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New Hampshire’s premier Senate race is on after party leaders secured their top choices in what’s shaping up to be one of the tightest contests in the entire country come November.
Democratic Rep. Chris Pappas will face former Republican Sen. John E. Sununu after Pappas easily defeated progressive Karishma Manzur in the Democratic primary. And Sununu crushed former GOP Sen. Scott Brown, a show of dominance attributable to President Donald Trump’s endorsement, backing from many GOP senators and his family’s dynastic reputation in New Hampshire.
Now, the general election looms and polls show the race is a little too close for comfort for Democrats in a state where they haven’t lost a Senate race since 2010.
“I do think Chris Pappas is in a tighter race than most of the political class recognize,” Sen. Chris Coons, D-Del., told Semafor before Tuesday night’s primary results. “We have to retain that one.”
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Republicans argue the race could be a game-changer for them because it could blunt Democrats’ momentum in regaining control of the Senate. If Democrats lose New Hampshire’s Senate seat, they have to win five more seats elsewhere in addition to defending their existing territory — a task that’s all but impossible without a titanic wave election.
“After personally recruiting Sununu to run, [Senate Majority] Leader John Thune and Senate Republicans have expanded the map and are poised to flip the Granite State,” said Alex Latcham, who runs the Thune-aligned Senate Leadership Fund super PAC.
To be sure, Pappas has been preparing for a very tight race in a battleground state that has been a consistent bright spot for Democrats in the Trump era. He told Semafor this summer that New Hampshire is “very much a purple state. I think Democrats have done the work to win what ordinarily would be incredibly tough races at the federal level, but that doesn’t change the dynamics of New Hampshire.”