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Chris Pappas
NH · District 01
In plain English: Represents New Hampshire District 01 in the U.S. House of Representatives. House members vote on federal laws and spending.
Term
2019-01-03 – 2027-01-03
Next election
2026-11-03General election for OPEN U.S. Senate seat (New Hampshire) vs. John E. Sununu (R); Democratic nominee (announced 2025-04-03; won primary 2026-09-08)
Running for
U.S. Senate (NH)
Committees
Transportation and Infrastructure (Coast Guard and Maritime Transportation; Highways and Transit; Water Resources and Environment subcommittees); Veterans' Affairs (Economic Opportunity, Ranking Member of subcommittee; Disability Assistance and Memorial Affairs)
Chris Pappas (D) is the U.S. Representative for New Hampshire's 1st District, in office since January 3, 2019, the first openly gay man to represent New Hampshire in Congress. He previously served on the NH Executive Council (2013–2019) and in the NH House (2002–2006). He is the Democratic nominee for the open New Hampshire U.S. Senate seat, facing John E. Sununu (R) on November 3, 2026.
Bio source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chris_Pappas_(American_politician)
1. Follow the money, in plain English
What we don’t have yet: verified donor records for this leader. Pending donor data source: will be backfilled; never estimated
Every money claim on this page carries its source and its confidence level; the full item-by-item money record is in the evidence below.
2. What they promised
Each promise is tracked against documented votes and actions. A status is set only from the record; where a promise has not been tested yet, the card says so.
- PROMISEIn progress
Signed ECU's "Unrig Washington" pledge: support a ban on congressional stock trading, refuse all corporate PAC money, and crack down on dark money (disclosure legislation, fix the FEC). Status so far: On September 30, 2026, Pappas said he sponsored outside-spending disclosure legislation, and that it was blocked in the House and did not advance.
Verification note: Signatory status reported; independent verification of signature pending
- PROMISEIn progress
[Paraphrase] Pappas worked alongside Sen. Mark Kelly to push legislation that would suspend the federal gas tax as prices rose with the U.S. conflict in Iran. Status so far: On September 29, 2026, Pappas and Sen. Mark Kelly introduced the Consumer Fuel Prices Relief Act, which would pause federal gas, diesel, and aviation taxes through September 2027.
Verification note: Derived from a news report's description of his campaign platform rather than the campaign site itself; lower sourcing confidence.
- PROMISEIn progress
[Paraphrase] Pappas is pushing to strengthen the Affordable Care Act by making premium tax credits permanent, cap pharmaceutical drug prices, and reverse Medicaid cuts made through the 'One Big Beautiful Bill.' Status so far: On October 11, 2026, Pappas said the focus should be making the Affordable Care Act work, holding insurance and pharmaceutical companies to account to lower prices, and backstopping Medicaid cuts affecting rural health care.
Verification note: Derived from a news report's description of his campaign platform rather than the campaign site itself; lower sourcing confidence.
- PROMISEIn progress
[Paraphrase] Pappas said he would push for expanding the child tax credit and support first-time homebuyers.
Verification note: Derived from a news report's description of his campaign platform rather than the campaign site itself; lower sourcing confidence.
- PROMISEIn progress
[Paraphrase] Pappas called for supporting clean energy tax credits, utility assistance for veterans, and protecting the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP).
Verification note: Derived from a news report's description of his campaign platform rather than the campaign site itself; lower sourcing confidence.
- PROMISEIn progress
"I will oppose any cuts in benefits... People should be able to retire with dignity in this country." Committed to closing Social Security's roughly $200B budget gap with "a fraction of the wealth from the nation's millionaires and billionaires," saying it "should be closed immediately after the next Congress begins in January 2027"; backed higher benefits for lower-income seniors.
3. The evidence
Everything on this page comes from the record below, grouped so you can find things: what they said, what they did, money and influence, and what happened after. Every item carries its date, its source, and the date we last verified it.
Open the full record ↓
What they said
- STATEMENT
On the Major Richard Star Act discharge petition reaching 218 signatures (third signature; cosponsor every Congress since 2019): "It's past time to eliminate the 'wounded veteran tax' that reduces the benefits that our veterans earn with their service and sacrifice... forcing a vote in the House, and we'll keep fighting until this bill finally becomes law."
- STATEMENT
On his FY2025 NDAA vote: "I strongly oppose the riders that Speaker Johnson included in the NDAA that would limit insurance coverage for military family members. I will continue to fight for full equality for all members of the LGBTQ+ community, including transgender Americans, and my record in Congress demonstrates that." (Explained vote: backed the larger bill for military pay and shipyard investments despite the provision.)
Verification note: Reported via secondary source
- STATEMENT
Campaign focus: "costs, health care, and personal freedoms"; defended PEPFAR and global health programs against funding cuts ("Americans largely embrace equality").
- STATEMENT
"This is unacceptable, the way our campaign finance system works... I'm the only candidate that's working to take on Big Money and to change the way this system works," noting he sponsored outside-spending disclosure legislation that was blocked by GOP opposition in the House.
