News
Gay N.H. Executive Council candidate stumps in D.C.
Chris Pappas said sexual orientation “not an issue”
Chris Pappas (Photo courtesy of Chris Pappas)
The Victory Fund on Friday hosted a fundraiser for gay New Hampshire Executive Council candidate Chris Pappas at the Beacon Bar and Grill’s Sky Lounge in D.C.
Gay New Hampshire Democratic Party Chair Ray Buckley was among the roughly 50 people who attended; while U.S. Sen. Jeanne Shaheen (D-N.H.,) former Human Rights Campaign President Joe Solmonese and Maryland Del. Heather Mizeur (D-Montgomery County) are among those who co-hosted the gathering.
“It was a nice group and a successful event,” said Pappas.
Pappas, who co-owns a popular Manchester restaurant that his family opened nearly a century ago, was a state representative before he served two terms as Hillsborough County treasurer. He declared his candidacy for the five-member gubernatorial advisory and oversight body in March after former Manchester Mayor Ray Wieczorek announced he would not seek another term. Pappas, 31, will face either current Hillsborough County Treasurer Robert Burns, state Sen. Tom DeBlois or local business owner Chuck Rolecek in November.
He told the Blade that he decided to run in response to the Republican Party’s near sweep of statewide offices in 2010. Pappas specifically pointed to the GOP-controlled Executive Council’s decisions to defund the state’s Planned Parenthood clinics and block a federal grant that would have funded a study into the proposed expansion of a commuter rail line from Boston into southern New Hampshire as two issues that specifically influenced his decision.
“The Executive Council has real power over the decision making process and the purse strings of our state,” he noted. “I think they’ve been using that to real extreme political ends.”
“It was years in the making of folks who had worked on the ground here building a coalition of not just Democrats and progressives, but Republicans and Libertarians as well,” he said. “That proved a successful strategy in the Legislature this year.”
Governor John Lynch, who announced last September that he would not seek a fifth term, signed the state’s same-sex marriage law in 2009. The two leading Republican gubernatorial candidates — Kevin Smith and Ovide Lamontagne — have said they would sign a same-sex marriage repeal bill if elected.
“We want to elect people who are advocates and [who are] going [to] work for us on this issue,” said Pappas. “It could come to a head again this year if we don’t elect the right governor.”
Pappas has hired a full-time campaign manager and opened an office in Manchester since officially declaring his candidacy. He said his sexual orientation is “not an issue” among potential voters, but conceded that he will need to raise hundreds of thousands of dollars to remain a competitive candidate going into November.
“We have a tactical advantage, but that can be easily outweighed with the amount of money that’s going to be put into television ads and the amount of money that’s going to come from these national right wing super PACS,” said Pappas, referring to New Hampshire’s status as a swing state in this year’s presidential election. He added he remains confident that voters will “see through efforts” from the Koch brothers and Karl Rove to “influence our elections with secret corporate money.”
“All the television ads in the world won’t outweigh the impact of neighbors talking to neighbors about the issues and values that matters to working families,” added his campaign in a follow-up e-mail to the Blade. “That’s what our grassroots team is already doing.”
In spite of these concerns, those who attended Pappas’ D.C. fundraiser were quick to praise him.
“Chris is a rising political star who’s already deeply experienced and knowledgeable about state government,” said Victory Fund CEO Chuck Wolfe. “If he wins this race he’ll be one of the state’s highest-ranking openly LGBT officials, but more importantly he’ll be in a position to serve all the people of New Hampshire. We’re proud to endorse him.”
Buckley, a former New Hampshire state representative from Manchester, agreed.
“Chris has the ability to bring people together and solve problems,” he added. “He has a bright future.”
District of Columbia
Mayor Bowser signs bill requiring insurers to cover PrEP
‘This is a win in the fight against HIV/AIDS’
D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser on March 20 signed a bill approved by the D.C. Council that requires health insurance companies to cover the costs of HIV prevention or PrEP drugs for D.C. residents at risk for HIV infection.
Like all legislation approved by the Council and signed by the mayor, the bill, called the PrEP D.C. Amendment Act, was sent to Capitol Hill for a required 30-day congressional review period before it takes effect as D.C. law.
Gay D.C. Council member Zachary Parker (D-Ward 5) last year introduced the bill.
