Chris Pappas Defeats John Sununu in New Hampshire Senate Race

Democratic Rep. Chris Pappas defeated Republican former Sen. John Sununu in New Hampshire's November 3, 2026, Senate election, according to NBC News projections.

The victory keeps the seat under Democratic control as Sen. Jeanne Shaheen prepares to retire and makes Pappas the first openly gay man elected to the US Senate.

Election results reported by NBC News showed Pappas receiving 59.1% of the vote, compared with 39.1% for Sununu and 1.8% for independent candidate Edmond Laplante. The reported total reached 209,229 votes.

The outcome preserves a Democratic-held seat that Shaheen has occupied for 18 years. She first won the position in 2008, defeating Sununu when he was seeking a second Senate term.

Pappas, who entered the House of Representatives in January 2019, secured the Democratic nomination in September after defeating challenger Karishma Manzur. He previously won a Republican-held House district in 2018.

Despite Democratic expectations, the contest attracted significant attention because of New Hampshire's competitive political environment. Kamala Harris carried the state by just 3 percentage points in the 2024 presidential election, according to NBC News.

During the campaign, Pappas acknowledged the uncertainty surrounding the result and cautioned against assuming victory.

"I take nothing for granted," Pappas said.

He also described the state's electoral environment and the difficulty of predicting its political outcomes.

"This is a very purple, competitive state. Elections are never in the bag here."

Pappas focused much of his campaign criticism on Sununu's relationship with President Donald Trump. A University of New Hampshire poll cited by The Guardian placed Trump's approval rating in the state at 32%.

"Sununu has spent most of the last year on Team Trump, and now that we're getting within range of the election, he's recognizing how unpopular the president is," Pappas said.

Sununu sought to establish distance from Trump's policies, particularly the administration's trade measures and military involvement in Iran. He also attempted to distinguish his political record from the president's positions.

In a campaign advertisement, Sununu claimed to have "never met" Trump. During the 2024 Republican presidential primary, he also supported Nikki Haley and previously described Trump as a "loser" in an opinion article.

During their final televised debate, Pappas challenged Sununu over his initial support for the administration's strikes on Iran. Sununu rejected that characterization, saying Pappas "exaggerates" his position and emphasizing his opposition to deploying American ground troops.

Economic concerns also became an important issue in the contest. Democrats connected rising gasoline and heating-oil costs to the war with Iran, particularly because more than a third of New Hampshire households depend on heating oil.

Jim Demers, a veteran Democratic strategist in New Hampshire, said voter frustration was increasing over the political direction of the Republican Party.

"People are now starting to get really angry," Demers said.

He argued that voters could view Sununu as insufficiently independent from the president despite his campaign criticism of Trump's policies.

Republican strategists also expressed concern about the president's political standing in the state. One New Hampshire strategist, speaking anonymously to The Guardian, described the difficulty of presenting a convincing case for another Republican senator.

"It might be a little too much to send Trump an additional senator when the president's numbers are just so low. It's very difficult to articulate why a Republican should win that seat," the strategist said.

The same strategist compared the political consequences of the current conflict with an earlier period of Republican difficulties in New Hampshire.

"The war in Iraq is what broke the back of the Republican party in New Hampshire 20 years ago," the strategist said.

New Hampshire's tendency to split votes between parties also shaped the election. Although Democrats control the state's congressional delegation, Republicans hold the governorship and state legislature.

Voter John McAllister, a firefighter in Nashua, supported Pappas while also backing Republican Gov. Kelly Ayotte. He credited Pappas with consistently supporting firefighters' concerns.

McAllister described the congressman's record as that of a "true supporter" of firefighters' issues.

He also praised Ayotte's efforts to restore public safety employee pensions, saying the changes had returned "thousands of dollars" to first responders.

McAllister said the state's voters have repeatedly demonstrated their willingness to support candidates from different political parties.

"We have proven time and time again to go either Republican or Democrat," he said.

Sununu's defeat ends his attempt to return to the Senate, where he represented New Hampshire from 2003 to 2009. Pappas will take over the seat when Shaheen's term ends.