It’s a federal requirement for candidates running to represent their state in the nation’s capital to file financial disclosures, a rule intended to encourage transparency and address any potential conflicts of interest.
But a WMUR investigation found that at least three candidates have fallen behind in their submissions.
State Rep. Heath Howard, a Democrat running for the 1st Congressional District, Sarah Chadzynski, a Democrat running for the 1st Congressional District, and Karishma Manzur, a Democrat running for Senate, have yet to complete the filing process.
According to rules set forth by the House Ethics Committee, candidates running for Congress are required under federal law to share the specifics of their financial investments within 30 days of raising $5,000. In odd-numbered years, such as in 2025, when Howard announced, the form is due by May 15 or within 30 days of the candidate raising $5,000, if a candidate has announced after that date.
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Similarly, per the Senate Ethics Committee, a candidate must file within 30 days after becoming a candidate or by May 15 of that calendar year, whichever is later.
Candidates who fail to file on time face a penalty of $200 for each month the individual has failed to file.
Heath Howard
At 25, Howard is New Hampshire’s youngest congressional candidate for this cycle by several decades. He has experienced a growing spotlight in recent months, garnering enough attention to land him in second place, according to a UNH poll from January.
Despite a polling bump, Howard is still in the process of getting his campaign paperwork formally submitted, admitting that he was unaware of the requirement.
Howard announced his candidacy for Congress to WMUR on July 30, 2025, making it official in his Federal Election Commission filing on Aug. 1, 2025. According to financial donation totals released by the FEC, Howard had raised more than $5,000 from supporters just three weeks later, on Aug. 22, 2025.
That means Howard should have submitted his financial disclosure or a request for an extension by Sept. 21. But it would be another four months before Howard would take any such action, only filing for an extension on Feb. 3.
When asked by WMUR in a phone interview Wednesday why he had not submitted his disclosure, Howard said he didn’t know he was required to submit it and never received a notice to do so.
“I became aware after somebody messaged me online asking me why I hadn’t filled it out,” Howard said. “I never received paperwork from the U.S. House clerk or from the Ethics Committee, and so I ended up submitting the information and the late request, obviously, as necessary.”
When a candidate registers their campaign with the FEC, they are generally mailed login information to submit their financial disclosure to whatever mailing address they used during registration, a person familiar with the process told WMUR.
“As far as I’m aware, I never received anything like that. I would have filled out that paperwork, if necessary, but as far as I’m aware, it did not come to my mail,” Howard said.
Howard said he has now submitted the required documentation via email as of March 5, but he has run into issues uploading the paperwork with the House Clerk’s Office.
“Unfortunately, also there has been, I guess, some sort of error in them uploading that information,” Howard said. “So, we’re working on that to try to get that handled.”
After the publication of this reporting, Howard’s campaign provided a email sent by the Director of Financial Disclosure, addressing the status of his filing.
“I believe there has been some confusion regarding submission of candidate Heath’s Financial Disclosure (FD) filings It doesn’t appear that the Clerk assigned him a financial disclosure last year and the only due date he received was for this May 15, 2026,” Stephanie Richards, the Director of Financial Disclosure, wrote in a letter to the campaign. “When the extension request was received and approved, the system should have rejected it since there was not, yet an FD assigned. That did not seem to happen.”
A person familiar with the process said most candidates choose to submit the paperwork via an online system set up for candidates.
Howard provided WMUR with the paperwork that he said he submitted via PDF. The document provided is titled, “2024 Financial Disclosure Report.” Howard said the documents are still accurate, despite the discrepancy in the year. A 2025 form is available.
In an email, Richards told Howard that they do not accept PDFs, and that he should submit the disclosure via their online system.
Tom Rust, staff director and chief counsel for the Ethics Committee, declined comment when asked by WMUR about Howard’s filing process and why he was granted an extension.
Howard faces a fee of several hundred dollars for failing to file on time, but he has requested it be waived.
“As far as I am aware, my campaign committee never received any request for this documentation. Otherwise, I would have completed this by the end of Q3,” he wrote in a document submitted to the office charged with handling financial disclosures.
Howard has until June 14 to complete his disclosure.
Karishma Manzur
Manzur entered the race for the Senate over the summer as a political outsider of sorts, hoping to be a progressive alternative to U.S. Rep. Chris Pappas, who was already dominating in the polls. It appears Manzur is in violation of FEC regulations, as she has yet to file her required financial disclosure.
Manzur holds a doctorate in biochemistry and molecular biology and has researched diseases such as Alzheimer’s and epilepsy, while also getting involved in local politics.
Per the Senate Ethics Committee, a candidate must file within 30 days after becoming a candidate or by May 15 of that calendar year, whichever is later.
Manzur made her candidacy official with the FEC on Aug. 20, 2025, and had raised $5,000 by that same day. Manzur should have filed her disclosure by Sept. 19 and is now more than six months late.
When asked by WMUR why she has yet to file, Manzur’s campaign team said they are working with the Senate Ethics Committee staff to prepare to file any required reports.
“We are currently in contact with the Senate Ethics Committee,” a senior adviser told WMUR. “We have an account set up, and we will be filing the disclosure ASAP. We understand that there will be a $200 fine for a late submission.”
Sarah Chadzynski
Chadzynski has campaigned as someone who would push back against the Trump Administration since she entered the race last summer.
According to financial donation totals released by the FEC, Chadzynski reached the $5,000 threshold by July 30, which would mean she should have submitted her financial disclosure on Aug. 29.
Eight months after that date, she has yet to file a disclosure or a request for an extension.
On Wednesday, Chadzynski told WMUR she has contacted the House Ethics Committee and is looking to identify how she can submit the necessary paperwork.
“It is feasible that we did not receive our credentials due to the government shutdown. We are waiting for our credentials from the House Ethics Committee and look forward to filing our financial disclosure as soon as possible,” Chadzynski said. “I am a transparent working-class candidate, and I am sure my compliance team will remedy this situation as soon as possible.”
What it means to file late
According to Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, a nonprofit watchdog that calls for transparency in the nation’s capital, it is not unusual for first-time candidates to file late.
“There are fines if you are late filing,” said Meghan Faulkner, communications director for the organization. “If a candidate you know continuously refuses to file, especially if they are then elected to office, then there can be more serious penalties.”
Penalties, Faulkner said, are largely limited to financial penalties if the candidate ultimately files the disclosure. Candidates who fail to file at all or knowingly evade submitting the required information are at risk of criminal charges.
Faulkner said it is critical for all candidates to submit a disclosure, as voters have a right to know what financial interests politicians may have in order to avoid potential conflicts of interests.
“A lot of this just comes down to transparency and voters having a transparent view into who they are voting for and what those interests are,” Faulkner said. “And I think you know there’s a lot of areas where we are lacking transparency. And this is a really important one that voters deserve insight into.”