ICYMI: Russman: Pappas Can’t Be Bought — That’s Why He’s Right for New Hampshire

MANCHESTER, NH — In case you missed it, former Republican State Senator Rick Russman voiced his support for Congressman Chris Pappas’s campaign for U.S. Senate in a recent Union Leader op-ed. Russman highlighted Pappas’s record of taking on the big fights for Granite Staters and standing up to corporate special interests.

Russman contrasted Pappas’s commitment to lowering energy costs for people and small businesses in New Hampshire with John Sununu’s record of advancing the agenda of corporate special interests and then cashing in, making millions working for industries like Big Oil.

Read the full op-ed here and below:

Union Leader: Rick Russman: Sununu is running to serve special interests, not Granite Staters

LAST YEAR, President Donald Trump promised Americans their energy bills would be “cut in half” within a year of his taking office. Fast forward to today, and just like the cost of everyday goods, electricity costs have increased alarmingly and are expected to rise even higher as we head into the winter. In New Hampshire, Granite Staters can expect to pay nearly $100 more this year for electricity than they did last year.

Once again, Granite Staters are paying the price for politicians like Trump who say one thing and then do another.

There was once a time when Republicans took their commitment to fiscal responsibility and lowering costs for working families seriously. That party is long gone. Today’s GOP has traded those principles for loyalty to people like John Sununu, who used his time in Washington to serve corporations and special interest groups like Big Oil, not the Granite Staters he was elected to represent.

People who remember John Sununu’s 2008 loss to Senator Jeanne Shaheen can’t begin to imagine why, after nearly 20 years in the private sector, Sununu is trying to stage a comeback in a political landscape that has completely changed since voters rejected him.

But those years in the private sector make his motives for running again clear: he’s coming back into the fold so he can go back to Washington to look out for the same corporations and special interests he served when he was in the Senate.

When he was a senator, Sununu blocked efforts to protect Americans from gas price gouging while oil companies raked in record profits, leaving Granite Staters with surging fuel prices. Then he cashed in at a Washington firm that made millions from Big Oil.

Sununu voted to bail out Wall Street with our taxpayer dollars, and then got paid by a company propped up by billions in those very same bailout funds while families lost their homes and their jobs. And after voting four times against lowering prescription drug prices, Sununu wasted no time in selling out, scoring a lucrative position on the board of a pharma company.

Returning to Washington means returning to the same corporate interests that have lined his pockets. And in the second Trump administration, there’s plenty of money to be made by those willing to serve Wall Street, Big Oil, and Big Pharma instead of working families.

Just look at the fossil fuel industry. In 2024, Big Oil dumped millions of dollars into Trump’s campaign. It was rewarded with billions in handouts and a reversal of environmental protections, while American families pay more for their power bills.

In Trump’s administration, corporations and special interests stand to make money hand over fist while Granite Staters struggle to afford groceries and health care. Trump is building a $300-million ballroom for his corporate donors while he has refused to fully fund SNAP benefits for hungry families. All while Republicans in Washington enable this corruption and embrace an agenda that is making life unaffordable for working families and seniors.

In many ways, this is the Washington that John Sununu helped create. So it’s no surprise that national Republicans courted him to come back. They share the same playbook: cozy up to special interests, take their money, and leave working people behind.

Congressman Chris Pappas is charting a very different course. He refuses corporate PAC money because he knows New Hampshire isn’t for sale. As energy costs rise, he’s focused on lowering prices today and investing in the sustainable, affordable energy solutions of tomorrow.

While Trump’s GOP and Sununu will take every opportunity to line their pockets with cash from special interests, Pappas will take on anyone to do what’s best for New Hampshire, whether it’s fighting to fund LIHEAP so low-income families can afford to heat their homes this winter or working to expand renewable energy resources for New Hampshire businesses and families.

Chris Pappas listens to New Hampshire’s working families. John Sununu always has and always will answer to the highest bidder. Granite Staters deserve better — and in Chris Pappas, we’ll have a senator who fights for us.

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