- STATEMENT
Introduced the Consumer Fuel Prices Relief Act, pausing federal gas, diesel, and aviation taxes through Sept 2027: "As Granite Staters continue to grapple with high costs, the last thing they need is to pay even higher prices at the pump... as a result of Donald Trump’s continued war in Iran."
- STATEMENT
Pappas told CNN he is 'sounding the alarm bells' that his Senate race 'could be at risk this November.' In the same piece, opponent John Sununu publicly broke with Trump on Iran and tariffs and said he doesn't need the president's campaign help.
Verification note: Reported via Yahoo/DejaVu mirror of the CNN piece; original not fetch-verified.
- FACT
PolitiFact rated FALSE John Sununu's Sept 8 primary-night claim that 'Chris Pappas voted to raise taxes 68 times,' finding the tally padded with procedural motions, distorted intent, and consensus votes; it noted Pappas's documented history of voting for and introducing tax cuts.
Verification note: PolitiFact original via mirror; authorship confirmed by the PolitiFact correspondent.
- FACT
Former Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg stumped for Pappas at a Manchester campaign rally. No substantive Pappas statement of record was captured from the event.
Verification note: Campaign event confirmed via video listing only; thin sourcing, recorded for completeness.
- STATEMENT
Pappas said expanded federal firefighter grants ($3.6M to NH via FEMA Assistance to Firefighters Grants) are needed to relieve local property-tax pressure: "We've got to bring some more resources back to New Hampshire." He said Trump's tariffs and fuel-price increases from the Iran war have voters across the spectrum questioning their choices.
- FACT
AARP New Hampshire / NHIOP (Saint Anselm College) poll: Pappas 51, Sununu 44 (1,042 likely voters, fielded Sept 28-29). Among voters 50+: Pappas 49, Sununu 48.
Verification note: Released about Oct 6 (just outside the 24-hour window); surfaced in-window via the Oct 10 roundup; not a forecast.
- STATEMENT
On the Senate race: Pappas said he is "taking nothing for granted" in a purple state, reaching independent swing voters and Republicans "over the next 23 days," and noted the 2016 New Hampshire Senate race was decided by 1,017 votes. He said his opponent is "a candidate with a very famous political pedigree," but "this isn't about going back to the failed politicians with failed ideas from the past," framing the campaign as mustering "the courage to stand up to a reckless administration that's making life more expensive."
Verification note: Transcript hosts are third-party mirrors of the CBS transcript; wording verified against CBS only via these mirrors.
- STATEMENT
On ICE, Pappas said he wants reform, not abolition: he sponsored a bill redirecting $75B in ICE funding to local law enforcement, wants to claw back the "extra money" given to ICE in "that slush fund last year" with no meaningful oversight, and wants ICE officers identified, given de-escalation training, and equipped with body cameras. He said the focus should be "the worst of the worst... criminals that are violating the law" while respecting due process.
Verification note: Transcript-mirror single-source; the $75B bill-sponsorship claim has not been independently verified against the congressional record.
- STATEMENT
On health care, Pappas said the focus should be making the ACA work, holding insurance and pharmaceutical companies to account to lower prices, and backstopping Medicaid cuts so rural health care is not "destroyed by these MAGA cuts that were a part of the big, beautiful bill last year."
- FACT
Reuters reported the fundraising state of the New Hampshire Senate race: Pappas has raised $15M to Chris Sununu's $4M; Republicans are outspending Democrats $25M to $12M overall; Pappas leads by 5 to 8 points.
- STATEMENT
Pappas distanced himself from Biden on the border and all but called Biden's 2024 reelection campaign a mistake, saying he wished another candidate had challenged Biden or that people around Biden had pushed him out of the race.
- STATEMENT
Pappas noted Trump endorsed Sununu in the GOP primary and argued GOP outside spending comes with strings: "A vote for him is a vote to maintain Donald Trump's control of the United States Senate."
- FACT
Gov. Gavin Newsom is scheduled to campaign in New Hampshire on Saturday (Oct 17), including a visit to Exeter with Pappas, plus a Nashua canvass launch.
- STATEMENT
Rejected calls to break up ICE and proposed ICE reforms plus a clawback of $75B in funding: "We have to be realistic… it's focused on how we get to those independent swing voters… [Sununu is] going back to the failed politicians with failed ideas from the past."
Verification note: Quote via a transcript relay; full video not reviewed in this sweep.
- FACT
Pappas raised $8.1M in Q3; John E. Sununu raised $1.5M.
Verification note: Reported totals via Axios aggregation, not an independent FEC pull.
- FACT
Gov. Gavin Newsom completed his New Hampshire swing Saturday: stops in Exeter, Nashua, Concord and Manchester campaigning for Pappas (Senate), Stefany Shaheen (House), and Cinde Warmington (governor). At Exeter Town Hall Newsom told hundreds of Democrats they must "fight fire with fire," called Trump an "invasive species," and said "If we don't put a stake in the ground this year, we will lose this republic."
- FACT
Reuters' races-to-watch overview: Republicans have outspent Democrats $30 million to $15.5 million in the New Hampshire Senate race; Pappas has maintained a consistent polling lead of 5-8 points in recent surveys.
