Michael James Pappas

In June 2016, Pappas was hired as the Borough Administrator of High Bridge, New Jersey. In December 2019, Pappas was named by Bridgewater Mayor-elect Matt Moench to be the municipality's next Township Administrator.

In 2000, Pappas unsuccessfully sought the Republican nomination for his old congressional seat, losing a highly contentious primary to the more moderate Zimmer by 62 to 38% margin. Holt narrowly defeated Zimmer in the general election to retain his seat. During the Bush Administration, Pappas worked for the Small Business Administration in Washington, D.C.

He was a strong supporter of the impeachment of Bill Clinton, and his infamous singing of "Twinkle, Twinkle, Kenneth Starr" on the House floor contributed to his defeat by Rush Holt in 1998.

In 1996, Pappas won an election to replace Dick Zimmer in the 12th Congressional District in New Jersey (Zimmer ran for the U.S. Senate that year), defeating Lambertville Mayor David DelVecchio. Unlike most New Jersey Republicans, Pappas was a staunch conservative. His congressional service included pushing for a stronger national defense, the elimination of the capital gains tax, advocacy for small business, securing the release of the battleship USS New Jersey to the state of New Jersey as a museum, and resurrecting the controversial "Star Wars" national missile defense.

He was Mayor of Franklin Township for two years. He later would be elected to the Board of Chosen Freeholders for Somerset County, and served from 1984 to 1996, alongside fellow Freeholder Christine Todd Whitman during portions of that period.

Michael James Pappas (born December 29, 1960 in New Brunswick, New Jersey) is a former Republican Congressman from New Jersey.

Pappas, a Greek American, was born in 1960 in New Brunswick, New Jersey. He is a graduate of Alma Preparatory School in Zarephath, New Jersey, and attended Seton Hall University. He got into politics in the early 1980s, becoming a member of the Franklin Township township council where he served from 1982-87.