Openly Gay candidate Chris Pappas, won the Democratic nomination for U.S. House of Representatives in New Hampshire’s 1st District.

The openly gay candidate has already made history securing the primary nomination.  Chris Pappas captured an impressive 56 percent of the vote with 23 percent of precincts reporting on Tuesday evening.  His opponent Maura Sullivan, came in second with 26 percent of the vote when the race was called.

The Democratic Primary was a nasty race.  In fact during the last few days of the primary, Maura Sullivan sent out a campaign mailers claiming Chris Pappas had “no backbone”.  This was seen by many voters as an attempt to call Chris Pappas weak for being Gay.

Now that Pappas has secured the 1st District Democratic nomination, he will be going up against his republican challenger which has yet to be announced.  However if Chris Pappas is elected in November, he will make history as the first openly gay congressional representative from New Hampshire.

Pappas has the endorsement of the LGBTQ Victory Fund, which seeks to elect openly LGBTQ candidates.

Victory Fund president and CEO Annise Parker released the following statement following Pappas primary win:

“Chris Pappas continues to smash long-standing political barriers for LGBTQ New Hampshirites — and his victory is emblematic of the pipeline of LGBTQ leaders who continue to rise through the ranks to better serve their constituents. Democratic primary voters are demanding authentic, values-driven leaders who prioritize policies over politics — and they found that leader in Chris. He was born and raised in the district, is a fierce advocate for fairness and equality, and will fight tirelessly to push forward policies that advance those principles. We need change in Washington, and a November victory for Chris is critical to securing a pro-equality majority in the next U.S. Congress.” said Parker.

Article by: Paul Goldberg, Staff Writer

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