- FACT
Don Bolduc, retired Army brigadier general and the Trump-backed 2022 Republican Senate nominee in New Hampshire, endorsed Democrat Chris Pappas over Republican John Sununu. Pappas responded: "I will always work with anyone to deliver for New Hampshire, and I'm grateful to have earned the support of Granite Staters across party and ideological lines who are ready to build a freer, fairer future for our state."
Verification note: A miss from the Oct 19 wire; backfilled Oct 20.
- FACT
Boston Mayor Michelle Wu spent Saturday in Manchester, N.H., door-knocking for Pappas (with 1st District candidate Stefany Shaheen and the New Hampshire Democratic ticket), 16 days before Election Day.
- STATEMENT
On the 2024 Biden campaign: "I wish there was another candidate who had stepped to the fore, who either could have challenged Joe Biden, or that there were people around him that could have pushed him out of the race."
- FACT
Pappas's Social Security record cited by his campaign: cosponsored the Social Security Fairness Act (repealing benefit reductions for certain public-sector workers); signed a bicameral letter urging Social Security protection; endorsed by the National Committee to Preserve Social Security and Medicare PAC.
- STATEMENT
Pappas campaign email headlined "Nosedive": "Our fundraising took a nosedive over the weekend," with 13 days to the election; the race is "neck and neck" and Pappas is being outspent on the airwaves. The campaign set a 24-hour $100,000 emergency goal. Pappas says he takes no corporate PAC dollars.
- FACT
Sununu released a TV ad this week distancing himself from Trump: "I've never even met the man." Harris is campaigning for Pappas in New Hampshire.
- STATEMENT
Said he is 'working to pass a War Powers Resolution under the War Powers Act to constrain the ability of Donald Trump to continue this reckless war of choice in the Middle East,' citing '21 service members who have lost their lives.' The 21 figure matches the Pentagon's Oct 9-10 DCAS correction (21 U.S. dead, 865 wounded).
What they did
- VOTE
H.R. 5009: FY2025 National Defense Authorization Act (concur in Senate amendment) Yea (passed 281–140 (R 200–16, D 81–124); signed into law)
- VOTE
H.Con.Res. 14: FY2025 budget resolution (reconciliation blueprint) Nay (passed 217–215 (R 217–1, D 0–214))
- DATA UNAVAILABLE
Additional House votes exist in the Congress.gov member record (e.g., Feb 2026 roll calls); bill titles for those votes have not yet been cross-referenced. Further backfill needed
- VOTE
H.R. 29: Laken Riley Act Yes on passage (passed 264-159)
Verification note: Recorded for the ICE-positioning context: Pappas backs ICE reforms (Face the Nation, Oct 11, already on file) while his House record includes YES votes on the Laken Riley Act and H.Res.488 thanking ICE for enforcement operations. The contrast is framing, not a documented contradiction.
- FACT
Cosponsor of the Major Richard Star Act every Congress since 2019 (330 cosponsors; would end the offset between DoD retirement pay and VA disability pay); third signature on the discharge petition that reached 218 signatures, forcing a House vote. cosponsor (every Congress since 2019); third signature on discharge petition
Money and influence
- DATA UNAVAILABLE
Pending donor data source: will be backfilled; never estimated
- FACT
Reported endorsements for the 2026 Senate race (reported, not official disclosures): Sen. Jeanne Shaheen, Rep. Annie Kuster, Rep. Maggie Goodlander, Sen. Elizabeth Warren; HRC PAC, LGBTQ+ Victory Fund, Equality PAC (HRC President Kelley Robinson campaigned for him in NH).
- FACT
Caucus memberships (reported): Congressional Equality Caucus (co-chair), Future Forum, New Democrat Coalition, Problem Solvers Caucus, Tom Lantos Human Rights Commission, House Pro-Choice Caucus, Rare Disease Caucus.
- FACT
Dubbed "the most bipartisan Democrat in the House" (reported, Karen Ocamb/Substack, Sept 2026); four House terms in historically purple NH-01.
What happened after
No outcomes recorded yet.
- ALLEGATION
Opponent John Sununu's campaign attacked Pappas with a "68 tax votes" claim; PolitiFact rated the claim False (~2026-10-01). Presented as stated: the attack and its fact-check rating are both on the record. Status: rated False by PolitiFact
Sources
- Wikipedia: Chris Pappas
- pappas.house.gov: Major Richard Star Act discharge petition
- congress.gov: member record
- CNN via Yahoo: Could Democrats lose a Senate race in New Hampshire? (2026-10-04)
- PolitiFact (mirror): Sununu 68-times tax claim rated False (2026-10)
- Manchester Ink Link: Warnock-Pappas fire station visit, 2026-10-06
- AARP/NHIOP: Pappas 51, Sununu 44, 2026-10-06
- Face the Nation transcript (CBS, via newsbeep), 2026-10-11
Evidence
Related receipts
Receipt · PublishedThey promised Day One lower prices. Then groceries, gas, and health insurance all went up.Every factual item carries its source, date, and last-verified stamp. Items marked unavailable are genuinely missing. Never filled in.