Democratic Rep. Chris Pappas will face GOP former Sen. John E. Sununu in New Hampshire Senate race, CNN projects

<i>CJ Gunther/Getty Images via CNN Newsource</i><br/>New Hampshire Democratic Senate Candidate Chris Pappas speaks to reporters after he casts his ballot at a polling location on September 8

By CNN Newsource

Published September 8, 2026 6:00 PM

By David Wright, Katie Doran, Izzy Lippolis, CNN

(CNN) — Democratic Rep. Chris Pappas will face Republican former Sen. John E. Sununu in the race for New Hampshire’s open Senate seat, CNN’s Decision Desk projects.

The battle for retiring Democratic Sen. Jeanne Shaheen’s seat could prove critical to her party’s hopes of flipping the chamber in November.

Tuesday’s contests are setting several key midterm matchups that could test the status quo in New Hampshire, which has largely elected Republicans in the state government while sending Democrats to the US Senate and House of Representatives in recent years.

At the top of the ballot, voters also picked nominees for governor, with CNN projecting that Republicans will renominate Kelly Ayotte for another two-year term while healthcare lawyer Cinde Warmington ran unopposed for the Democratic nomination.

With Pappas vacating his battleground House seat, voters are weighing in on who should replace him. Jeanne Shaheen’s daughter, Stefany Shaheen, is running in a crowded field for the Democratic nomination. President Donald Trump’s preferred candidate in the race, businessman Anthony DiLorenzo, will win the Republican primary, CNN projects.

Here are the key results:

Key Senate matchup set

The Republican Senate race tested whether past criticism of President Donald Trump still carries a price in a GOP primary.

Sununu, who held the seat from 2003 to 2009 and belongs to the state’s most established Republican family, defeated Scott Brown, the former Massachusetts senator and Trump ambassador who ran as an outsider vowing to break up a political dynasty.

While Sununu described Trump as a “loser” in an op-ed backing Nikki Haley’s 2024 presidential campaign and said that he wouldn’t have launched the war in Iran, he still managed to secure Trump’s endorsement along with support from the national Republican establishment.

On the Democratic side, Pappas, a four-term congressman from a battleground House district, defeated Karishma Manzur, a democratic socialist who sought to score the latest upset for an ascendent anti-establishment left-wing.

Echoing Democratic primaries across the country this year that have wrestled with the issue of US support for Israel amid the devastation in Gaza, Pappas received criticism from his rival over his voting record in Congress and his relationship with the American Israel Public Affairs Committee.

But Pappas prevailed in the contentious race with a focus on affordability concerns, a vocal defense of safety-net programs, and a strong electoral track record, while also benefiting from about $4.8 million in outside spending, according to AdImpact data.

His victory could give Democrats a more clear-cut path to holding onto the seat in November than Manzur would have. But Sununu’s strong name recognition and Senate record could prove troublesome for Pappas.

A Republican governor in Harris territory

Ayotte, a former US senator and state attorney general, is one of only two GOP governors seeking reelection this cycle in a state that former Vice President Kamala Harris won in 2024.

She campaigned on tougher public safety policies, drawing on her experience as a prosecutor, as well as expanding affordable housing and combating new taxes. She defeated two primary challengers.

In her time as governor, Ayotte has had an occasionally antagonistic relationship with New Hampshire’s legislature, despite the body being controlled by her own party. In the last legislative session, Ayotte vetoed 33 bills. Lawmakers overturned seven of the vetoes, clashing with the governor over issues like criminal justice and education.

With Warmington running unopposed in her primary, Republicans turned their attention to the former New Hampshire executive councilor’s campaign early and sought to tie her to the opioid crisis.

The Democrat previously worked for Purdue Pharma, which produced the highly addictive painkiller OxyContin, and in the early 2000s she fought against a state bill meant to make it more difficult to get a prescription for the drug. She has since said she was not aware of how dangerous the drug was at the time.

While Harris won the state in 2024, Republicans have held a trifecta in the state government for several years.

Another win for a Trump-backed candidate

DiLorenzo defeated a crowd of rivals in the Republican primary in New Hampshire’s 1st District.

The first-time candidate endorsed by Trump leaned heavily on his experience in the private sector as a real estate developer and auto dealer, funneling more than $1.7 million of his own money into his campaign.

DiLorenzo, a longtime GOP donor, was helped by Trump and key members of GOP House leadership as Republicans look to flip the 1st District and expand their razor-thin majority in the chamber.

Pappas has represented the seat, which encompasses the city of Manchester, since 2019.

This story has been updated with additional projections.

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