Insurance coverage for PrEP drugs has been provided through coverage standards included in the Affordable Care Act, known as Obamacare. But AIDS advocacy organizations have called on states and D.C. to pass their own legislation requiring insurance coverage of PrEP as a safeguard in case federal policies are weakened or removed by the Trump administration, which has already reduced federal funding for HIV/AIDS-related programs.
Like legislation passed by other states, the PrEP D.C. Amendment Act requires insurers to cover all PrEP drugs approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.
Studies have shown that PrEP drugs, which can be taken as pills or by injection just twice a year, are highly effective in preventing HIV infection.
“I think this is a win for our community,” Parker said after the D.C. Council voted unanimously to approve the bill on its first vote on the measure in February. “And this is a win in the fight against HIV/AIDS.”
Vice President JD Vance and his wife, second lady Usha Vance, will visit Hungary next week.
An announcement the White House released on Thursday said the Vances will be in Budapest, the Hungarian capital, from April 7-8.
JD Vance “will hold bilateral meetings with” Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán. The announcement further indicates the vice president “will also deliver remarks on the rich partnership between the United States and Hungary.”
The Vances will travel to Hungary less than a week before the country’s parliamentary elections take place on April 12.
Orbán, who has been in office since 2010, and his Fidesz-KDNP coalition government have faced widespread criticism over its anti-LGBTQ crackdown.
The Associated Press notes polls indicate Orbán is trailing Péter Magyar and his center-right Tisza party.
President Donald Trump removed Attorney General Pam Bondi from her post Thursday, following growing criticism over how she and the Department of Justice handled a range of issues, including matters related to sex offender and Trump ally Jeffrey Epstein.
Trump announced Bondi’s removal on Truth Social, where he also said Todd Blanche will serve as acting head of the Justice Department.
“Pam Bondi is a great American patriot and a loyal friend, who faithfully served as my attorney general over the past year,” Trump wrote on the platform. “Pam did a tremendous job overseeing a massive crackdown on crime across our country, with murders plummeting to their lowest level since 1900.”
Trump was seen as recently as Wednesday with the now-former attorney general at a Supreme Court hearing on citizenship.
The decision contrasts with Trump’s previous public praise of Bondi, the 87th U.S. attorney general and former 37th attorney general of Florida, who served in that role from 2011-2019 before joining the Trump-Vance administration. He has frequently lauded her loyalty and said he speaks with her often. Bondi was also one of president’s defense lawyers during his first impeachment trial.
Privately, however, Trump had grown frustrated that Bondi was not “moving quickly enough” to prosecute critics and political adversaries he wanted to face criminal charges, according to multiple sources. The New York Times reported that her inability to charge former FBI Director James B. Comey and New York Attorney General Letitia James with any crimes is a large factor in the president’s choice to fire her from the government’s primary law enforcement agency.
The move comes as Trump has sought to minimize public turmoil within his administration, avoiding the perception of a revolving-door Cabinet that defined his first term.
Lee Zeldin, a former Republican congressman from New York who unsuccessfully ran for governor, has emerged as a leading contender to lead the Justice Department. He has been one of Trump’s most reliable allies.
“He’s our secret weapon,” Trump said of Zeldin in February during a White House event promoting the coal industry, adding, “He’s getting those approvals done in record-setting time.”
Bondi has also growing faced scrutiny from Congress.
The House Oversight Committee recently subpoenaed her to testify about the department’s handling of certain files, where she declined to answer key questions during a contentious House Judiciary Committee hearing in February.
The Tampa native has a long history of opposing LGBTQ rights through her roles in government. As Florida attorney general, she fought against the legalization of same-sex marriage, arguing it would cause “serious public harm,” pushing forward a legal battle that cost taxpayers nearly half a million dollars. She also asked the Florida Supreme Court to overturn a lower court ruling that found the state’s same-sex marriage ban unconstitutional.
More recently, Bondi established a “Title IX Special Investigations Team” within the Justice Department focused on restricting transgender women and girls from participating in women’s and girls’ sports teams and accessing facilities aligned with their gender identity. She also told Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia to turn over the medical records of anyone under 19 who received gender-affirming care.
Her removal follows Trump’s decision last month to oust another controversial female Cabinet figure, Kristi Noem.
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