Democrat Chris Pappas won the US Senate election in New Hampshire in a tight race against former Senator John Sununu. He thereby kept the open seat in Democratic hands and prevented it from passing to the Republicans.
Pappas, a 46-year-old congressman in his fourth term, has profiled himself in the US House of Representatives as a centrist voice who has occasionally broken with his own party on key legislation. He focused his Senate campaign on positioning himself as a bulwark against President Donald Trump's administration, whose policies are unpopular in the Granite State. During the campaign, he highlighted a series of unpopular moves by the administration, from the war against Iran to the cuts in Medicaid included in the One Big Beautiful Bill Act.
Pappas received the endorsement of several prominent Democrats. Sununu, who once called Trump a 'loser', portrayed him as a false moderate who would ultimately only confirm the president's agenda. With his victory, Pappas will become the first openly gay man to serve in the US Senate.
The race became a late source of concern for Democrats as moderate Pappas found himself in a tight contest with Sununu. The two candidates were competing to succeed Jeanne Shaheen, the retiring Democratic senator.
Sununu represented New Hampshire in the Senate before losing his seat in 2008. He presented himself as an independent-thinking candidate and sought to distance himself from Trump, despite receiving the president's endorsement. He criticised the war in Iran and accused the administration of not doing enough to support Ukraine, while claiming in a recent campaign ad that he had 'never met' the president.
