ICYMI: Pappas Talks Affordability, Health Care, and Finding Common Ground on NBC10 Boston’s Taking @Issue Podcast
MANCHESTER, N.H. — In case you missed it, Congressman Chris Pappas recently joined NBC10 Boston’s Taking @Issue podcast to discuss his campaign for U.S. Senate, the issues he’s hearing about on the campaign trail, and his belief that “politics is the art of the possible.”
Throughout the interview, Pappas emphasized the importance of building common ground, standing up to corporate special interests, protecting access to affordable health care, and ensuring that our government works for working families. Pappas also made it clear that while he’s running to bring a new generation of leadership to the U.S. Senate and move New Hampshire forward, his likely Republican opponent John Sununu is “a relic of New Hampshire’s political past” and running to sell out Granite Staters to Donald Trump and corporate special interests.
Watch the full episode here and read key excerpts below:
- PAPPAS: “This is a time of high cost across the board, where people feel like they’re falling further and further behind, and political leadership isn’t listening to them. So I think this is an opportunity to talk about the future, to talk about the kind of changes that people want to see out of Washington and in their communities, and focusing on how we can stand up to a president when he’s wrong for New Hampshire. And figure out how we can bring people together around the kinds of solutions that are going to make our state more livable, our economy working better and more affordable, and to ensure that our democracy is going to stand this stress test right now that it’s undergoing.”
What it Means to be a New Hampshire Democrat
- PAPPAS: “I’m a New Hampshire Democrat, and we do things a little bit differently here. Our state motto is ‘Live Free or Die.’ We cherish personal freedoms, whether that’s how you live, who you marry, the choices that you get to make in your own life, about health care, about everything else that impacts your family. We’ve got to stand up and defend that.”
- PAPPAS: “I’m a small business owner, and so I understand how our main street economy works, and I also know that corporate special interests have outsized influence in Washington, and are shaping policies that are driving up energy prices, driving up housing costs, rationing health care to people that desperately need it right now.”
- PAPPAS: “I’ve never backed away from the big fights of the day, whether that’s pushing back and fighting for a woman’s right to choose in the wake of the Dobbs decision, whether that’s fighting to expand access to health care, whether that’s delivering for veterans, standing up to polluters who are making our water and our air dirtier, and acting on climate change. Those are all things that people in New Hampshire want to see action on.
- PAPPAS: “Politics is also the art of the possible. We’ve got to figure out how to move the ball forward, and I’ve done that as a member of the Veterans Affairs Committee and Transportation Committees, where you find opportunities, not just to beat up on the other side, but to invest in your communities, to expand access to health care for veterans, and I’ll always take those opportunities where you can get something done and make people’s lives better. Ultimately, that’s what politics should be all about.”
Reaching New Hampshire Independent Voters and Finding Common Ground
- PAPPAS: “[New Hampshire] was Kamala Harris’s closest state in the 2024 election, decided by just a couple of points. My congressional district voted for Donald Trump in 2016 and I’m no stranger to figuring out how you can show up in communities, even those that didn’t vote for you and don’t agree with you, and find common ground. Find out how we can support their infrastructure needs. Talk to small business leaders and figure out what they need to get the economy moving.”
- PAPPAS: “There are a lot of common threads across our state. We’re a small state where people are invested in their communities, where they want their voice heard, and I think there’s a good opportunity — even with the guy in the White House who dominates the conversation and frankly pollutes our politics. and is corrupting our government right now — to not make it all about him. It’s got to be about people, what they’re experiencing in their own lives.”
- PAPPAS: “People are reacting against this president, where he’s openly saying that he’s ignoring the American people, right? He said he loves inflation, he said affordability is a hoax, that means that, you know, he’s not listening to the electorate. So, let’s find ways to plug people in, and it doesn’t matter who you voted for in the last election. This is about how we go forward.”
New Hampshire is a Proud Purple State
- PAPPAS: “This is a very mixed state, politically. Voters are fair; they often don’t lock in until the very end of the campaign, and so all the polling has this race in the margin of error. I suspect it will stay that way over the course of the next few months. We’re already seeing a lot of incoming from the other side. There’s a lot of firepower behind John Sununu, who they recruited to run for this race. He’s 18 years out of the Senate. When he left, he cashed in. He’s got strong relationships with the corporate special interests that are now airing ads, propping him up and attacking me. But I’m proud of the campaign that we’re running. It’s going to be a close, hard-fought race, but no one owns this state. This belongs to the people of New Hampshire, and they’re in control of what happens on November 3.”
Protecting and Expanding Health Care Access
- PAPPAS: “I believe that everyone should have access to health care, and we’re all better off when people can see a primary care physician, get preventative care, be able to provide for their families. Right now, that’s far out of reach for too many families that I’m talking to across the state of New Hampshire, and Republicans have made it worse. […] This has got to be about cost and coverage, and far too many people are having challenges getting the right care at the right time.”
The Importance of Representation in Government
- PAPPAS: “It’s important that everyone has a seat at the table and that the diversity of this country is reflected in our elected leadership. The fact is we’ve made progress on issues of equality because we’ve had LGBTQ leaders who were in the room, ensuring that our colleagues could see our humanity, and that’s how we’ve helped change hearts, minds, and laws of this country for the better.”
- PAPPAS: “I serve on the Veterans Affairs Committee. I work with some really conservative people on how we can expand access to care, how we can prevent veterans from being foreclosed on. When you develop that sort of rapport with folks and common ground, I think you also develop some respect that comes back your way, and that just is increasingly important at a time where politics is so polarized, it’s so personal, it’s so negative.”
The New Hampshire Senate Campaign Game Plan
- PAPPAS: “The game plan is go everywhere, show up here directly from Granite Staters, talk about what’s going on in their lives, and present the case. I’m someone who has always called New Hampshire home. I understand and live the values of this state. I’m a small business owner. I’ve been taking on big fights, standing up to Big Pharma and big oil and corporate special interests in Washington, and I’m ready to take on an opponent with a famous political name, who frankly is a relic of New Hampshire’s political past.”
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