Democrat Rep. Chris Pappas (NH) reportedly may not run for reelection and instead run for higher office, leaving his seat wide open for possible Republican challengers and damaging House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s hopes of keeping her wafer-thin majority.
Pappas — after voting for the so-called bipartisan infrastructure bill to adopt the $3.5 trillion budget resolution full of the Democrats’ partisan wishlist — is said to not be running for reelection in his congressional seat.
Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) adjusts her face mask during a news conference on infrastructure outside the U.S. Capitol on May 12, 2021 in Washington, DC. Pelosi met with President Joe Biden and her Republican counterparts earlier in the day to discuss Biden’s infrastructure plan. (Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)
According to the report, in some Republican circles, “it’s a foregone conclusion Pappas will run for governor in 2022 rather than seek re-election in an anti-Democratic Party midterm, and in a district the GOP-controlled legislature is about to re-draw.”
Speaking to NHJournal about Pappas, an anonymous longtime GOP operative said, “He’s ‘dead man walking.'”
However, the House Special Redistrict Committee is reportedly meeting on Wednesday to start the redistricting process. But, New Hampshire Gov. Chris Sununu, a Republican, has said he would veto any redistricting lines that do not pass “the smell test.”
Pappas in congress has aligned himself very closely with Pelosi. Pappas has voted with Pelosi 100 percent of the time in the current Congress and only 99 percent of the time with Pelosi in the last Congress, according to ProPublica.
WASHINGTON, DC – SEPTEMBER 27: (L-R) Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi (D-CA), Rep. Zoe Lofgren (D-CA), Rep. Joe Neguse (D-CO), Rep. Chris Pappas (D-NH), Rep. Deb Haaland (D-NM), Rep. John Sarbanes (D-MD) and Rep. Tom Malinowski (D-NJ) hold a news conference to mark 200 days since they passed H.R. 1, the For the People Act, at the U.S. Capitol September 27, 2019 in Washington, DC. Following the release of a whistle-blower complaint about abuse of power, the House Democratic leadership announced this week that it is launching a formal impeachment inquiry against President Donald Trump. (Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)
Additionally, Breitbart News’s Matthew Boyle reported at the beginning of the year that it is normal for members to align themselves with leadership, but “Pelosi funding 61 percent of Pappas’s campaign from Nov. 24, 2020, to Dec. 31, 2020, is a whole new level of closeness.”
The National Republican Congressional Committee (NRCC), the Republican’s campaign arm, is ready to put the congressman on their “Exit List.” The list is filled with vulnerable members, who only barely won, won in districts former President Donald Trump won, or have been rumored to leave the House and run for higher office.
The NRCC has already expanded its list from the initial 47-member list of offensive targets to 57 vulnerable House Democrat members.
The NRCC spokeswoman Camille Gallo in a statement, said, “We look forward to Chris Pappas being the next Democrat to join the very long list of vulnerable Dems jumping ship and calling it quits.”
Follow Jacob Bliss on Twitter @jacobmbliss.