NEW YORK, NY –
Congressman Chris Pappas (D-NH), a proud member of the Greek-American community and Co-Chair of the Congressional Hellenic Caucus, has secured the Democratic nomination for the U.S. Senate in New Hampshire. He will face former U.S. Senator John Sununu in the November general election for the seat being vacated by Senator Jeanne Shaheen.
As he campaigns for the Senate, the International Coordinating Committee Justice for Cyprus- PSEKA and the Coordinated Effort for Hellenes are calling the Greek American community to stand by him and help elect a Greek American to the U.S. Senate for the first time since Olympia Snowe’s retirement, 13 years ago.
The following joint statement was released on September 14:
“The Hellenic and Orthodox family in America, Greece, Cyprus, the Phanar and around the world were blessed yesterday when one of our family members, Orthodox Hellene Congressman Chris Pappas was selected by his party to run to be the next United States Senator of the state of New Hampshire.
In light of the fact that issues of concern of United States Senators tend to get a great deal of attention from our Executive Branch and from the American and international media, this is a great opportunity for the issues we hold dear – Greece, Cyprus and the Ecumenical Patriarchate – to get more attention and even better treatment in American foreign policy.
For decades the voices of Hellenic/Orthodox U.S. Senators (in their order of their proximity to today) Olympia Snowe of Maine, Paul Sarbanes of Maryland, and Paul Tsongas of Massachusetts – helped develop policies that are better for America as well as better for Greece, Cyprus, and the Ecumenical Patriarchate.
It has been over 13 years since Olympia Snowe was the last Greek American in the U.S. Senate.
Preliminary indications for Chris Pappas becoming the next US Senator from New Hampshire are good, certainly within reach. Unlike a number of Democratic Members of the House who had a primary election challenger from a strongly liberal perspective, the moderate Chris was not defeated and he won by a comfortable majority. Further, the people of New Hampshire have not voted for a Republican to be their U.S. Senator since 2010. In the last general election, a majority of the voters in both Congressional Districts of New Hampshire elected a Democrat. And President Donald Trump is currently seen unfavorably by 60% of New Hampshire citizens surveyed. As well, a serious poll has Chris ahead of his Republican opponent for the U.S. Senate – John Sununu.
A factor in Chris’ favor is that New Hampshire has a higher percentage of voters of Greek and Cypriot origin than does any other state in the United States. Some U.S. Senate elections in New Hampshire have been won by only 1,000 votes and there are nearly 20,000 Hellenes in that state.
Further, we would not be surprised if most of those Greek-Americans agree with what I heard one say: when a Greek is running for office, I learn that I am a better Greek than I am a Democrat or a Republican.
All Hellenes should contribute to Chris’ campaign; it can make a difference in his election. And it is important that the voice of our community is heard again in the U.S. Senate”.
