Outside groups are spending millions on races that could determine Senate control, and New Hampshire’s Senate contest is one of the clearest examples. About $50 million has already been spent on the race between Chris Pappas, a Democratic congressman running for Senate, and John E. Sununu, a former Republican senator.
Pappas has won four straight congressional runs. Sununu has lost only once in five federal office bids. The spending is expected to continue as long as the race remains competitive.
Spending By The Numbers
Negative ads have been prominent. Some claim Sununu has spent the last 15 years cashing in since being fired. Others accuse Pappas of being in the pocket of D.C. lobbyists. Prescription drug costs and gas prices have also been raised as concerns.
The National Republican Senate Committee has funded direct mail touting Sununu’s platform of term limits and cutting congressional pay during shutdowns. The pro-Trump No Going Back PAC reserved $10 million in New Hampshire advertising earlier this month. That same PAC is sending mailers claiming Pappas sold out to Big Insurance by backing Obamacare premium subsidies.
| Group | Spending | Target |
|---|---|---|
| No Going Back PAC | Reserved $10 million in ads | Pappas |
| National Republican Senate Committee | Direct mail funding | Sununu |
| Outside groups overall | About $50 million spent | Both candidates |
Mary Ann Spence of Meredith says she found more than a dozen political fliers in her mailbox after returning from vacation. She says she no longer reads them because nothing substantive will help her decide whom to vote for.
Candidates Respond
Pappas says he expects moneyed interests to swoop in but calls the spending unacceptable. He says he’s the only candidate working to take on Big Money and change campaign finance.
He has sponsored legislation requiring greater disclosure of outside spending, but it has failed to gain traction due to GOP opposition in the House. Republican state Rep. Joe Sweeney, a consultant at a local political advertising firm, says the spending aims for three seconds of attention rather than substance.
The Crowded Mailbox Problem
Spence’s experience is not unusual. She found more than a dozen fliers in her Meredith mailbox after returning from vacation. She says she no longer reads them because nothing substantive will help her decide whom to vote for.
The question is whether voters can hear the candidates over it. The spending is expected to continue as long as the race remains competitive.
Where the paper stands
The paper backs neither candidate directly but supports individual freedom, small business, and avoiding concentrations of power, and is against outside groups spending millions on this Senate contest without regard for those principles. The $50 million already spent on negative ads and direct mail is not a measure of strength for either side; it is noise that drowns out the actual conversation about health care, gas prices, and the issues that matter to Mary Ann Spence and every other voter in New Hampshire.
The No Going Back PAC’s $10 million reservation and the National Republican Senate Committee’s direct mail push are not endorsements of anything meaningful about either candidate’s record or proposals. They are attempts to buy three seconds of attention, as Republican state Rep. Joe Sweeney puts it — a strategy that treats voters like targets rather than citizens.
The paper wants candidates who actually work to take on Big Money and change campaign finance, like Pappas has tried through legislation that failed to gain traction due to GOP opposition in the House. Voters should read the fliers if they want to, but they should also ask themselves whether any of it is helping them decide whom to vote for — just as Mary Ann Spence stopped doing.
Source material: “Outside groups are spending millions on races that could determine Senate control,” NPR.
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