Running for political office in the United States is notoriously expensive. It is no secret that many candidates who choose to launch a political campaign are often well-off financially, which allows them, among other things, to take time away from their day jobs in order to campaign and raise money.The candidates running for congressional seats in New Hampshire this election season are no exception to this trend, according to a WMUR-TV analysis of federal financial disclosures. These financial disclosures, which detail personal finances and business interests, are required for politicians running for office and elected officials in order to identify any potential conflicts of interest.As shown by the public financial records filed with the clerk of the House by the candidates themselves, all of the Democratic and Republican frontrunners who sought to represent the 1st and 2nd Congressional Districts in the primaries are millionaires. Nearly all of them are likely multimillionaires. The disclosures do not provide a precise total of a candidate’s assets, but rather a range. Therefore, the exact net worth for each person cannot be calculated but only estimated. The worth of this year’s New Hampshire candidates’ assets range from $1.3 million at the lowest estimate to as high as $58 million.When aggregated and averaged, the data show that the candidates have estimated median assets of $15.1 million – nearly 80 times the $190,000 median assets of Granite Staters, according to Census data from 2022.”Running for office is incredibly expensive,” Saint Anselm College professor of politics Chris Galdieri told WMUR. “Congressional campaigns cost in the millions of dollars, sometimes tens of millions of dollars, so to be a viable candidate, you need to be able to raise a lot of money and usually do it very quickly. That means you either need to be wealthy yourself or have connections to people who are wealthy or, ideally, both.”According to Galdieri, wealthy politicians running for office, with the exception of former President Donald Trump, often try to present themselves as members of the working class. Although many of them may have grown up in middle-class families and may have built their respective businesses from the ground up, their current assets reveal that they are now part of a group of higher wealth individuals.”Candidates for office want to look just like voters. They want voters to see themselves in the candidates, and you don’t get that by bragging about how much money you have,” Galdieri explained. “Here in New Hampshire, there’s also a certain cultural aspect to it, as well. Lots of old money that doesn’t talk about having money and that sort of thing. I think that means that wealthier candidates just downplay their wealth at every opportunity and look for ways to make themselves look like regular folks.”Research published by the Princeton University Press suggests that “structural barriers” make running for office as a working-class American virtually unattainable, which experts say further indicates that “politicians in the United States have always been vastly better off than the people they represent.””If one candidate can afford TV ads and another candidate is photocopying flyers at the FedEx store, the candidate who’s on TV is probably going to have the advantage,” Galdieri said.2nd District DemocratsEarlier this summer, Democratic 2nd District candidate Maggie Goodlander’s financial transparency came under scrutiny when she provided limited information in her initial disclosure form, with numerous sections of her investments and real estate properties listed as “undetermined.”Following questions regarding such gaps in her paperwork, Goodlander filed an updated document with additional information.”Our campaign submitted the financial disclosure, as required and on time,” Goodlander said when asked in early September, during the WMUR-TV debate, about the gaps and what she would say to a voter who may have lost trust in her. “We’ve gone back and provided even more information, because I believe deeply in transparency. We’ve gone back and provided even more information. This document is available to the public. I encourage everyone who wants to take a look to do just that, because it’s a matter of public record.”The updated document showed that Goodlander, who won the Democratic primary in her race, is worth between $9.9 million and $39 million, with the vast majority of her assets stemming from a trust fund listed as “Margaret Goodlander 2016 Management Trust,” which holds between $5 million and $25 million in stocks, dividends and treasury bonds.Much of Goodlander’s wealth comes from assets inherited from her grandfather, Samuel Tamposi, a well-known New Hampshire real estate developer, who was also a limited partner in the Boston Red Sox. Her assets contain stakes in a long list of real estate properties in Citrus Hill, Florida, where her grandfather had developed property, which includes a strip mall, golf course, and spa and fitness center, as well as numerous properties