Politics

Chris Pappas Beats John Sununu To Keep New Hampshire Senate Seat In Democratic Hands

Screenshot/WMUR ABC

Democratic New Hampshire Rep. Chris Pappas beat former Republican Sen. John E. Sununu on Tuesday, keeping an open Senate seat Republicans hoped to flip.

The Associated Press called the race for Pappas at around 8:20 p.m. ET. He led Sununu 60.4% to 37.9%, with about 22 percent of the vote counted.

Pappas will succeed retiring Democratic Sen. Jeanne Shaheen. Republicans held a 53-47 Senate majority going into Election Day, and Democrats needed a net pickup of four seats to win control, according to Inside Elections ratings.

Pappas, who has represented the state’s First Congressional District in the House since 2019, ran for the Senate instead of seeking a fifth term, the Washington Sun reported.

Shaheen ousted Sununu in 2008 after the senator had served a single term, according to NOTUS. He served in the House for six years before that.

Sununu’s younger brother, Chris, is a former governor, and their father, John H. Sununu, was governor and later White House chief of staff, Roll Call reported.

Sununu ran with President Donald Trump’s backing. Trump endorsed him Feb. 1, NBC News reported.

Pappas gave up the House seat he held for four terms to run for the Senate.

Shaheen ousted Sununu in 2008 after a single Senate term. He served in the House for six years before that.

Sununu’s younger brother, Chris, is a former governor, and their father, John H. Sununu, was governor and later White House chief of staff, Roll Call reported.

Sununu ran with President Donald Trump’s backing. Trump endorsed him Feb. 1, NBC News reported.

Pappas went into Election Day ahead in the polls, leading 54 percent to 42 percent among 2,040 likely voters, counting those leaning toward a candidate, in a University of New Hampshire poll for WHDH taken Oct. 27-31. The poll had a margin of error of 2.2 percentage points.

Pappas’ campaign reported $23.7 million in receipts from January 2025 through Oct. 14, according to Federal Election Commission filings. Sununu’s campaign reported $5.6 million from Oct. 1, 2025, through the same date.

Energy costs came up at the candidates’ final debate Oct. 28 on WMUR, where they gave different answers on rising home heating costs, NHPR reported.

New Hampshire households paid an average of 27.64 cents per kilowatt-hour for electricity in August, up 13.1 percent from a year earlier, according to Energy Information Administration data. The national average was 18.16 cents.

Pappas and Republican New York Rep. Mike Lawler introduced the Energy Burden Tax Credit Act in January. The bill would give a tax credit worth 75 percent of home heating and cooling costs above three percent of a taxpayer’s income, up to $1,500 for single filers and $3,000 for joint filers. Single filers earning more than $75,000 and joint filers earning more than $150,000 would not qualify.

Edmond Laplante, the Constitution Party candidate on the ballot, got 1.8 percent of the vote.