Democrat Chris Pappas has won New Hampshire’s open US Senate seat, defeating Republican former senator John Sununu and keeping a seat his party has held for 18 years out of Republican hands.
Pappas, 46, a four-term member of the US House of Representatives, was projected to win on Tuesday night, according to media projections reported by Reuters and the Associated Press. Sununu conceded the race on Tuesday night, telling supporters it was “not our night” and that he had called Pappas to congratulate him.
The result is a significant hold for Democrats in their fight for control of the Senate. Republicans went into Tuesday’s elections with a 53-47 majority, meaning Democrats need a net gain of four seats to take the chamber. Losing New Hampshire would have made that arithmetic considerably harder; holding it keeps their path alive, even though control of the Senate remains undecided while other races are counted.
Pappas will succeed Jeanne Shaheen, a Democrat who is retiring after three terms in the Senate. Shaheen first won the seat in 2008 by defeating Sununu, who had held it since 2003, so Tuesday’s result also closed a long-running chapter in New Hampshire politics: Sununu’s attempted comeback ended against the successor to the woman who unseated him.
Energy costs loomed large in the campaign. New Hampshire, a cold-weather state where heating oil is a household necessity, has felt the sharp rise in energy prices, and Pappas blamed President Donald Trump and fellow Republicans for the war with Iran, which has disrupted oil shipments. Sununu, by contrast, argued that increased domestic energy production would bring prices down. The contest became a test of whether voters blamed the administration for the squeeze on living costs or accepted the Republican argument that more domestic production was the answer.
Pappas has represented New Hampshire’s 1st Congressional District in the House since 2019, when he became the state’s first openly LGBTQ+ member of Congress. His move to the Senate carries a further historic first: he will be the first openly gay man elected to the upper chamber, a milestone for LGBTQ+ representation in Washington. Openly LGBTQ+ women have previously served in the Senate, but no openly gay man had won election to it before Tuesday.
Pappas, who grew up working in his family’s Manchester restaurant, campaigned as a moderate Democrat, telling voters the country was ready for change. His victory continues a long Democratic run in New Hampshire’s federal races: the state has not elected a Republican to Congress since 2010, even as Republicans have remained competitive in state-level contests.
The result remains a projection rather than a certified outcome. The Associated Press called the race on Tuesday evening, and the final official count will be certified by New Hampshire’s election authorities in due course. Control of the Senate as a whole will not be settled until the remaining uncalled races are decided.
Note: the featured image is an official 2022 portrait of Chris Pappas, not a photograph from election night.
Sources: Reuters, “Chris Pappas holds New Hampshire US Senate seat for Democrats”, 4 November 2026, https://www.reuters.com/world/us/chris-pappas-holds-new-hampshire-us-senate-seat-democrats-2026-11-04/ ; Associated Press race call as reported on 3 November 2026.
