Democrats score major Senate victory as Pappas defeats Trump-backed Republican in key battleground

The Fox News Decision Desk projects that Democratic Rep. Chris Pappas of New Hampshire will defeat former Republican Sen. John E. Sununu in a competitive and expensive swing state race.

With 19.18% of the votes reported, Papas captured 60.6% compared to Sununu receiving 37.61% of the votes, according to Fox News Decision Desk. He will succeed retiring longtime Democratic Sen. Jeanne Shaheen.

The victory by Pappas, a four-term congressman, is a boost for his party as the race was viewed as a must-hold for the Democrats as they try to win back the Senate majority from the GOP in the midterm elections.

Sununu, who was endorsed by President Donald Trump but kept his distance from the president, was aiming to return to the U.S. Senate after 18 years away. Sununu repeatedly argued that Pappas had "been in Washington for 8 years and hasn't delivered for New Hampshire."

"He has attempted very little in Congress. He's accomplished even less," Sununu told Fox News Digital recently. And he charged that Pappas would be "a rubber stamp for the far left."

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But Pappas, noting that he's "been reelected three times in one of the toughest congressional districts in the country," told Fox News Digital "I work with people across the aisle, and I've been rated as one of the most bipartisan Democrats in the House."

"I've worked across the aisle on fentanyl scheduling to make sure that fentanyl analogs are Schedule One and that we're able to stay ahead of the cartels and the drugs that they're pushing into this country. I challenged Joe Biden on the border."

Pappas, a co-owner of the famed Puritan Backroom restaurant, which has been a family run business for over a century and is known for its chicken tenders and as a must-stop in Manchester for politicians, was elected to New Hampshire's five-member Executive Council before winning a seat in Congress.

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Rep. Chris Pappas of New Hampshire, the Democratic Senate nominee, speaks at a state party event, on Oct. 3, 2026 in Concord, N.H. (Paul Steinhauser/Fox News)

He defeated a far-left socialist rival by double-digits in the state's early September primary to capture the Democratic Senate nomination.

Pappas and Democrats repeatedly anchored Sununu to Trump, whose approval ratings are well underwater in New Hampshire and around the country.

But Sununu told Fox News Digital, "This election is about New Hampshire. It's about who's going to give New Hampshire the strong independent voice we need in Washington, and that will be me...this is a six-year term. Donald Trump will be out of office in two years, and the question I have for voters is who's going to lead the country and the Senate in the right direction for New Hampshire."

Former Sen. John E. Sununu, the GOP Senate nominee in New Hampshire, speaks with Fox News Digital, on Sept. 14, 2026 in Concord, N.H. (Paul Steinhauser/Fox News)

Sununu spent six years in the U.S. House before winning election to the Senate in 2002, defeating then-Gov. Jeanne Shaheen. But he lost his 2008 rematch with Shaheen.

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Sununu enjoyed plenty of name recognition in New Hampshire as he bid to return to the Senate. His father, John E. Sununu, served six years as governor before heading to Washington, D.C., as then-President George H.W. Bush's White House chief of staff. And one of his younger brothers, Chris Sununu, recently served eight years as governor before taking a break from politics.

Paul Steinhauser covers the national campaign trail from coast to coast for Fox News