If New Hampshire’s Executive Councilor Chris Pappas wins the general midterm election on November 6, he would become the first openly LGBT person elected to US Congress from the Granite State.
On Tuesday night, Pappas, at 38, won the New Hampshire Democratic US Congressional Primary.
It was one of the most closely watched and heavily contested state races—with 11 candidates, including Levi Sanders, son of Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders. And Pappas won it handily with 44 percent of the vote, according to New Hampshire’s WMUR-TV.
According to a Sept. 11 report from NPR:
Pappas was backed by virtually all of the state’s political establishment, including Democratic Sens. Jeanne Shaheen, Maggie Hassan and neighboring Rep. Annie Kuster. His chief challenger was Maggie Sullivan, a former Obama administration official and Marine veteran who had just recently moved to New Hampshire and had to shake off the carpetbagger label.
Sullivan positioned herself as more of an outsider, a contrast to Pappas, who had worked his way through the state’s political hierarchy and had been courted as a federal candidate for years. Sullivan had the backing of EMILY’s List and VoteVets, a liberal veterans organization, and had raised the most money in the race—nearly $2 million—but the bulk of it was from out of state. …
Pappas’s victory positions him to become the first openly gay member of Congress from New Hampshire. He’s now the 23rd LGBTQ congressional candidate who will be on the ballot this fall, part of a surge in Democratic candidates who hope to usher in a “rainbow wave” come November.
The 1st District is one of just 13 in the country currently held by Democrats that also voted for President Trump in 2016, though the district only voted for Trump by less than 2 points. Still, Pappas will be heavily favored given the current climate, and the Cook Political Report rates the district Lean Democratic. He will face either former local police chief Eddie Edwards or state Sen. Andy Sanborn, who were leading the GOP primary field, which had yet to be called by the Associated Press.
After college, Pappas, a Harvard graduate, returned to Manchester to help run his family’s business but soon found himself running for and winning a seat in the state’s house of representatives, serving two terms beginning in 2002. In 2006 he was elected Hillsborough County Treasurer, where he served for two terms. In 2012, he was elected to the New Hampshire Executive Council, where he serves today. Most days he can also be found working at his families Puritan Backroom Restaurant, which he co-owns.
