Pappas will be the first out gay man to serve in the Senate
Chris Pappas won New Hampshire’s US Senate race, defeating Republican John Sununu and preventing a Republican flip in a closely fought 2026 midterm contest. At 46, Pappas brings four terms in the House to the Senate and will succeed retiring Democratic Senator Jeanne Shaheen as the first out gay man to serve in the US Senate.
The win keeps the seat held by retiring Democratic Senator Jeanne Shaheen in Democratic hands and ends Sununu’s bid to return to the chamber, where he served before losing his seat in 2008.
Pappas has been a centrist voice in the House and has at times broken with his party on major legislation. He made opposition to the Trump administration, which is unpopular in New Hampshire, central to his Senate campaign.
During his campaign, Pappas highlighted the administration’s low approval ratings and criticized its war against Iran and Medicaid cuts included in the One Big Beautiful Bill Act.
Pappas also secured endorsements from several prominent Democrats. He portrayed Sununu, who once called Donald Trump a “loser,” as a “faux moderate” who would ultimately “rubber-stamp” the president’s agenda.
The contest became a late source of anxiety for Democrats, with Pappas, described as a moderate, locked in a neck-and-neck battle against Sununu for the open seat.
Sununu pitched himself as an independent-minded candidate. He worked to put distance between himself and Trump despite securing the president’s endorsement.
Sununu criticized the administration’s war against Iran, accused it of not doing enough to support Ukraine and said in a recent campaign ad that he had “never met” the president.
In Manchester, New Hampshire, Pappas met supporters as he arrived to vote, according to a photograph by Kylie Cooper for Reuters.
Photo: Kylie Cooper/Reuters.