New Hampshire voters have elected Democratic Congressman Chris Pappas to the US Senate, making him the first openly gay man to win a seat in the chamber.
Pappas, 46, defeated Republican former Senator John E. Sununu in Tuesday’s election for the state’s open Senate seat. The Associated Press called the race on election night, and Sununu conceded shortly after polls closed, telling supporters he had called Pappas to congratulate him.
Pappas will succeed retiring Democratic Senator Jeanne Shaheen when the new Congress begins in January. Shaheen first won the seat in 2008 by defeating Sununu, who held it from 2003 to 2009 and was seeking a return after nearly two decades out of the chamber.
The result keeps a seat Democrats could not afford to lose in Democratic hands. It also breaks a barrier that stood even after openly LGBTQ women had won election to the Senate: Wisconsin Democrat Tammy Baldwin became the first openly gay person elected to the chamber in 2012.
Pappas was first elected to the House in 2018, becoming New Hampshire’s first openly LGBTQ member of Congress, and has represented the state’s 1st Congressional District since 2019. He is a member of the bipartisan Problem Solvers Caucus.
Decision Desk HQ called the race with 22 percent of votes counted, when Pappas led Sununu 60 percent to 37 percent. He grew up working in his family’s Manchester restaurant, which opened in 1917.
Source: Washington Blade