across New Hampshire in Merrimack, Bow, Nashua, Londonderry, Hampton Falls, Amherst, Rochester, and Madbury.In addition, Goodlander’s filing states that her sole debt is a student loan from 2003 for her husband, U.S. National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan, valued between $15,000 and $50,000.During an often-contentious race, Goodlander handily defeated her Democratic primary competitor, Colin Van Ostern.Van Ostern’s own financial disclosure form suggests he is worth between $4.3 and $18 million, with most of his assets stemming from an ownership interest in Alumni Ventures Group, an investment group headquartered in Manchester, which lists him as the president and COO. The group was forced to repay $4.7 million in settlement charges from the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission for making “misleading statements about its management fees and engaging in inter-fund transactions in breach of fund operating agreements.”Van Ostern, who had been backed by U.S. Rep. Annie Kuster, sought to depict Goodlander as an outsider who only returned to her district in order to run. Although Goodlander, a former deputy U.S. attorney general and member of the Biden administration, had indeed lived and worked outside of New Hampshire for many years before returning to the Granite State, she has repeatedly touted her deep ties to her home state.2nd District RepublicansGoodlander will take on Republican candidate Lily Tang Williams in the general election. Tang Williams ran for the U.S. Senate as a Libertarian in 2016 in Colorado before running in the 2nd Congressional District primary in New Hampshire in 2022.The latest filing for Tang Williams suggests her assets are worth between $3.8 million and $8.6 million.In comparing her 2023 and 2024 filings, WMUR-TV’s review uncovered that more than 50 assets had been removed, including investments with major companies such as SoFi Technologies, Apple, Rumble and Diamondback Energy.Tang Williams told WMUR that she did not include assets that failed to meet the required reporting threshold.”This saves me time and effort. There is no other reason for not including them,” she said.In her 2023 filing, Tang Williams listed common shares of at least four cannabis-related companies, Aurora Cannabis, a Canadian cannabis producer; Cronos Group, a group working to advance cannabis research; and Americann, Inc. and Canopy Growth Corporation, two other cannabis-producing groups. In an updated 2024 financial document filed in September, shares in each of those companies are no longer listed.During WMUR’s “Conversation with the Candidate” Tang Williams said she would potentially support legalizing cannabis at the federal level, depending on how the bill is written and what details are included.Tang Williams also listed that she and her husband are co-owners of limited liability company Middle Kingdom Estates, which she characterizes as property management, reporting that she and her husband both receive a salary of $10,000 a year.Tang Williams defeated a slate of other candidates, including frontrunners Vikram Mansharamani and Bill Hamlen, with 35% of the vote.Mansharamani is an adviser to large companies and an entrepreneur, also serving as the founder of Kelan Advisors and Kelan Publishing. His financial filing lists his total assets between $5.1 million and $19.9 million, with the Kelan enterprises alone worth between $2 million and $10 million.Mansharamani, who came in 8% behind Tang Williams, also listed that he has assets worth between $1 million and $5 million in cryptocurrency.Hamlen, whose background stems from the energy industry, placed third with 16% of the vote. According to Hamlen’s financial disclosure, his assets are worth anywhere between $18.9 million and $58.4 million – the highest potential assets of any candidate who ran this cycle. With numerous homes in Hanover, Nantucket and New York worth between $1 million and $5 million, Hamlen reported that a large portion of his assets come from property and investments.Through J.P. Morgan and Charles Schwab, Hamlen has numerous stock investments in energy companies for oil and gas, as well as investments in a long list of domestic and international gold and silver mining companies.1st District DemocratsU.S. Rep. Chris Pappas, who is looking to secure his fourth term in Congress, lists his assets as somewhere between $1.7 million and $7.8 million on his financial disclosure form.Pappas comes from a well-known Greek family known in Manchester for their ownership of The Puritan Backroom restaurant, where the congressman is a minority owner. He lists his shares of the company as worth between $1 million and $5 million, receiving between $50,000 and $100,000 a year in limited liability company income.The three-term congressman also receives LLC income between $15,000 and $50,000 for a property at 207 Hooksett Road in Manchester as a minority owner, which appears to be for the adjoining Puritan Conference Center.Pappas’ husband, Vann Bentley, lists restricted stock units