points. He subsequently has won reelection three times, including a 2022 win over Republican Karoline Leavitt, now the White House press secretary.
In 2022, he was one of two House Democrats to vote against a measure to legalize marijuana, calling the bill “deeply flawed,” although he said he supports decriminalizing the drug. Earlier this year, he was one of nearly four dozen House Democrats who voted for legislation, known as the Laken Riley Act, to impose stricter penalties on undocumented immigrants who commit crimes in the United States.
According to Federal Election Commission filings, Pappas had $408,000 on hand at the end of last year, which he would be able to transfer to a Senate campaign account.
Pappas could get company in a Democratic primary: Freshman Rep. Maggie Goodlander of the 2nd District is also considering a run. Her predecessor, Democrat Ann McLane Kuster, who left Congress at the beginning of this year, had said she could enter the race if Pappas did not.
Republicans haven’t won a Senate race in New Hampshire since 2010, when Kelly Ayotte, now the state’s governor, won a single term. But Republicans are hopeful the state will be among the Senate map’s most competitive next year. Inside Elections with Nathan L. Gonzales rates the race as a Battleground.
The National Republican Senatorial Committee released a memo Thursday asserting that New Hampshire’s political environment is strong for the GOP. It highlighted an internal survey taken last month that found Republicans holding a 1-point advantage over Democrats on the generic ballot and having stronger enthusiasm for GOP candidates than Democrats do for their own.
Nick Puglia, a regional press secretary for the NRSC, called Pappas “extremely out of touch” in a statement.
Some of the Republicans weighing Senate bids include the state’s popular former governor, Chris Sununu, who was spotted in the Capitol last month. Former Massachusetts Sen. Scott P. Brown, the Republican nominee who lost to Shaheen in 2014, is also considering a run.
Pappas’ decision to enter the Senate race also opens up his House seat, which is the more competitive of New Hampshire’s two districts. Democrats have held the seat since 2017, although it previously regularly flipped between the two parties.
“The writing is on the wall for House Democrats, and their vulnerable members are racing for the exits,” Maureen O’Toole, a spokeswoman for the National Republican Congressional Committee, said in a statement. “Republicans are ready to seize on their dysfunction. We look forward to flipping this open seat red.”
Democrats, however, expressed confidence at keeping the 1st District in party hands.
“From allowing Elon Musk to threaten Social Security benefits to failing to lower costs to violating people’s personal freedoms like reproductive rights, we’re confident that Granite Staters will see the Republican agenda for what it is: a dangerous scheme to enrich their billionaire donors at voters’ expense,” Courtney Rice, a spokeswoman for the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, said in a statement.
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