Matt Mowers Prepares for NH Rematch With Chris Pappas

Sources close to Republican Matt Mowers confirmed a WMUR report he will make another run for the First Congressional District seat currently held by Chris Pappas whom he lost to in 2020.

Once Mowers makes it official in September, he will join an already crowded field that includes Julian Acciard, 33, state Rep. Tim Baxter, 23, Karoline Leavitt, 23 and Gilead Towne, 31.

The source also confirmed that Seacoast Current that senior Trump advisor Corey Lewandowski will be part of the Mowers campaign.

Lewandowski's being part of the campaign raises the question of who is closer to Trump and could possibly get his endorsement: Mowers or Leavitt, who has played up her role in the Trump White House press office and her MAGA credentials.

Mowers was an advisor to former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie who was an early supporter of President Donald Trump's 2016 White House run and an advisor during his administration but never had an official role.

"In the 'Connection to Trump Sweepstakes' Mowers having Lewandowski is certainly going to have more power to it than someone who was an assistant press secretary in the press office at the White House," SNHU Civic Scholar Dean Spiliotes told Seacoast Current.

How much sway does a potential Trump endorsement have?

In a special election to fill the seat of the late Ron Wright in Texas' 6th congressional district, Trump endorsed Susan Wright, the candidate who lost to Jake Ellzey. Spiliotes said both candidates were pro-Trump.

"I would find it hard to believe that if Lewandowski really weighs in to try and get some kind of Trump endorsement that it wouldn't care a fair amount of weight given his closeness to President Trump," Spiliotes said.

Trump endorsed Mowers in the 2020 First Congressional District race.

The primary is expected to be an expensive one and Spiliotes believes that Lewandowski's involvement will put Mowers closer to the Trump Organization and potential campaign funds.

Spiliotes said another factor is that the CD 1 race is the age of the candidates. At age 41 Pappas is now the "old man" of the race.

"For many years Pappas was kind of viewed as a young up-and-coming politico. All these Republican in the primary are 33 and younger. Pappas can potentially can be the elder politico of the campaign," Spiliotes said.

Mowers was with Gov. Chris Sununu on Wednesday night at the Bank of NH Pavilion in Gilford for the Chris Stapleton concert, the first sold-out show at the venue since the pandemic.

Would the governor who continues to mull his own political future and a possible U.S. Senate run, back Mowers in the primary?

"There's nothing to really be gained for Sununu by wading into a primary when there are five candidates. He'll probably just say, 'Oh, it's great that there's so much interest' and Republicans have a strong bench. He's going to be focused on his own political calculus and future," Spiliotes said.

Contact reporter Dan Alexander at Dan.Alexander@townsquaremedia.com or via Twitter @DanAlexanderNJ