Manchester Ink Link: Pappas, Warnock Talk Federal Fire Funding, Local Tax Pressures During Manchester Campaign Stop

MANCHESTER, N.H. — In case you missed it, Manchester Ink Link highlighted Congressman Chris Pappas and Senator Reverend Raphael Warnock’s visit with first responders and local leaders at Manchester Fire Department Station 7. 

Pappas’s campaign for U.S. Senate has been endorsed by the Professional Fire Fighters of New Hampshire (PFFNH), the Granite State’s largest union representing local firefighters and paramedics. Throughout his time in Congress, Pappas has worked closely with New Hampshire’s first responders and has made supporting local fire departments and public safety a priority.

This July, Pappas co-sponsored the bipartisan Building Up Infrastructure for Local Departments (BUILD) Act to help small and rural fire departments — more than 40% of which are more than 40 years old — modernize their facilities in order to best serve their communities in the 21st century. Pappas and the New Hampshire congressional delegation also recently secured more than $3.6 million in federal funding for fire departments across the Granite State through the Assistance to Firefighters Grant. 

Read more below:

Manchester Ink Link: Pappas, Warnock talk federal fire funding, local tax pressures during Manchester campaign stop

By Andy Sylvia, 10/6/26

  • U.S. Senator Raphael Warnock (D-GA) and various local elected officials gathered at Manchester Fire Department Station 7 on Tuesday afternoon to help support U.S. Senate Candidate Chris Pappas as they joined local firefighters for lunch and a tour of the station.
  • Pappas, who currently represents New Hampshire’s First Congressional District in the U.S. House of Representatives, noted recently along with the rest of the state’s congressional delegation that New Hampshire recently received $3.6 million in Assistance to Firefighters Grant funding from the Federal Emergency Management Agency. Now as the Democratic Party’s nominee to replace the retiring Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH) in the U.S. Senate, he says that such federal grants have to be expanded to alleviate downshifting on taxpayers at the local level.
  • “Here in New Hampshire, there’s so much pressure on the local property tax and voters are making tough decisions locally about whether they can afford schools or new fire equipment or good services for their town or city,” said Pappas. “So, we’ve got to bring some more resources back to New Hampshire.”
  • Pappas said he would not take anything for granted on the campaign trail in his race against the Republican Party’s U.S. Senate nominee, former U.S. Senator John E. Sununu.  However, Pappas believes that the actions of Donald Trump, such as his support for tariffs that have impacted trade with neighboring Quebec and rising diesel and gas prices over the last year following war in Iran, are making voters across the political spectrum question who they might vote for in November.
  • “(Voters) are talking about sawmills closing as a result of these crazy trade politics and folks across the state of New Hampshire are talking about how this president just seems so out of touch, even voters who voted for Donald Trump in the last election,” said Pappas. “So, I think you know voters aren’t going to lock in here automatically. For either candidate, they’re going to have to see us, hear from us, understand what we’re fighting for. We feel really good, not only about winning in the places where Democrats have been winning, but expanding that conversation statewide.”
  • […]
  • Warnock said he has long admired what he called the fierce and independent spirit of the people of New Hampshire and said he traveled to New Hampshire to help Pappas become a new ally in the U.S. Senate that will stand up for New Hampshire against the Trump Administration.
  • “Here’s why I think Chris is going to win. He’s not thinking about politicians’ problems. Too often in this business, with all due respect, we make politics about the politicians. The people in New Hampshire who are trying to afford groceries and gas, who are seeing their healthcare premiums double, they’re not worried about what’s going to happen with Democrats or Republicans. They’re concerned about their own household economy and who’s going to rescue them, and you’re not going to get that from somebody who’s not going to stand up to these awful tariffs that are literally crushing the people of New Hampshire,” said Warnock.

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