Democratic Congressman Chris Pappas and Republican John Sununu met in the final debate of their US Senate race last night on WMUR. The pair sparred on a range of issues, including the war in Iran, housing costs and Social Security. The often-sharp exchanges marked a testy end to what has been a closely fought race for a pivotal Senate seat.
Throughout, Pappas worked to cast Sununu, who last held office in 2008, as out of touch with people's needs and too beholden to President Donald Trump, who has endorsed Sununu.
"This election is about Team New Hampshire v. Team Trump,” Pappas said. “The fact is, John Sununu was our senator before, and if he was as effective and independent as he says he was, then he'd probably still be our senator today, but voters had another idea."
Sununu, meanwhile, dismissed Pappas as a career politician who has achieved little in Washington.
"Tonight Chris Pappas talked about all the things he wants to do and wants to accomplish, but he's been there for eight years and he hasn't gotten the job done.”
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Here are some highlights of the two candidates’ exchanges.
The economy and affordability
Asked how they would address rising home heating costs, Sununu said the focus should be on “long-term energy stability.” It’s about developing the infrastructure necessary to deliver low cost electricity whether it's clean natural gas or electricity.” Sununu said he would support “permitting reform” to speed infrastructure development to get new projects online sooner.
Pappas blamed the war in Iran on increasing prices, including fuel costs, and said he supports adding “billions of dollars” to expand access to LIHEAP, or the Low-Income Home Energy Assistance Program, this winter.
Read more: Sununu touts small business background, but what does the record show?
On the question of how to lower grocery costs, Pappas pointed to Trump’s tariffs and said he supports efforts to exempt small businesses, and groceries in particular, from tariffs.
“We need to rein this in, and that’s why we need change in Washington that can change the balance of power so we can effectively challenge this administration and the runaway costs that are hurting families,” Pappas said.
Sununu countered that price hikes were actually the fault of the Biden administration, including the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022, which he said had driven current high prices.
“Chris Pappas voted for that inflation,” Sununu said.
What to do about Social Security
Some of the sharpest exchanges came on the issue of Social Security and how to ensure its solvency into the future. Both candidates said they would oppose cutting benefits, but that’s where the agreement on the topic ended.
Sununu said he had been unfairly criticized by Pappas for proposing a plan to offer voluntary private Social Security accounts, a plan he said would have made the system “fully solvent” and maintained a “guaranteed minimum benefit” for all payees.
“Chris Pappas had a press conference yesterday; he recommended a commission,” Sununu said. “You know what a commission is? That’s what a congressman recommends when he doesn’t want to do his job. That’s hiding under the table.”
Read more: A political Rorschach test: Pappas's DC record is up for interpretation in Senate race
Pappas said Sununu’s earlier plan to partially privatize Social Security would have meant fewer people contributing to the system and putting the program at greater risk. He said he supports having wealthy people pay a greater share into the program and increasing monthly payments to people at the low end of the income scale.
How to bring the war in Iran to a close
Pappas said he opposes resolving the war in Iran with a deal that would send money to that country’s leaders.
“I think that the regime in Iran, which continues to pledge death to our ally Israel and the United States, is no friend, and we have to be very clear-eyed about any negotiations,” he said. “But at the end of the day it’s far better than what we’re seeing now: an endless war with no easy off ramp that’s making things worse for Americans.”
Sununu said Pappas was "a little naive" to rule out paying Iran as part of a deal to end the war.
“I’m smart enough to know that money has to be part of it,” Sununu said.
He says the war has successfully isolated Iran economically, which he said would draw them to negotiate an end to the conflict.
Trump loomed large on stage
Sununu took pains to distance himself from Trump, saying he opposed the president’s “trade war with Canada,” and his decision to set up a “victims fund” for people prosecuted for participating in the Jan. 6 riot at the U.S. Capital.
“I’ve never hesitated to stand up when I think it’s right for New Hampshire,” Sununu said.
He said that was consistent with his actions in his previous term in the Senate, from 2003 to 2009, when he opposed the Patriot Act and called for the removal of President Bush’s attorney general, Alberto Gonzalez.
Pappas called Trump “the most corrupt president of our lifetimes” and said he supported public hearings to examine allegations of corruption but stopped short of calling an impeachment effort, calling for more “oversight” and hearings to unearth more facts about the actions of Trump and other administration officials.
“I think we probably just know about the tip of the iceberg in terms of what’s gone on in this administration,” he said.
But Pappas also repeatedly referenced Trump’s endorsement of Sununu as evidence that Sununu would not be fully independent in the Senate. When asked for a model for how to be an effective Republican lawmaker in the Trump era, Sununu pointed east, to Maine Sen. Susan Collins.
“A great model,” Sununu called Collins. “She stands up for what she believes in. I’ll stand up for what I believe in.”
