Democrats retained New Hampshire’s open Senate seat after Rep. Chris Pappas defeated former Sen. John E. Sununu, the Associated Press reported Tuesday, in a contest with implications for the chamber’s party balance.
AP said Pappas’ election would make him the first man to win a Senate election while openly gay. The Senate’s official history identifies Sen. Tammy Baldwin as the chamber’s first openly gay senator.
Sen. Jeanne Shaheen is leaving after three terms, AP reported. Pappas’ official House biography says he became the first openly gay person from New Hampshire to serve in Congress.
EconoTimes previously reported that Pappas won the Sept. 8 Democratic primary and centered his bid on household costs and rural health care access in coverage of his Senate campaign. That report said Shaheen’s March 2025 decision not to seek reelection opened the seat and noted Sununu served in the Senate from 2003 to 2009.
After the result, Pappas said, “New Hampshire showed up today,” AP reported.
