Democrat Chris Pappas has won New Hampshire’s open U.S. Senate seat, defeating Republican John E. Sununu in a contest that helped determine control of the chamber.

The Associated Press declared Pappas the winner Tuesday night. A contemporaneous New Hampshire Bulletin report said AP called the race at 8:20 p.m. Eastern and showed Pappas with about 60% of the vote at 8:30 p.m. Those figures were partial election-night returns, not a final certified tally.

New Hampshire’s secretary of state cautions that its posted tallies reflect returns reported by local clerks and can change if clerks submit amendments. The result is therefore a race call, while the final canvass and certification remain separate official steps.

An open seat stays Democratic

Pappas will succeed retiring Democratic Sen. Jeanne Shaheen. The Federal Election Commission identifies Pappas as the Democratic candidate for New Hampshire’s open Senate seat. The FEC likewise lists Sununu as the Republican candidate for the same statewide office.

The contest drew national attention because Democrats needed to defend the seat while pursuing gains elsewhere. Pappas entered the race after representing New Hampshire’s 1st Congressional District since 2019. Before Congress, he served in the New Hampshire House, as Hillsborough County treasurer and on the state Executive Council.

Sununu brought extensive federal experience of his own. He served three terms in the U.S. House and one term in the Senate before losing to Shaheen in 2008. His father and brother both served as New Hampshire governors, giving the Republican nominee one of the state’s best-known political names.

A campaign centered on costs and Washington

Pappas presented himself as a pragmatic New Hampshire voice and emphasized household costs, health care and political accountability. He also worked to connect Sununu to President Donald Trump, arguing that the former senator would not provide sufficient independence from the administration.

Sununu campaigned as an experienced problem-solver and attacked Pappas as an entrenched Washington politician. Republicans had hoped his statewide profile and family name could return the seat to the GOP in a state that often elects Republican governors even while supporting Democrats in federal races.

AP’s account said Sununu conceded shortly after the polls closed. The concession did not substitute for the call: TAQ is reporting the result because AP explicitly declared Pappas the winner after assessing the vote, the ballots still outstanding and the remaining paths available to the trailing candidate.

Historic representation and Senate stakes

Pappas is set to become the first openly gay man elected to the U.S. Senate. That milestone was not the central argument of his campaign, but it adds national significance to a result already important to the chamber’s partisan balance.

The New Hampshire victory was a Democratic hold rather than a pickup, but preserving the seat was essential to the party’s route to a majority. AP later reported that Democrats had won control of the Senate after victories in several Republican-held states. Pappas’s win prevented Republicans from offsetting those gains by capturing Shaheen’s seat.

The senator-elect will move from the House to a six-year Senate term beginning with the new Congress. His departure also creates a transition in the 1st District, where voters separately chose his successor.

Election-night percentages will continue to change as additional precincts and absentee ballots are processed. The durable facts are the office, the candidates and AP’s winner call: Chris Pappas defeated John E. Sununu for New Hampshire’s open U.S. Senate seat.

Feature photo: Chris Pappas speaking at the 2019 New Hampshire Democratic State Convention, photographed by Marc Nozell, via Wikimedia Commons, licensed under CC BY 2.0. Cropped to 16:9.