Democrat Pappas Says 'No' To New England College Debate With Republican Sununu

By Michael Graham, NH Journal

New England College has canceled its planned U.S. Senate debate between U.S. Rep. Chris Pappas and his Republican opponent, John Sununu, after Pappas informed the college he is a no-show.

“I can confirm that Congressman Pappas has declined to participate,” Josh McElveen, who organizes the NEC debates, told NHJournal Monday.

Debates have already emerged as an issue in the race. Sununu was widely criticized when he declined to debate his GOP primary opponent, Scott Brown, on WMUR. Two weeks later, Sununu handily defeated Brown by about 44 percentage points — a larger margin than Pappas’ victory over DSA member Karishma Manzur in the Democratic primary.

On primary night, Sununu challenged Pappas to 10 debates.

“The famous Mike Tyson said, ‘Any time, any place,’” Sununu said. “We’ve got 10 counties in New Hampshire. I say 10 debates. Chris, I’m ready.”

Pappas’ decision to skip the New England College debate — an institution that has hosted many political debates in the past — is at odds with the Democrat’s comments when Sununu waved off the WMUR debate.

“This is showing that he’s an arrogant candidate who feels entitled to this seat,” Pappas said of Sununu. “You got to get out there and work hard and earn it, and give credit to candidates that are showing up and talking about the issues that matter.”

Asked to reconcile this statement with his decision to skip the NEC debate, Pappas declined to respond.

This isn’t the end of the debate over debates. While Pappas has yet to publicly confirm that he has agreed to any debates, he and Sununu are expected to participate in debates hosted by both NHPR and WMUR.

Why did Pappas skip the NEC debate?

“Turning down a debate is usually a sign of a candidate who thinks he is ahead and is playing it safe,” said Tom Rath, dean of New Hampshire political operatives. “I have seen no inside data here that says it is anything other than a margin error lead for either side.”

Another possible reason: His performance in the one debate in which he struggled — facing off against Republican Matt Mowers in 2020 — resulted in a mistake he’s still paying for today. The clip of Pappas lying about his relationship with an Amazon lobbyist is still being played in GOP-funded attack ads.

Whatever the reason, if Pappas looks like he’s avoiding debates with Sununu, it could add to the narrative that the four-term congressman is too weak for the tough political environment in the U.S. Senate.

“Pappas is a smart guy in my opinion, and I think he will do fine (in a debate with Sununu),” a NHGOP operative told NHJournal on background. “There are a lot of reasons he might skip them, but the most important is if it’s a sign he has a lead he’s trying to protect.”

According to the RealClearPolling average, the race is close. Pappas has a modest lead over Sununu, 46 percent to 41 percent.

This story was originally published by the NH Journal, an online news publication dedicated to providing fair, unbiased reporting on, and analysis of, political news of interest to New Hampshire. For more stories from the NH Journal, visit NHJournal.com.