Democratic Rep. Chris Pappas has won New Hampshire’s Senate race, NBC News projects, defeating Republican John Sununu’s bid to return to the House after two decades.
Pappas will become the first gay man elected to the Senate.
The result also means the seat will remain in Democratic hands, with Sen. Jeanne Shaheen retiring at the end of this term after holding it for 18 years. She was first elected in 2008, defeating Sununu as he sought a second term.
Democrats were favored to win the seat, although the party at times raised alarms about whether it was taking New Hampshire’s swing state status seriously enough. Kamala Harris, then vice president, won New Hampshire by just 3 percentage points in the 2024 presidential race.
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Pappas, a House member since January 2019, won the Democratic Senate nomination in September, handily defeating left-wing challenger Karishma Manzur.
Sununu had hoped that his name recognition — as a former senator as well as the brother of one popular New Hampshire governor and the son of another — would help propel him to victory.
But President Donald Trump’s unpopularity has proven to be an anchor in his hopes, even as he has distanced himself from Trump’s war on Iran and its tariffs.
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