from Uber as a part of his employment, as well as a student loan from May of 2015, of which between $100,000 and $250,000 remains outstanding.1st District RepublicansPappas will look to defend his seat against Republican Russell Prescott, an engineer, former state senator and executive councilor, and the president and CEO of R.E. Prescott Co., a water system company based in Exeter.According to his financial filing, Prescott is worth between $10.2 million and $44.6 million, the second wealthiest candidate of any congressional hopeful in this cycle.Prescott, who ran for the 1st Congressional District in 2022 but lost in the primary, has highlighted his ties to New England dating back at least six generations. His major assets include the R.E. Prescott Co., which he listed as worth between $5 million and $25 million. He also reported a 50% ownership of his R.E. Prescott Co. building, listed as worth between $1 million and $5 million, two rental properties in Kingston, a boat, and several cars.Last year, he reported receiving a salary of $1.8 million.In a filing listed as “Prescott Real Estate Holdings,” he also listed that he receives dividends and rent for the asset worth between $1 million and $5 million.To secure the 1st District Republican nomination, Prescott beat out businesswoman Hollie Noveletsky, Manchester Alderman Joe Kelly Levasseur and businessman Chris Bright.Noveletsky reported that her worth lands somewhere between $7 million and $37 million, thanks to an asset worth between $5 million and $25 million for her company Novel Iron Works, where she is the CEO and owner. She is also listed as president of Rose Steel, which she lists as worth between $1 million and $5 million.Levasseur reported in his financial filing assets from $1.3 million to $2.6 million. The details of his assets were limited, but he noted that between $500,000 and $1 million are from a rental property.During his run for office, Bright, a two-time combat veteran, touted his work with his start-up, American Facilities Professionals. In his financial filing, he lists his company as worth between $5 million and $25 million.Interactive graphics created by digital managing editor Kirk Enstrom.
Running for political office in the United States is notoriously expensive. It is no secret that many candidates who choose to launch a political campaign are often well-off financially, which allows them, among other things, to take time away from their day jobs in order to campaign and raise money.
The candidates running for congressional seats in New Hampshire this election season are no exception to this trend, according to a WMUR-TV analysis of federal financial disclosures. These financial disclosures, which detail personal finances and business interests, are required for politicians running for office and elected officials in order to identify any potential conflicts of interest.
As shown by the public financial records filed with the clerk of the House by the candidates themselves, all of the Democratic and Republican frontrunners who sought to represent the 1st and 2nd Congressional Districts in the primaries are millionaires. Nearly all of them are likely multimillionaires.
The disclosures do not provide a precise total of a candidate’s assets, but rather a range. Therefore, the exact net worth for each person cannot be calculated but only estimated. The worth of this year’s New Hampshire candidates’ assets range from $1.3 million at the lowest estimate to as high as $58 million.
When aggregated and averaged, the data show that the candidates have estimated median assets of $15.1 million – nearly 80 times the $190,000 median assets of Granite Staters, according to Census data from 2022.
“Running for office is incredibly expensive,” Saint Anselm College professor of politics Chris Galdieri told WMUR. “Congressional campaigns cost in the millions of dollars, sometimes tens of millions of dollars, so to be a viable candidate, you need to be able to raise a lot of money and usually do it very quickly. That means you either need to be wealthy yourself or have connections to people who are wealthy or, ideally, both.”
According to Galdieri, wealthy politicians running for office, with the exception of former President Donald Trump, often try to present themselves as members of the working class. Although many of them may have grown up in middle-class families and may have built their respective businesses from the ground up, their current assets reveal that they are now part of a group of higher wealth individuals.
“Candidates for office want to look just like voters. They want voters to see themselves in the candidates, and you don’t get that by bragging about how much money you have,” Galdieri explained. “Here in New Hampshire, there’s also a certain cultural aspect to it, as well. Lots of old money that doesn’t talk about having money and that sort of thing. I think that means that wealthier candidates just downplay their wealth at every opportunity and look for ways to make themselves look like regular folks.”
