Trump-Endorsed Candidate Wins GOP Primary In Critical Senate Race

Former Senator John E. Sununu, a scion of one of the most powerful families in New Hampshire politics, won the Republican Senate primary on Tuesday, according to The Associated Press. https://t.co/r2pcgNuiLB

— The New York Times (@nytimes) September 9, 2026

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The candidates will battle for the open Senate seat created when Senator Jeanne Shaheen, a Democrat, announced her retirement.

Both Mr. Sununu and Mr. Brown had previously lost Senate races to Ms. Shaheen, who has served three terms. Ms. Shaheen beat Mr. Sununu in 2008. She beat Mr. Brown in 2014, after he moved to New Hampshire from Massachusetts.

Mr. Sununu, who served three terms in the U.S. House and one in the Senate, is the brother of the charismatic former Governor Chris Sununu, who is still widely popular across the state, and the son of former Governor John H. Sununu. Mr. Brown expressed frustration that some voters seemed to confuse John E. Sununu with his brother, whose eight-year term ended last year, or his father.

Mr. Sununu’s victory tees up a general election battle that could help determine which party controls the U.S. Senate. In recent weeks, Democrats in the state have been sounding the alarm that Mr. Sununu could beat Mr. Pappas, the four-term congressman from the state’s swingy First Congressional District.

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Rep. Chris Pappas thanked supporters and promised he would represent all residents of New Hampshire if elected Senator. He would face Republican nominee John Sununu in the general election. pic.twitter.com/Jh9j3K6bZ7

— CSPAN (@cspan) September 9, 2026

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Fabrizio, Lee & Associates poll | 8/27-8/30 LV

US Senate New Hampshire 2026

John Sununu 37%

Chris Pappas 36%
️Aaron Day 1%
️Tim Harris 1%
️Christine Lopez 1%

(Republican pollster) pic.twitter.com/sxvL2Td3MO

— Politics & Poll Tracker

(@PollTracker2024) September 3, 2026

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Trump endorsed Sununu in the primary against former Sen. Scott Brown of Massachusetts, who also was an ambassador during Trump’s first term. Sununu had 70% support to Brown’s 25% with about a sixth of the vote counted.

First elected to the House in 2018, Pappas has long been viewed as the front-runner in the race to replace retiring Democrat Jeanne Shaheen. And he had already started to focus on the likely general election contest against Sununu, launching an attack against Sununu in mid-August.

“In Congress, Sununu gave huge tax breaks to pharma companies and sided with the insurance industry, and then he went to work for them and made $35 million,” Pappas said in the ad. “In Washington, I’m taking on this kind of corruption, refusing corporate PAC money and fighting to lower costs.”

Republicans, meanwhile, have already begun to attack Pappas. One Nation, the nonprofit arm of the GOP super PAC Senate Leadership Fund, launched an ad knocking Pappas on taxes. The spot alleges Pappas “gave out tax breaks to New Yorkers for their million-dollar homes” when he supported a sweeping climate and social safety net measure in 2021.

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