Key facts
- Pappas, a four-term Democratic congressman, defeated John Sununu, a former US senator, in the New Hampshire Senate race.
- Pappas will succeed Democrat Jeanne Shaheen, who is retiring after 18 years in the Senate.
- Republicans held a 53-47 Senate majority going into the November 3 elections, with Democrats needing a net gain of four seats.
- Pappas will be the first openly gay man to serve in the US Senate, the report said.
- Pappas blamed Trump and Republicans for the Iran war, which he said disrupted oil shipments and raised gasoline and heating oil prices.
- Sununu argued that increased domestic energy production would lower prices.
Democrat Chris Pappas won New Hampshire's open US Senate seat on November 3, 2026, according to media projections, defeating Republican John Sununu and preserving a Democratic seat as the party fights to take control of the chamber.
Pappas' victory denied Republicans a pickup in the cold-weather state, where high energy prices had become a major issue amid President Donald Trump's war with Iran. He will succeed Democrat Jeanne Shaheen, who is retiring after 18 years.
Pappas, a moderate US House member, blamed Trump and fellow Republicans for the Iran war, which has disrupted oil shipments and driven up gasoline and heating oil prices. Sununu, a former US senator from a prominent New Hampshire political family, argued that increased domestic energy production would lower prices.
Republicans held a 53-47 Senate majority going into the November 3 elections, with Democrats needing a net gain of four seats to take control. New Hampshire has long been considered a swing state because of its moderate electorate, and Republicans had targeted Shaheen's seat in their drive to retain their Senate majority.