Research published by the Princeton University Press suggests that “structural barriers” make running for office as a working-class American virtually unattainable, which experts say further indicates that “politicians in the United States have always been vastly better off than the people they represent.”
“If one candidate can afford TV ads and another candidate is photocopying flyers at the FedEx store, the candidate who’s on TV is probably going to have the advantage,” Galdieri said.
2nd District Democrats
Earlier this summer, Democratic 2nd District candidate Maggie Goodlander’s financial transparency came under scrutiny when she provided limited information in her initial disclosure form, with numerous sections of her investments and real estate properties listed as “undetermined.”
Following questions regarding such gaps in her paperwork, Goodlander filed an updated document with additional information.
“Our campaign submitted the financial disclosure, as required and on time,” Goodlander said when asked in early September, during the WMUR-TV debate, about the gaps and what she would say to a voter who may have lost trust in her. “We’ve gone back and provided even more information, because I believe deeply in transparency. We’ve gone back and provided even more information. This document is available to the public. I encourage everyone who wants to take a look to do just that, because it’s a matter of public record.”
The updated document showed that Goodlander, who won the Democratic primary in her race, is worth between $9.9 million and $39 million, with the vast majority of her assets stemming from a trust fund listed as “Margaret Goodlander 2016 Management Trust,” which holds between $5 million and $25 million in stocks, dividends and treasury bonds.
Much of Goodlander’s wealth comes from assets inherited from her grandfather, Samuel Tamposi, a well-known New Hampshire real estate developer, who was also a limited partner in the Boston Red Sox. Her assets contain stakes in a long list of real estate properties in Citrus Hill, Florida, where her grandfather had developed property, which includes a strip mall, golf course, and spa and fitness center, as well as numerous properties across New Hampshire in Merrimack, Bow, Nashua, Londonderry, Hampton Falls, Amherst, Rochester, and Madbury.
In addition, Goodlander’s filing states that her sole debt is a student loan from 2003 for her husband, U.S. National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan, valued between $15,000 and $50,000.
During an often-contentious race, Goodlander handily defeated her Democratic primary competitor, Colin Van Ostern.
Van Ostern’s own financial disclosure form suggests he is worth between $4.3 and $18 million, with most of his assets stemming from an ownership interest in Alumni Ventures Group, an investment group headquartered in Manchester, which lists him as the president and COO. The group was forced to repay $4.7 million in settlement charges from the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission for making “misleading statements about its management fees and engaging in inter-fund transactions in breach of fund operating agreements.”
Van Ostern, who had been backed by U.S. Rep. Annie Kuster, sought to depict Goodlander as an outsider who only returned to her district in order to run. Although Goodlander, a former deputy U.S. attorney general and member of the Biden administration, had indeed lived and worked outside of New Hampshire for many years before returning to the Granite State, she has repeatedly touted her deep ties to her home state.
2nd District Republicans
Goodlander will take on Republican candidate Lily Tang Williams in the general election. Tang Williams ran for the U.S. Senate as a Libertarian in 2016 in Colorado before running in the 2nd Congressional District primary in New Hampshire in 2022.
The latest filing for Tang Williams suggests her assets are worth between $3.8 million and $8.6 million.
In comparing her 2023 and 2024 filings, WMUR-TV’s review uncovered that more than 50 assets had been removed, including investments with major companies such as SoFi Technologies, Apple, Rumble and Diamondback Energy.
Tang Williams told WMUR that she did not include assets that failed to meet the required reporting threshold.
“This saves me time and effort. There is no other reason for not including them,” she said.
In her 2023 filing, Tang Williams listed common shares of at least four cannabis-related companies, Aurora Cannabis, a Canadian cannabis producer; Cronos Group, a group working to advance cannabis research; and Americann, Inc. and Canopy Growth Corporation, two other cannabis-producing groups. In an updated 2024 financial document filed in September, shares in each of those companies are no longer listed.
