Democratic New Hampshire Rep. Chris Pappas will face former Sen. John E. Sununu in the November general election for an open U.S. Senate seat. Pappas, a Democrat currently serving in the House, secured his party's nomination. Sununu, a Republican who represented New Hampshire in the Senate from 2003 to 2009, won his party's nomination. The contest is for a seat that could affect the partisan balance in the U.S. Senate. No other candidates from the two major parties are participating in the general election.
This matchup gives New Hampshire voters a direct referendum on whether to restore constitutional restraint in the Senate or continue expanding federal reach. Sununu's record aligns with limiting national power, while Pappas has backed policies that increase Washington control over state matters and individual decisions. The outcome matters because Senate control determines whether legislation respects federalism or overrides state authority on issues from spending to regulation. The Constitution's structure of enumerated powers and separation of branches was designed precisely to prevent the accumulation of unchecked authority that modern progressives often pursue. Voters who value original limits on government should back the candidate who treats those boundaries as binding rather than optional.