ReportSununu-Pappas Set: NH Senate Race That Decides the SenateAired September 9, 2026 at 7:32 AM UTCWritten September 9, 2026 at 7:34 AM UTCRead the write-upThis storyTranscript · LOADING0:00New Hampshire picked its Senate matchup, a Trump-backed former senator against an0:04eight-year congressman.0:05The winner helps decide control of the Senate, and this state hasn't elected a0:09Republican senator in 16 years.0:11So can the challenger turn the president's endorsement into victory in a state that0:15never voted for him?0:16John Sununu cleared the Republican field with 68% of the vote against former Senator0:22Scott Brown's 27.0:23He represented New Hampshire in the Senate from 2002 to 2008 and returns with the0:28president's endorsement.0:29Sununu has had a complicated history with the president.0:32He criticized Trump before, but the endorsement unified the party behind him and0:36settled the primary in a single night.0:38On the Democratic side, Congressman Chris Pappas won 65% to Karish Ma Manzer's 33, a0:44decisive win for the party establishment over a DSA-aligned challenger.0:48Both tallies are near-complete and unofficial.0:50Pappas' win keeps a Democratic establishment figure in the race, an eight-year House0:54veteran now making the jump to the Senate.0:56His pitch is affordability, housing, health care, energy, groceries.1:01He backs it with cross-state insurance competition, health savings accounts, more1:05domestic energy and pipelines, tariff cuts on building materials, term limits, and1:09stripping congressional health care perks.1:11In his victory remarks, he called Pappas ineffective, partisan, and out of touch.1:16Sununu also leveled a stack of specific claims against Pappas's record, the Pelosi1:21alignment count, 68 tax increase votes, 8 years on the Transportation Committee, 9%1:25inflation, clinicians spending a fifth to a quarter of their time on regulations,1:29and 3,000 Portsmouth Naval Shipyard workers at stake.1:32Every one of those is a campaign attack line, not an independently verified finding,1:36and the most quoted number, the 222 of 223 count, is a campaign statistic, not a1:42certified tally.1:44Before the primary, every measure showed a tight race.1:46The Real Clear Politics average had Pappas ahead by two, St.1:50Anselm's survey by seven, and a late University of New Hampshire poll found Sununu1:54ahead by two.1:55Cook Political Report rates the November election lean Democratic, the stakes run1:59through both parties.2:01Republicans see one of their best open-seat pickup opportunities in the country, and2:05Democrats treat this seat as a must-hold to protect their Senate majority.2:08The endorsement that cleared a primary is the same association Pappas now leans on.2:13New Hampshire backed the Democratic presidential nominee in 2024, and it has never2:17voted for the president.2:19November shapes up as a high-spending close contest in a purple-leaning state, where2:23the outcome could come down to independents and moderates.2:26So where does that leave November?2:28Cook rates it.2:29Lean Democratic, the polls are within a few points, and both campaigns expect a2:34high-spending fight.2:35What remains unknown is how the Trump Association plays with independents, and2:40whether Sununu's record claims survive scrutiny.2:42Sununu says he wants debates.2:44Pappas is tying him to the president.2:46The claims on both sides get tested through the fall, and that is the answer New2:50Hampshire votes on.Explore with HeyDexFollow via RSSThe shortThe short ↗