Pappas to face Trump-endorsed John Sununu in general election
U.S. Rep. Chris Pappas won New Hampshire’s Democratic Senate primary on Tuesday, defeating progressive challenger Karishma Manzur to claim the nomination for a seat that opened when three-term incumbent Sen. Jeanne Shaheen, 79, announced her retirement. The contest sets up a general election matchup against former Sen. John E. Sununu, the Donald Trump-endorsed Republican who is seeking to return to the seat he once held and is part of a New Hampshire political dynasty that includes his father and brother, both former governors.
Pappas, a centrist who has represented New Hampshire in the U.S. House since 2019 and has crossed the aisle at various points, consolidated establishment support to fend off Manzur’s progressive challenge. He earned endorsements from former Vice President Kamala Harris and leading Democratic lawmakers, and has described himself as “battle-tested.” His name also carries weight in New Hampshire retail politics: the Pappases own the Puritan Backroom, a century-old Manchester restaurant that is famed for allegedly inventing the chicken tender.
Support for Israel played a large role in the primary, as it has in many intraparty Democratic contests this year. Manzur, who backs Medicare for All and higher taxes on mega-corporations and the ultra-wealthy, repeatedly highlighted the money Pappas has received from donors aligned with the American Israel Public Affairs Committee. She casts him as milquetoast and ineffective.
Manzur, in remarks during the campaign, said: “I was tired of choosing between the lesser of two evils and still seeing so much pain and suffering right here in my state.”
Pappas has long backed U.S. aid to Israel but told the Guardian that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was “not a trustworthy ally of the US” and said he hoped the Israeli leader would be ousted in the country’s October election. Pappas noted that he has rejected corporate PAC money in this race, though he did not directly address his support from pro-Israel donors, instead pointing to a “broad-based effort” of individual contributors backing his Senate bid.
The general-election matchup against Sununu carries national stakes. Some Democrats worry New Hampshire could become a sleeper risk — a state where Republicans control the legislature but have not won a Senate race since 2010, when Kelly Ayotte, now the governor, captured a seat.