Seven Republicans vying to take on Rep. Chris Pappas in NH U.S. House election

Seven Republicans are vying for the nomination to challenge Democratic incumbent Rep. Chris Pappas for his congressional seat in November.

They are seeking to represent New Hampshire’s 1st Congressional District, which includes southeastern New Hampshire and the cities of Portsmouth, Dover, Rochester, Manchester and Laconia. The district is rated likely Democrat by the Cook Political Report, but it is a competitive district that has seen tight races and Republican representatives in the past.

Pappas has served since 2019, and the seven Republican candidates are hoping this is their time to flip the district. They include Russell Prescott, a former executive councilor and owner of R.E. Prescott Company, who leads the way in fundraising with $739,381 according to campaign finance numbers last reported June 30. He is followed by Hollie Noveletsky, the CEO of Novel Iron Works with $388,122 raised, and veteran and political newcomer Chris Bright with $289,162.

Those three are joined by Manchester Alderman Joe Kelly Levasseur, businessman Walter J. McFarlane III, perennial candidate Andy Martin, and former state representative Max Abramson. None had campaign finance information available on the FEC’s website.

Seacoastonline asked each about their candidacy, priorities, and where they fall on immigration, the economy, and abortion, issues that often poll among the top three for New Hampshire voters.

Russell Prescott

Prescott, of Kingston, has been involved in New Hampshire politics for some time, serving as a state senator from 2000-2004 and 2010-2016. He was also an executive councilor from 2016-2020.

Prescott touted this experience as a reason for running and why he can beat Pappas.

“Constituent services are paramount to be able to take care of the people that you are entrusted to serve, and I balanced budgets, lowered taxes and always made sure that the people were taken care of,” said Prescott. “I'm a problem solver, I’m an engineer, I have multiple patents, and know how to get things accomplished in the legislative process, and I am the prime sponsor of our voter ID law, and want to just continue to serve the state of New Hampshire in the line of being a congressman.”

He thinks the most important ways to “get the country back on track” are to make sure everyone is safer and everything is more affordable. He wants to enforce border laws and secure the border, as well as lower interest rates by balancing the budget. He also wants to be energy independent – he called for opening back up the Keystone Pipeline and getting more leases for drilling in the U.S., things he said would make energy bills go down.

Prescott said that it’s a state’s right to make abortion legislation, and he would not take that right away in Congress. On the Executive Council, he voted in favor of funding for Planned Parenthood in order to test for sexually transmitted diseases.

While his opponent Noveletsky has criticized him for not revealing who he supported in the 2024 presidential primary, Prescott said voting is a private thing, and he is focusing on his own race so that he has the ability to attract people to support his race from all parts of the Republican Party. Noveletsky supported Donald Trump in the primary.

Prescott has received endorsements from New Hampshire political leaders like state Senate President Jeb Bradley, R-Wolfeboro, Sen. Ruth Ward, R-Stoddard, and Keene Mayor George Hansel, along with many other New Hampshire politicians and business owners.

Hollie Noveletsky

Noveletsky is the CEO of Novel Iron Works. She lives in Newfields.

Noveletsky said she decided to run for Congress because she was seeing all the “dysfunction” in D.C. and wanted to be part of the “solution” for her grandchildren.

While the economy was originally her number one issue, she said people she is talking to around the district are most concerned with illegal immigration.

“We need to stop taking care of people who have not paid into this system, but who have broken our laws by just coming in illegally, and take care of our people who have paid into the system and who are struggling,” Noveletsky said. “We need to shut down illegal immigration, but make it easier for people who want to come here legally, be screened, be part of our community and give back.” She thinks America should prioritize immigrants who are skilled workers and want to be part of the community.

Noveletsky is also concerned with energy costs, wanting to go back to the “Trump era energy independence.” She wants to cut government spending and be fiscally conservative, and she also considers law enforcement and health care important issues.

Noveletsky said the Supreme Court got the abortion decision right by sending it back to the states, that New Hampshire’s law is aligned with what voters want, and she would not support a federal ban.

A political newcomer, Noveletsky believes that Congress needs new voices.

“’Oh, thank God,’ they should be saying, right?” she said of people who might be concerned about her lack of political experience. “Even Governor Sununu had said, after 10 years, we need a change of perspective.”

As a business owner, Noveletsky said she knows how to get things done – and her goal is not to be in D.C. for many years, but to “get things done, come home.” She said she comes from a blue-collar, hardworking industry that has made it through difficult times, and she will always fight for her employees.

Her other strength as a business owner, she said, is she won’t “pander to anybody.”

“I'm going to tell you what I think, look you in the eyes and do what I say, and you may not like everything I say, just like a marriage, you're not going to get 100%, you find your red line issues,” said Noveletsky. “You have a right as a voter to know where I stand, and I will always tell you where I stand.”

Noveletsky has received endorsements from Sen. Sharon Carson, R-Londonderry, Sen. Regina Birdsell, R-Hampstead, and Rochester Mayor Paul Callaghan, along with other state politicians and business owners.

Chris Bright

Bright is a veteran and businessman from Derry.

He said there wasn’t a “lightning strike moment” that inspired him to run, but rather the accumulation of many things over the past few years that made him feel like those in office weren’t listening to things that mattered to the public. One of those things was the way the United States withdrew from Afghanistan, something he said “felt like a slap in the face” as someone who has friends and family that served there.

Bright said his top priority is polarization, saying the political rhetoric needs to calm down and people need to be able to talk to each other. Other top concerns to him are the border and the economy, explaining that he is concerned about how many people are struggling because of the high cost of living.

On abortion, Bright said he doesn’t support a federal abortion ban and likes where it’s at with the states in control because it is closer to voters.

