Republican John E. Sununu was declared the winner of Tuesday’s New Hampshire GOP Senate primary, teeing up a battleground general election with Democratic nominee Rep. Chris Pappas (D-NH).
The race was called for Sununu, a former New Hampshire senator and the brother of former New Hampshire Republican Gov. Chris Sununu, at 8 p.m. by the Associated Press. He garnered 69.6% against former Massachusetts Sen. Scott Brown‘s 25.2%, with 15% of the vote counted.
Sununu was the establishment-backed favorite who earned the endorsement of President Donald Trump despite having a more centrist streak and his brother, the former governor, once being vehemently opposed to the president. Brown, a former Massachusetts senator and ambassador in Trump’s first term, sought to court more of the grassroots conservative support.
The open seat is being vacated by retiring Sen. Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH) and is among the 10 most competitive races that could flip, an outcome that would likely dash Democrats’ hopes to retake Senate control. Republicans have a 53-47 majority, requiring Democrats to achieve a net gain of at least four seats in November.
SUNUNU AND SHAHEEN LOOK TO KEEP POLITICAL DYNASTIES ALIVE IN NEW HAMPSHIRE
Republicans are increasingly bullish about their odds thanks to neck-and-neck polling and Sununu’s statewide name recognition. The Granite State also has a track record of electing Republican governors even as it goes blue in presidential races, and it has a gubernatorial race at the top of the ticket this year.
Still, nonpartisan election forecasters give Democrats the edge, projecting it as a “lean” Democratic seat. Establishment-backed Pappas won his primary against socialist Karishma Manzur, preventing an upset victory that would have been the latest example this cycle of a more progressive outsider ousting an incumbent they deemed insufficiently liberal.