Former Sen. John E. Sununu won New Hampshire's Republican Senate primary Tuesday and will face Democratic Rep. Chris Pappas in November for the seat being vacated by retiring Sen. Jeanne Shaheen.
Sununu defeated former Massachusetts Sen. Scott Brown in a field of eight Republicans. With more than half the estimated vote counted late Tuesday, Sununu led Brown 68% to about 27%, The Associated Press reported. Trump endorsed Sununu in February, according to CBS News, even though Brown had served as his ambassador to New Zealand and Samoa during his first term, and even though Sununu called the president a loser during the 2024 campaign.
Pappas defeated Karishma Manzur, a member of the Democratic Socialists of America and a research scientist with a doctorate in biochemistry and molecular biology, along with three other candidates. With more than 60% counted, Pappas led Manzur 65% to 33%, the AP reported. Manzur ran a small donor campaign focused on removing corporate money from politics and expanding access to health care and child care.
The primary had tightened late. A University of New Hampshire poll conducted Aug. 20 to 24 put Pappas ahead by 13 points, 47% to 34%, down from a 51 point lead a year earlier, according to Newsweek. Federal records showed Pappas raised $15.4 million through July 29 against Manzur's $415,000, Roll Call reported.
Both men opened the general election within minutes of winning. Speaking at his family's Manchester restaurant, Pappas tied Sununu to the president and said this was not the moment to hand the state back to a failed politician from the past, NBC Boston reported. Sununu called Pappas a career politician who has held office for nearly his entire adult life.
The Sununu name carries weight here. He spent six years in the U.S. House and one term in the Senate, winning this same seat in 2002 by beating Shaheen before losing it back to her in 2008. His brother Chris Sununu served four terms as governor and left office in January 2025. Their father, John H. Sununu, was governor for three terms and then chief of staff to President George H.W. Bush.
Republican Gov. Kelly Ayotte won her primary comfortably and will face Cinde Warmington, who was unopposed for the Democratic nomination, NBC Boston reported.
In the 1st Congressional District seat Pappas is giving up, the Democratic race went past midnight. The AP called it for former Portsmouth City Councilor Stefany Shaheen at 12:35 a.m. Wednesday with 88% of ballots counted and fewer than 2,000 votes separating her from Marine Corps veteran Maura Sullivan, New Hampshire Public Radio reported. Anthony DiLorenzo of Portsmouth won the Republican nomination in the district.
The general election is eight weeks away. New Hampshire is one of the few realistic pickup opportunities for Senate Republicans in a cycle that otherwise favors Democrats. Kamala Harris carried the state by fewer than three percentage points in 2024, the same year voters elected a Republican governor and legislature. If Pappas wins in November, he would be the first openly gay man to serve in the Senate.