Bright thinks his business acumen, as well as his status as a combat veteran, can help him beat Pappas. He said his experience as a businessperson is different from others in the race because he had to figure out how to build it on his own and learn what it was like to not be able to pay the bills and face other challenges.

Bright also said that he thinks the argument against his lack of political experience underscores the need for change.

“Folks that sit in the halls of government year after year and are not out there amongst the voters trying to live that American dream, they're disassociated. And to me, those are the people that lack the experience, the people that don't realize what these policies are doing to everyday Americans,” said Bright. “I've done a lot of these different things. I do know how to build companies, build economies. I know what it's like to wear the uniform, to have bullets fly at you, and to lead American soldiers, so that is the necessary experience.”

Joe Kelly Lavasseur

Lavasseur, a Manchester alderman and restaurant owner, describes himself as a “Trump-or-bust” candidate.

“Trump or bust is not a slogan,” said Lavasseur. “It’s a fact. We don’t get Trump in that White House, the country is not going to be able to come back from where we are now.”

He said he jumped in the race because it was “sleepy,” and he wanted to give it some energy.

Lavasseur has run for office before: in 2016, he ran against Pappas for Executive Council and lost by about 4 percentage points. He thinks the “wave” is going to be a lot bigger this time, which will allow him to beat Pappas.

“My number one priority is to get down to Washington and help Trump with the America first agenda, put us back where we were four years ago,” Lavasseur said. The America first agenda, he said, includes all the issues he thinks are important, like immigration, affordable housing and energy costs. As for abortion, he said that he is “prepared to live” with the Supreme Court ruling and “keep it as a state issue.”

Walter J. McFarlane III

McFarlane is a businessman from Manchester. He said he's in the race because he believes he is the moderate candidate who can bring Republicans, independents, and Democrats together to win the district.

“I feel like we aren't as divided as a nation as the noises on the extremes would have us believe,” McFarlane said. “I really feel like I'm somebody who can kind of scream for the 80% of us that aren't on the extremes and help find some common ground.”

McFarlane describes himself as a “small government conservative,” meaning he believes that government has a role to play in securing the borders and creating a robust economy. His top three priorities, he said, are closing the border and creating a sensible immigration policy, bringing inflation under control, and getting rid of the national debt.

But he said his small government conservative values also means he doesn’t think government should dictate moral and religious beliefs.

“I believe that it's there to keep us safe in our persons and property and then let us live our lives,” McFarlane said. “So, when it comes to issues of who you love, how you identify, what you do with your own body, I believe those conversations don't belong in halls of government. I believe they belong at kitchen tables and doctors’ offices and houses of worship.” He added that he thinks New Hampshire’s abortion law gets it right, and that government should not be involved before the 24-week mark of pregnancy.

McFarlane believes that his lack of political experience is a positive because he can bring a different experience to the body. Over the last two decades, he has held a variety of jobs mostly at various food and beverage production companies. He said the skills and decisions he’s had to make as a business owner lend themselves to politics: turning around a bankrupt company, he said, will allow him to quickly pivot to better policies.

Andy Martin

Martin, from Manchester, is a perennial candidate who has never been elected to office. He previously ran for U.S. Senate in 2022, 2020 and 2014, for the 1st Congressional District in 2018, and for the 2nd Congressional District in 2016. Over the years, he has also run for various offices in other states as well, like Illinois and Florida, sometimes as a Democrat and other times as a Republican.

Martin said that he’s running because the Republican candidates have continued to lose the race for the first district. The last time a Republican represented this district was 2014 under Republican Frank Guinta.

“If they can show me a winning strategy, I'd be happy to sit on the sidelines and cheer, but as long as they're throwing tens of millions of dollars at the opposition and they can't field the candidate who's capable of appealing to voters,” Martin said.

Martin’s top issue is the economy.

“I think there's only one issue, and that's our economic health, national economy. How do we get people, more people employed, better jobs, better skills,” he said. “If you don't have a strong economy, you can't do anything, either domestically or internationally.”

While Martin aligns with the Republican Party on the issue of immigration, he also holds some views that differ from the rest of his party. He said his views on abortion have changed recently: while he believes “deeply in the sanctity of life,” he also believes that “women are better able to manage their bodies than Republican politicians.” He sees the conservative view on abortion as inconsistent with the value of less government.

He also departs on the issue of the Israel-Hamas war, saying that “supporting this regime there is going to be very bad for the U.S.”

These differences, which he says allows him to be a candidate “who gets along with Democrats,” are part of the reason he thinks he’s a better candidate against his opponents.

Martin was identified by The New York Times and The Washington Post as the source of the false accusation that former President Barack Obama was secretly a Muslim during the 2008 presidential election, something he also acknowledged while talking to Seacoastonline. He also has a history of filing antisemitic lawsuits.

Max Abramson

Abramson is a former state representative from Seabrook, serving from 2014 - 2016 and 2018 - 2020. He now resides in Merrimack.

Abramson is running on congressional term limits, advocating for a limit of three terms in the House and two in the Senate. He said this would be to promote accountability and that most Granite Staters want term limits. A 2023 poll from Pew Research Center found that 87% of adults favor term limits in Congress.

His other top issues include securing the borders and reducing government spending. On the issue of abortion, he said he is “pro-adoption.”

Abramson said that he’s the best candidate because of his record in the state house and his history of voting independent, with the district and not, as he said, “as party leaders instructed.” Abramson has run as a Libertarian in the past.

In 2012, Abramson was found guilty of one felony count of reckless conduct for shooting a firearm recklessly during a party at his home in 2010. Abramson called the charge a “wrongful conviction.”

This article originally appeared on Portsmouth Herald: 7 Republicans vying to take on Rep. Chris Pappas in 2024 election