During WMUR’s “Conversation with the Candidate” Tang Williams said she would potentially support legalizing cannabis at the federal level, depending on how the bill is written and what details are included.
Tang Williams also listed that she and her husband are co-owners of limited liability company Middle Kingdom Estates, which she characterizes as property management, reporting that she and her husband both receive a salary of $10,000 a year.
Tang Williams defeated a slate of other candidates, including frontrunners Vikram Mansharamani and Bill Hamlen, with 35% of the vote.
Mansharamani is an adviser to large companies and an entrepreneur, also serving as the founder of Kelan Advisors and Kelan Publishing. His financial filing lists his total assets between $5.1 million and $19.9 million, with the Kelan enterprises alone worth between $2 million and $10 million.
Mansharamani, who came in 8% behind Tang Williams, also listed that he has assets worth between $1 million and $5 million in cryptocurrency.
Hamlen, whose background stems from the energy industry, placed third with 16% of the vote. According to Hamlen’s financial disclosure, his assets are worth anywhere between $18.9 million and $58.4 million – the highest potential assets of any candidate who ran this cycle. With numerous homes in Hanover, Nantucket and New York worth between $1 million and $5 million, Hamlen reported that a large portion of his assets come from property and investments.
Through J.P. Morgan and Charles Schwab, Hamlen has numerous stock investments in energy companies for oil and gas, as well as investments in a long list of domestic and international gold and silver mining companies.
1st District Democrats
U.S. Rep. Chris Pappas, who is looking to secure his fourth term in Congress, lists his assets as somewhere between $1.7 million and $7.8 million on his financial disclosure form.
Pappas comes from a well-known Greek family known in Manchester for their ownership of The Puritan Backroom restaurant, where the congressman is a minority owner. He lists his shares of the company as worth between $1 million and $5 million, receiving between $50,000 and $100,000 a year in limited liability company income.
The three-term congressman also receives LLC income between $15,000 and $50,000 for a property at 207 Hooksett Road in Manchester as a minority owner, which appears to be for the adjoining Puritan Conference Center.
Pappas’ husband, Vann Bentley, lists restricted stock units from Uber as a part of his employment, as well as a student loan from May of 2015, of which between $100,000 and $250,000 remains outstanding.
1st District Republicans
Pappas will look to defend his seat against Republican Russell Prescott, an engineer, former state senator and executive councilor, and the president and CEO of R.E. Prescott Co., a water system company based in Exeter.
According to his financial filing, Prescott is worth between $10.2 million and $44.6 million, the second wealthiest candidate of any congressional hopeful in this cycle.
Prescott, who ran for the 1st Congressional District in 2022 but lost in the primary, has highlighted his ties to New England dating back at least six generations. His major assets include the R.E. Prescott Co., which he listed as worth between $5 million and $25 million. He also reported a 50% ownership of his R.E. Prescott Co. building, listed as worth between $1 million and $5 million, two rental properties in Kingston, a boat, and several cars.
Last year, he reported receiving a salary of $1.8 million.
In a filing listed as “Prescott Real Estate Holdings,” he also listed that he receives dividends and rent for the asset worth between $1 million and $5 million.
To secure the 1st District Republican nomination, Prescott beat out businesswoman Hollie Noveletsky, Manchester Alderman Joe Kelly Levasseur and businessman Chris Bright.
Noveletsky reported that her worth lands somewhere between $7 million and $37 million, thanks to an asset worth between $5 million and $25 million for her company Novel Iron Works, where she is the CEO and owner. She is also listed as president of Rose Steel, which she lists as worth between $1 million and $5 million.
Levasseur reported in his financial filing assets from $1.3 million to $2.6 million. The details of his assets were limited, but he noted that between $500,000 and $1 million are from a rental property.
During his run for office, Bright, a two-time combat veteran, touted his work with his start-up, American Facilities Professionals. In his financial filing, he lists his company as worth between $5 million and $25 million.
Interactive graphics created by digital managing editor Kirk Enstrom.
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