MANCHESTER, N.H. | New Hampshire Congressman Chris Pappas on Oct. 26 said he has “campaigned authentically as myself” in the campaign to succeed retiring U.S. Sen. Jeanne Shaheen (D-N.H.).
“I’m really proud of who I am, but [I am] more proud of the fact that New Hampshire embraces people from different walks of life,” Pappas told the Washington Blade during a telephone interview. “This is a state that fundamentally believes that everyone should be able to be themselves, and we’re stronger when everyone has the same rights and responsibilities.”
Pappas, 46, is running against former U.S. Sen. John E. Sununu. Pappas would be the first openly gay man elected to the U.S. Senate if he were to win on Nov. 3.
Pappas’s husband, Vann Bentley, has appeared at his campaign events and in his ads.
“I’m leading a life today that I didn’t think was possible when I was growing up here just a few decades ago,” said Pappas. “This is a sign of how far we’ve come.”
Pappas noted “anti-equality forces continue to make incredibly cynical arguments that strike at the heart of who we are as Americans.”
“They challenge the way that we have taken steps forward to include LGBTQ Americans,” he said. “It’s important that we have representation at the table, that Tammy Baldwin has some backup in the U.S. Senate, and that we’re able to again start taking some steps forward to make sure that there’s no discrimination in this country, that we’re confronting the way that Donald Trump is targeting members of the LGBTQ+ community across the country and that everyone will feel like they’re heard and valued and respected.”
Baldwin in 2012 became the first openly lesbian woman elected to the U.S. Senate.
Former U.S. Sen. Kyrsten Sinema (I-Ariz.), who is bisexual, left office in 2025. U.S. Sen. Laphonza Butler (D-Calif.), who California Gov. Gavin Newsom appointed to serve the remainder of U.S. Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.)’s term after she died in 2023, is a lesbian.
Pappas noted New Hampshire is the first state to extend marriage rights to same-sex couples legislatively. He also pointed out the state’s nondiscrimination law includes gender identity.
“That’s an important sign that here in the Live Free or Die State we take freedom very seriously and we need to be taking it seriously all across the country,” said Pappas. “That’s why we need federal representations who will take on that fight as well.”
Pappas has represented New Hampshire’s 1st Congressional District in the U.S. House of Representatives since 2019. (Former White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt unsuccessfully challenged Pappas in 2022.)
He was a member of New Hampshire Executive Council, which advises the governor, from 2013-2019. Pappas from 2007-2011 was the treasurer of Hillsborough County, which includes Manchester, the state’s largest city. He was a member of the New Hampshire House of Representatives from 2002-2006.
Pappas graduated from Manchester Central High School in 1998. His family owns the Puritan Backroom, a Manchester restaurant that claims to have invented chicken tenders.
(Video courtesy of Pappas’s campaign)
Sununu’s father is John H. Sununu, who was New Hampshire’s governor from 1983-1989 and President George H.W. Bush’s chief of staff from 1989-1991.
John E. Sununu represented New Hampshire’s 1st Congressional District in Congress from 1997-2003. He was in the U.S. Senate from 2003-2009. (Shaheen defeated him in 2008.)
John Sununu’s brother, Chris Sununu, was New Hampshire’s governor from 2017-2025. Republican Kelly Ayotte, who is running for re-election, succeeded him.
HRC president, Pete Buttigieg have campaigned for Pappas
Human Rights Campaign President Kelley Robinson, former U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg, former Vice President Kamala Harris, and Newsom are among those who have traveled to New Hampshire to campaign for Pappas.
The LGBTQ+ Victory Fund has endorsed Pappas.
Pappas told the Blade the Equality Caucus “provides a lot of moral support and has helped us build a strong campaign through the Equality PAC.” He also pointed out there have been “more than” 150,000 “grassroots donors to our campaign.”
“No doubt there are a lot of members of the community across the country that are chipping in and supporting our effort,” said Pappas.
Pappas told the Blade that New Hampshire voters “are really concerned about the direction of the country and the state of the economy.”
“Most conversations begin and end with household costs and how expensive everything is right now, and they know that Donald Trump is responsible for raising those costs,” he said. “Whether it’s the war or the cuts to health care or the tariffs, people are paying more for everything they need.”
Pappas said Granite Staters are now paying upwards of $5,900 “more for household costs since the president came back into office.”
“They also recognize that Washington isn’t working,” he added. “These Republican majorities haven’t stood up to the president in a meaningful way, and so I think fundamentally this is a change election. Voters want something better. They want a little bit more breathing room in their lives. They want responsible leadership. They want accountable government, and they don’t see that taking place right now in Washington.”
Pappas said tariffs have had “a huge impact” in New Hampshire, which borders Canada.
“There are a lot of our small businesses, including manufacturers, that have relationships with Canadian counterparts,” he noted. “The tariffs have been incredibly disruptive.”
Pappas told the Blade the trade war between the U.S. and Canada has impacted New Hampshire’s tourism economy — he pointed out the state has seen a 40 percent decrease in the number of Canadian tourists in the state.
“People just don’t understand why the president is doing this, and it makes no sense,” said Pappas. “It’s really economic malpractice, and it goes well beyond Canada too.”
Pappas said the high tariffs “are a sales tax on the American people.” (New Hampshire does not have a sales tax or a state income tax.) Pappas in response to the Blade’s question about President Donald Trump challenging democratic norms and corruption said New Hampshire voters are “pissed off.”
“As we fight to protect our democracy, to defend institutions, to restore checks and balances, we’ve got to deliver a message that’s less about the concepts of good government, and to talk more about the impacts that that has on people and what does it mean when we can actually root out corruption and take on a rigged system and provide benefits for the American people,” he said.
“While things like the Reflecting Pool and the Arch and the [White House] ballroom seem like symbols to some, a lot of people out there see it as indicative of the way that Trump’s just ignoring their own day-to-day lives, and people are pretty angry about it,” added Pappas.
Donald Bolduc, a retired U.S. Army brigadier general who unsuccessfully challenged U.S. Sen. Maggie Hassan (D-N.H.) in 2022, is among the prominent New Hampshire Republicans who endorsed Pappas earlier this month. Pappas told the Blade his campaign is “happy to have his support.”
“We’re building a big tent here,” he added.
A poll the Saint Anselm College Survey Center released on Oct. 22 shows Pappas ahead of Sununu by a 50-43 percent margin. A poll the University of New Hampshire Survey Center released on Sept. 24 found Pappas ahead of Sununu by a 50-42 percent margin.
Pappas throughout the interview pointed out the race has been “tough,” but he stressed he and his campaign will “press the case all across the state” ahead of Nov. 3.
“This is really about how we close this out strong, continue to connect with voters everywhere over the next eight days,” he said.
“Voters here are fair, are independent-minded, are very opposed to what’s coming out of Washington right now, and I think ultimately are going to be voting for change in November,” added Pappas.
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