Chris Pappas

Subject: Chris Pappas, Democratic U.S. Representative for New Hampshire's 1st District and 2026 Democratic nominee for the open U.S. Senate seat held by Jeanne Shaheen Compiled: October 25, 2026 for the On Point Politics watchdog database, onpointpolitics.us Data cutoff: FEC data through October 14, 2026 and independent expenditures through October 23, 2026, as compiled by VoteLog on October 24. Next scheduled data drop: Post general FEC report due December 3, 2026, and 24 hour independent expenditure reports through Election Day.

Bottom line up front

Pappas has far outraised John E. Sununu but is being outspent on the air by outside groups. VoteLog, reading FEC data, shows Pappas at $23,703,648 raised, $22,126,867 spent and $1,984,366 in cash through October 14, 2026, against Sununu's $5,681,528 raised, votelog.org. Outside groups had spent $36,057,061 benefiting Sununu and $19,279,169 benefiting Pappas in the general election. Pappas says outside groups are outspending him 3 to 1 on TV, per the New Hampshire Bulletin, newhampshirebulletin.com.

Interests with money and a decision:

1. Small donors. More than 165,000 unique donors and about 95 percent of gifts at $100 or less, per his campaign, chrispappas.org.
2. Party and leadership. WinSenate, the Senate Majority PAC vehicle, spent $15,036,083 for him, the largest single outside spender in the race.
3. Enforcement and disclosure. He is lead House sponsor of the DISCLOSE Act, which would force donors over $10,000 to super PACs and 501c4 groups into the open. Every outside group in this race has a stake.
4. Pro-Israel. The Bulletin reports AIPAC has given over $600,000 in direct and earmarked money over his career.

Committee structure and treasurer

The roster lists FEC candidate IDs S6NH00141 for Senate and H8NH01210 for the House. The committee ID and treasurer were not verified because fec.gov is blocked. Rachel Petri is the campaign manager. Current House committees per the roster: Transportation and Infrastructure, and Veterans' Affairs.

Small donors

Documented. The campaign's October 15, 2026 release claims more than $8.1 million in the third quarter, 47,300 new donors, and gifts from 227 New Hampshire towns. Pappas told the Bulletin more than 120,000 donors averaging about $30 online had given as of early September. These are campaign claims and are stored as Secondary.

Inference: A broad base gives no individual donor leverage. His money problem is the air war, not the donor base.

Party and leadership

Documented. VoteLog lists WinSenate at $15,036,083, American Center PAC at $1,694,000, LCV Victory Fund at $1,386,567, Ab PAC at $500,918 and America's Credit Unions at $345,000 for Pappas. Senate Majority PAC gave WinSenate $171,120,000 across all races this cycle. TIME reported an initial $10 million SMP commitment, time.com. VoteLog reports $1,360,044 in PAC contributions to his campaign; he says he takes no corporate PAC money.

Inference: America's Credit Unions is the one industry spender on his side. A Senate seat would put him on banking and consumer finance votes the credit union lobby follows, depending on committee assignment.

Enforcement and disclosure

Documented. He first cosponsored the DISCLOSE Act in 2019 and is lead House sponsor of the current version. It would require disclosure of donors over $10,000 to super PACs and 501c4s, curb transfers that hide original donors, expand ad funder disclosure and close foreign money loopholes. His campaign says he broke with House Democratic leadership to back a stock trading ban, cosponsors the Restore Trust in Congress Act and introduced the CLEAN Act, chrispappas.org.

Response to critics. Primary rivals called his push too little too late, noting he took the same money for years. Pappas said the issue cuts across party lines.

Pro-Israel

Documented. AIPAC has given over $600,000 in direct and earmarked contributions over his career, per the Bulletin. This is a single outlet career figure and is stored as Secondary.

Inference: This is his largest identified interest group money and it predates the Senate race. Votes on Israel aid would be the lever.

Own finances and disclosure history

No net worth estimate or disclosure detail was retrieved in this pass. TIME describes him as a small business owner. His family restaurant was not checked.

Enforcement and controversies

• Partner and lobbying. Contested. An SLF ad says he lied about his relationship with a corporate lobbyist and voted on legislation the partner lobbied on, citing InsideSources, senateleadershipfund.org. No direct response from Pappas was found in sources read. His campaign called the first GOP dark money ads of July 8 false and says he backs curbs on spouse shadow lobbying. The partner is named here only by role.
• Taxes. Sununu says Pappas voted to raise taxes 68 times. PolitiFact rated that False on October 1, 2026, per the Union Leader as syndicated on Yahoo, yahoo.com.
• Big insurance. A No Going Back PAC mailer says he sold out to big insurance by supporting ACA premium subsidies, per NHPR, nhpr.org.
• No FEC or ethics enforcement matter against Pappas was found in sources read.

Deal table

Levers and calendar

Calendar. Election November 3, 2026. Post general report December 3, 2026. His House seat opens in January 2027 either way. DISCLOSE and trading ban fights run through the 2027 and 2028 sessions.

What we could not verify

• Committee ID and treasurer; top individual donors and vendors.
• VoteLog figures were not cross checked against FEC, and the page shows small internal discrepancies.
• Personal financial disclosure.
• The InsideSources report underlying the SLF ad.
• Bodies not read: nrsc.org ; news.bgov.com ; bostonglobe.com ; nhpr.org ; npr.org