Ahead of the state primary on Sept. 8, NHPR is speaking with the top candidates in the race for U.S. Senate.
It’s an open primary for both sides of the ballot, following Democratic Sen. Jeanne Shaheen’s announcement that she would not seek reelection after three terms.
Read on for NHPR’s All Things Considered host Julia Barnett’s interview with Democrat Chris Pappas. Pappas is serving his fourth term as the U.S. representative from New Hampshire’s 1st Congressional District.
Pappas spoke about the cost of living, including housing and healthcare, and the war in Iran. He also discussed U.S.-Israel relations and what he believes the relationship should look like moving forward.
What questions do you have about this year's elections? Let us know at voices@nhpr.org, and we could help you get the answers.
This transcript has been lightly edited for clarity.
Transcript
So you've held office as a congressman since 2019. How do you square that with your campaign’s call for change in the way that Washington works?
Well, I've been fighting to change Washington since I got there in 2019. Because our political system is rigged, the system is broken, and it's skewed in favor of corporate special interests. I've been fighting to get big money out of our political system, to take on the Citizens United decision, to make it easier — not harder — to vote and to stand up, to shore up our democracy and make sure that it can translate wins to everyday Granite Staters.
Right now, the economy is unfair and people see the culture of corruption that's out in the open in Washington and inaction on the issues that people care about. So, change is about making sure that we can reestablish power for the people of New Hampshire and the people of this country. Flip the majority in the U.S. Senate and go on offense on the things that people care about: building a fair economy, lowering costs, taking on corruption and creating a freer and fairer society for everyone.
And what about change within your own party, the Democratic Party? Many voters are saying the party is in need of a real shakeup. What do you make of that?
The Democratic Party needs to do better connecting with Granite State families and with voters across the country. I think too often the focus has been not on those core economic issues and the way that life has gotten so hard for working people right now.
I hear it all across the state. I was up in Colebrook a couple days ago. Everyone was talking about the tariffs and high gas prices. I was talking with a group of seniors in Hopkinton about the fact that a private equity firm has come in and bought their manufactured housing park and jacked up rents two or three times. People are finding it harder than ever to make ends meet. We've got to speak and get proximate to those challenges and put proposals on the table that can lower costs, that can cut taxes for working people, that can invest in affordable housing and healthcare and childcare — the things that New Hampshire families are struggling with.
We've heard from many voters in New Hampshire that the cost of living is a huge concern here. As a senator, what policy changes would you support to bring down those everyday costs for people?
We've got to undo the healthcare cuts that were pushed by Republicans and Donald Trump, which are the largest healthcare cuts in our nation's history, billions of dollars that's going to come out of New Hampshire's Medicaid program. The failure to extend ACA [Affordable Care Act] premium subsidies, will result in tens of thousands of families losing their coverage in New Hampshire. That's unacceptable.
We also have to build more homes and do it in a smart fashion by investing in our communities, by taking on Wall Street, by ensuring that it's easier to build homes. We are tens of thousands of units short of where we need to be in New Hampshire, and there needs to be more federal support.
We need to focus on childcare. That's got to be a national priority. I was at a center in Concord, and the woman who runs it reminded me that for every person she hires, eight more people are in the workforce. So this is an economic issue. It's a family issue, and it's unaffordable for families. Providers struggle to be able to hire the people that they need. We got to provide support for those providers as well as cap costs for families.
The United States has been at war with Iran since the end of February. Congress has been largely absent from any oversight or decision making in the conflict. So what role should Senate Democrats play in oversight of the Iran war, especially if they remain in the minority?
Congress isn't doing its job right now. You can count on one hand the number of Republicans that are showing courage and either supporting war powers resolutions or criticizing the reckless strategy of this administration. This war is not making our country safer. There's a huge cost that comes with it, whether it's the service members who have laid down their lives for our country, those that have been injured, and the fact that Americans are paying more for everything they need.
So I've supported war powers resolutions to help constrain the ability of Donald Trump to use our military in this fashion without consulting Congress and the American people. We have to hold the line against a huge ballooning of the defense budget they're asking for over the next fiscal year, $1.55 trillion for defense while they're gutting healthcare and food assistance for families in New Hampshire that are struggling. So we need the right priorities at the table. We've got to ask tough questions. We have to work against nominees that are unqualified, including the weekend Fox News host who's running the Department of Defense right now. And we've got to ask the tough questions on behalf of the American people about the use of military force and what truly is going to make our country safer.
Congressman, you've been a longtime supporter of the U.S.-Israel relationship. It's reflected in your voting record — you've been a steady backer of aid to Israel — and you've also received campaign contributions from AIPAC. You recently told NHPR that U.S.-Israel relations are at a turning point. What do you mean by that, and what role would you have in making that change?
Well, part of that is in the hands of people in Israel who have the opportunity to drum Benjamin Netanyahu out of office in a matter of weeks in an election. I hope that happens. And part of that is in the hands of the American people. In Congress, we have to be focused on what truly is going to make America safer, and how we have a foreign policy that, at its core, is driven by support for democracy and human rights.
I think most Granite Staters view the conflict in this way. They know that Israelis deserve security. They believe in the dignity of the Palestinian people. They support a two-state solution. They support a continuation of this ceasefire so that the Israeli military will pull out of Gaza, that Hamas will lay down its arms and that there's an opportunity for peace, for reconciliation. And we have to be pushing in that direction.
It appears that Netanyahu and Trump want to abandon the proposition that the Palestinian people deserve a state. I have been supporting legislation that goes after settler violence in the West Bank, that has criticized the Netanyahu government with respect to development that cuts off East Jerusalem from the rest of the West Bank. We need to keep alive the prospect of peace and make sure that any votes with respect to aid to the region is done in the best interest of our national security and those values of democracy and human rights.
What would a healthy US-Israel relationship look like to you moving forward? U.S.-Israel policy is divisive among Democrats.
Well, I think that it's about how we protect our interests in the region and understanding that even Netanyahu is saying he doesn't believe that he's going to continue to need U.S. assistance in the future. As we reach the end of this 10-year memorandum of understanding that was negotiated during the Obama administration, this is a time to think about where assistance is needed and how to do it in a way that doesn't perpetuate the cycle of war that has exacted an inexcusable civilian toll in Gaza. And so we need to get on the path to peace. Netanyahu is not a reliable partner for us to be able to do that. And any votes I take in the Senate will be about how we create a path toward continuing this ceasefire and ultimately, self-determination for the Palestinian people and security for Israelis.
