Sununu and Pappas Advance in New Hampshire Senate

At long last, the overall election stage has formally been set in the New Hampshire Senate race, where it’ll soon be decided who will get to fill the seat being vacated by Democrat Sen. Jeanne Shaheen, who opted not to run for reelection.

As RedState beforehand reported, polling trends throughout the first marketing campaign season persistently confirmed that Trump-backed former Sen. John E. Sununu would seemingly win the GOP nomination to take on the possible Democrat nominee, four-term Democrat Rep. Chris Pappas (NH-01), who was endorsed at the last minute by failed 2024 Democrat presidential nominee Kamala Harris. Pappas also persistently polled first among Democrats exterior of the most latest ballot, which indicated the race was tightening.

Decision Desk has now projected that both Sununu and Pappas have superior, with Sununu besting the second-place finisher, former Massachusetts Sen. Scott Brown, and Pappas defeating socialist favourite and self-described “peace activist” Karishma Manzur.

Decision Desk HQ tasks John Sununu wins the NH US Senate Republican Primary#DecisionMade: 8:00 PM EDT pic.twitter.com/ONwfVNbpLM

— Decision Desk HQ (@DecisionDeskHQ) September 9, 2026

Decision Desk HQ tasks Chris Pappas wins the NH US Senate Democratic Primary#DecisionMade: 8:00 PM EDT pic.twitter.com/x5z7vC29g6

— Decision Desk HQ (@DecisionDeskHQ) September 9, 2026

Hypothetical common election matchup polling in this race has indicated it’ll seemingly be very aggressive, with Sununu forward in the 2 most latest ones, although within the margin of error.

As we have also reported, Sununu’s strong exhibiting so far, along with household title recognition, has induced some New Hampshire Democrats, including Pappas, to hit the panic button:

Mr. Pappas himself is raising the alarm and underscoring the national implications of the race. He put it bluntly in a fund-raising electronic mail on Friday morning: “We’re losing.”

[…]

On paper, New Hampshire must be simple for the Democrats to maintain onto. Ms. Shaheen and Senator Maggie Hassan, the state’s other Democratic senator, had been handily re-elected in 2022 and 2020. Voters there haven’t elected a Republican to the Senate since Kelly Ayotte, who is now the governor, was elected in 2010. The state has not backed a Republican for president since 2000.

But New Hampshire Democrats — whose main character vitality has not ebbed despite being dislodged from their conventional high-profile function as host of the kickoff presidential major — say the image is more sophisticated, significantly with Mr. Sununu in it. Ms. Hassan and Ms. Shaheen confronted little-known Republicans in their last races. The last time a Democrat confronted a severe Republican contender, when Ms. Ayotte ran for re-election in 2016, Ms. Hassan gained by just about 1,000 votes.

To view more detailed outcomes on this race and other New Hampshire major races, please click on right here.

Editor’s Note: The 2026 Midterms will decide the destiny of President Trump’s America First agenda. Republicans must preserve control of both chambers of Congress.

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