It’s official! New Hampshire voters elected Chris Pappas their first openly gay member of the US Congress last night in the 2018 Midterm Elections by a solid margin.
Pappas, the New Hampshire Executive Council member and Manchester restaurant co-owner (with his family), beat Republican Eddie Edwards, a former police chief who received an endorsement from President Trump’s lawyer Rudy Giuliani.
According to New Hampshire Public Radio:
Pappas’ victory came after a hard-fought battle that began with two bitter primary campaigns and a general election that kept voters on edge until late on election night.
The chicken tenders had long been devoured, and many a mudslide slurped down before Pappas finally took the podium at his family’s restaurant, The Puritan Backroom in Manchester.
He and Edwards were within a few points of each other for most of the night, but by 11:00 p.m. it was clear, Pappas would help Democrats take control of Congress.
“Today voters confirmed that the people of this district, of this state and of this country are so much more kind, more decent and more tolerant than our political system would let you believe,” Pappas told supporters.
Pappas won big in Democratic strongholds like Portsmouth, but he also did well in conservative parts of the district. He won in Bedford, for example, and held his own in Derry and Londonderry. …
For now, the district that was once known as the ‘swingiest swing district’ will remain blue two terms in a row.
But Pappas is a different kind of politician than retiring Congresswoman Carol Shea Porter. She got into politics as an outside, and her first victory was a total upset.
Pappas had establishment Democrats like Senators Jeanne Shaheen and Maggie Hassan in his corner since the primary. But New Hampshire Democratic Party Chair Ray Buckley says CD1 voters could see how genuine Pappas is.
“I think Chris earned this victory, he earned it the old fashioned way by working for it, nothing was handed to him in the primary, nothing was handed to him in the general election,” Buckley said.
And for many in the audience last night, Pappas’ win was expected because he’s been working it for for most of his life.
Bob Mongan has known Pappas since he was born, and says he always knew Pappas had potential.
“He was very young in the state legislature and a good friend of mine told me twelve years ago, ‘He’ll be a governor some day,’ Mongan said. “Well, he’s not a governor, he’s a congressman.”
Mongan says Pappas will bring something new to Washington – a pleasant tone but a willingness to fight when it matters.
