ROUNDUP: Pete Buttigieg Hits the Campaign Trail with Congressman Chris Pappas

MANCHESTER, N.H. — With the November 3rd midterm elections just around the corner, Congressman Chris Pappas welcomed former United States Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg to New Hampshire and the campaign trail for a 48-hour swing across the Granite State.

Pappas and Buttigieg joined fired-up supporters and volunteers in Manchester, Rochester, Hooksett, and Concord, making stops with Democratic candidates and local leaders and rallying voters ahead of Election Day. From a packed rally at the Rochester Opera House to canvassing with the New Hampshire AFL-CIO in Concord, Buttigieg emphasized the importance of sending Pappas to the U.S. Senate to stand up to a reckless president, take on corruption, and deliver for Granite Staters. 

Read more below:

Union Leader: Buttigieg predicts Pappas can overcome Sununu’s cash edge in race for Senate

By Kevin Landrigan, 10/2/26

  • Former Transportation Secretary and 2020 New Hampshire presidential primary runner-up Pete Buttigieg says Democrat Chris Pappas will overcome the overwhelming campaign cash advantage Republican Senate candidate John E. Sununu has and win Nov. 3.
  • “I refuse to believe the dollars will have the last word here, especially with candidates like John Sununu who are dramatically on the wrong side of the American people,” Buttigieg told reporters after a campaign rally for Pappas in Manchester on Friday.
  • “There is only so much to dress up a record for things that have made life more unaffordable for Americans in this country,” he added.
  • Pappas said he’s running like he’s “10 votes behind” though he has a lead in most independent polls.
  • “We will not be outworked. We may be outspent, but that’s where the enthusiasm of our supporters can and will overcome that,” Pappas said.
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  • “One of the things the voters have seen is the loud-mouth guy at the end of the bar is a source of noise but not a source of strength,” Buttigieg said.
  • “Right now, voters are looking for the strength that comes with discipline and not chaos. People have had enough of the chaos. They want people to get things done.”
  • Buttigieg said Democratic candidates across the country are offering “not the status quo” but policy changes that will lead to lower costs of housing, healthcare, energy and childcare for working families.
  • Pappas said over his four terms in the U.S. House he’s shown an ability to work across the aisle for progress on benefits to veterans, access to healthcare and more infrastructure spending.
  • “In New Hampshire we know how to solve problems and we need to bring that spirit to Washington,” Pappas said. “We have a shared stake in the future but I am all about standing up and holding the line against reckless incompetence in Washington.”
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  • Buttigieg and Pappas were warming up a crowd of nearly 200 crammed into a small field office on Mammoth Road in the Queen City.
  • “It feels very good to be back in New Hampshire,” Buttigieg said. “It’s a little steamy. It is a little stuffy but that is a very good sign.”
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  • Pappas said Sununu’s allies are spending as much as $60 million on attack ads against him.
  • “They love their power. They want to hold onto power. They want Donald Trump to maintain control in Washington, D.C., and John Sununu is their useful tool to maintain that control,” Pappas said.
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Boston Globe: Pete Buttigieg helps N.H. Democrats play defense in US Senate race

By Steven Porter, 10/5/26

  • Pete Buttigieg, the former US transportation secretary and potential 2028 presidential candidate, spent much of the weekend campaigning in New Hampshire on behalf of Democrats seeking state and federal office in the Nov. 3 midterm elections.
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  • “I refuse to believe that the dollars are going to have the last word here,” Buttigieg said after joining Pappas for a Friday pep talk with supporters and volunteers.
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InDepthNH: Democratic Candidates Rally Voters in Rochester Urging Them To Vote for Change

By Zach Laird, 10/3/26

  • Several Democratic candidates in various races drew a crowd of hundreds at Rochester Opera Hall on Friday night, and encouraged a charged audience to vote with five short weeks until the November election.
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  • Pappas told the crowd that “we want the people who represent us in Washington and in Concord to be accountable to the people of New Hampshire.” Though he added there’s a “whole lot of money being spent on television right now by Donald Trump (and) corporate special interests who want to avoid accountability.”
  • He said they know if they win here in New Hampshire that they’re going to maintain Republican control of the United States Senate.
  • “If you think this is the moment to bring back a failed candidate with failed ideas from the past, then John Sununu (his Republican opponent) might be your candidate. And if you want to maintain the rigged system that we have in favor of corporate special interests who hijack our economy and our political system, then John Sununu is probably for you…. I’m running to challenge the status quo; to take on corruption in corporate power, and stand up to this incompetent president every chance we get,” Pappas said.
  • Buttigieg said the reality of the situation is that when President Trump and his Republicans in the House and Senate came in, they promised to make life better and make costs go down, though that hasn’t happened yet.
  • “Right now it is day 621: gas is up, groceries are up, diesel is up, mortgage rates are up, rent is up (and) not by accident, but directly because of the tariffs… A lot of people believed them (Trump administration) when they said they were going to ‘drain the swamp.’ Remember that? Only to see the swamp getting to be the swampiest it’s ever been,” Buttigieg said. He then added the only thing they’ve managed to drain was the reflecting pool outside the Lincoln Memorial in D.C.
  • Buttigieg continued that promises are being broken (and) things are getting worse but the people in charge right now are fine with it, and that it “really is a golden age for them.”
  • He also said, “When the President of the United States can fly around on a secondhand jumbo jet from a foreign prince, when members of congress can line their pockets, then of course they’re perfectly okay with this. They could keep this going on forever, except there’s an election coming up; and that means we get to decide what happens next.”

WMUR: Pete Buttigieg rallies Democrats in NH ahead of midterm elections

By Adam Sexton, 10/2/26

  • Pete Buttigieg rallied Democrats in Rochester on Friday night, drawing a big crowd in hopes of boosting the fortunes of statewide candidates, including Democratic Senate nominee Chris Pappas.
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  • “Well, that’s part of why I’m here. Look, people see those presidential maps, assume that they think constantly think of New Hampshire as a blue state. This has always been an extremely competitive state,” Buttigieg said. “Maggie Hassan won by just around a thousand votes. And I see that Chris Pappas is taking nothing for granted, leaving nothing to chance. I want to be there to support him, to make sure that folks understand that, that this is a tight race.”
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