New Hampshire's Chris Pappas is the first openly gay man to be elected to Senate
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Election Day 2026 proved to be a blue landslide, with Democrats flipping states and ultimately securing control of the House of Representatives.
Democratic politician Chris Pappas has defeated former U.S. Senator John E. Sununu in New Hampshire, according to the Associated Press. The Manchester native won just over 56% of the vote.
This makes him the first openly gay man to be elected to the Senate. He is the third LGBTQ+ politician to serve, after Sen. Tammy Baldwin of Wisconsin and former Senator Kyrsten Sinema of Arizona.
Pappas will succeed retiring Democratic Sen. Jeanne Shaheen. Sununu held the seat from 2003 to 2009 and lost to Shaheen in 2008.
Following his monumental win, Pappas took to the mic to address the public. "This has been a long campaign against the backdrop of chaos, corruption, and costs coming out of Washington," Pappas told the Manchester crowd.
"New Hampshire showed up today, you spoke up today, you said in a resounding voice that New Hampshire needs a course correction. Washington needs a new generation at the table to fix things."
Pappas went on to thank his supporters and his husband, saying, “Despite all the negative attacks and the lies, it’s nice to know that love and truth prevailed tonight.”
Pappaswas in good company on Tuesday night. Among the night's newly elected officials, several made history. Democrat Keisha Lance Bottoms won Georgia’s governor’s race, becoming the first woman and first black person to hold the position.
Democrat Abdul El-Sayed won his Senate race against Republican Mike Rogers, becoming the first Muslim elected to the Senate.
New Mexico elected Deb Haaland to be its next governor, making her the first Native American woman to govern a U.S. state. Democratic Lt. Gov. Peggy Flanagan from Minnesota will become the first Native American woman to serve in the Senate.
And Democrat Josh Turek will be the first Paralympian to serve.