U.S. Rep. Chris Pappas of New Hampshire, a gay man, is facing a challenger with a deeply anti-LGBTQ+ record in this year’s election.
Pappas, a Democrat who’s represented the New Hampshire’s First Congressional District since 2019, is up against Republican Russell Prescott, a former state senator who long opposed marriage equality and LGBTQ+ rights in general.
“Over the course of a 20-year career in state politics, Prescott, 63, routinely championed legislation and rhetoric critical of gay rights and laced with harmful stereotypes about the LGBTQ community,” The Hill reports.
His “past views on same-sex marriage and his work to restrict it are public record but went previously unreported this election cycle, as well as the last,” the outlet notes. Supporters of Prescott’s 2024 campaign, including the Log Cabin Republicans, say his views have evolved and that he no longer opposes marriage equality.
In 2000, in Prescott’s first successful run for New Hampshire Senate, his campaign sent out a mailer denouncing the incumbent in his district, Rick Russman, for supporting “the adoption of children by avowed homosexuals.” Prescott defeated Russman in the Republican primary and went on to win the general election.
In 2004, as a senator, he sponsored a bill that denied recognition to out-of-state same-sex marriages. That was when neighboring Massachusetts had become the first state with marriage equality. The bill passed and was signed into law by Gov. Craig Benson.
The legislation also established a commission to study marriage equality. Prescott was a member of the commission, which in 2005 released a report opposing equal marriage rights. “Same sex marriage has never been considered either a fundamental right or an essential element of society’s fabric,” commissioners wrote.
Prescott lost his state Senate seat to Democrat Maggie Hassan in 2004, then defeated Hassan to regain it in 2010. New Hampshire Gov. John Lynch had signed a marriage equality bill into law in 2009, and it took effect in 2010. In his 2012 reelection campaign, Prescott said he would support a bill to repeal marriage equality in the state.
“I believe marriage is between a man and a woman, and if that bill comes before me, that is the way that I will vote because that is part of my belief system,” he said. However, no such bill ever passed.
In 2016, his last year in the state Senate, he sought but failed to amend a proposed ban on conversion therapy for minors to exempt religious counselors, but they are usually exempt anyway, as such legislation regulates state-licensed therapists. A ban finally passed in 2018.
Now, according to his campaign staff and Log Cabin, Prescott is more friendly to LGBTQ+ people.
“Like many in this country, including former New Hampshire Democratic Governor John Lynch who held similar views at the time, Russell Prescott’s position this issue has evolved significantly over time after many years of thoughtful consideration,” Derek Dufresne, general consultant for Prescott’s campaign, told The Hill. “The fact that Russell believes the Constitution is not a la carte, and supporting the premise that all Americans should have the same equal rights is not only the moral thing to do, but the constitutional one as well.”
“Much like the vast majority of Americans, Russell’s perspective has evolved, and he now views marriage equality as a fundamental right that aligns with both moral values and constitutional principles,” Charles T. Moran, president of the Log Cabin Republicans, told the publication. Prescott had said he “is very much supportive” of the Respect for Marriage Act, the 2022 bill signed by President Joe Biden, which wrote marriage equality into federal law, added Noah Rothstein, the Log Cabin Republicans’ political director.
In endorsing Prescott in April, Moran released this statement: “Russell Prescott is a devoted father, businessman, former State Senator, and former member of the New Hampshire Executive Council. Russell has the experience to serve the people of the New Hampshire 1st Congressional District. Log Cabin Republicans is honored to endorse Russell Prescott in his bid to represent the Granite State knowing that he will fight to secure our southern border, stand with our men and women in blue, uphold states’ rights, and protect our individual liberties.”
Prescott’s campaign website does not mention LGBTQ+ rights but focuses on traditional Republican talking points such as strengthening border security, opposing gun regulations, and lowering taxes.
Prescott won a crowded Republican primary in September with only 26.4 percent of the vote. Pappas had only nominal opposition in the Democratic primary and is favored to win the general election. A recent poll by the Saint Anselm College Survey Center showed Pappas with the support of 50 percent of respondents and Prescott with 41 percent. The Cook Political Report rates Pappas as likely to win, as does a forecast from The Hill and Decision Desk HQ.
