New Hampshire voters cast ballots Tuesday in primaries for the Senate seat of retiring three-term Democrat Jeanne Shaheen, with former Republican Sens. John Sununu and Scott Brown among eight GOP candidates. The race is one of a handful that could determine control of the Senate for the second half of President 
Donald Trump's final term, and Democrats need a net gain of four seats to retake the chamber, PBS NewsHour reported. Nominees for U.S. House, governor and other state offices were also on the ballot.
Who is seeking the Republican nomination? Sununu won the seat when it was last open in 2002, defeating then-Gov. Shaheen, but she ousted him in 2008 after one term, PBS NewsHour reported. Brown won a Massachusetts seat in 2010 to serve out the late Sen. Edward Kennedy's final term, then moved to New Hampshire after losing a full-term bid in 2012 and narrowly lost to Shaheen in 2014. Sununu has outraised Brown $4.1 million to about $2.2 million, and Americans for Prosperity Action, a super PAC tied to the Koch network, has spent at least $3.3 million since June 30 backing Sununu and opposing Democratic front-runner Rep. Chris Pappas.
Why is Trump's backing notable? Brown endorsed Trump just ahead of his 2016 New Hampshire primary victory and later served as his ambassador to New Zealand and Samoa. Sununu endorsed Nikki Haley in 2024 and wrote an op-ed that year headlined "Trump is a loser," echoing his father, former White House Chief of Staff John H. Sununu, who in 2016 called Trump "a loser all his life." Trump is backing Sununu over Brown despite an ongoing war of words with the Sununu family, PBS NewsHour reported.
Who is running on the Democratic side? Pappas, in the House since 2019, has the backing of Shaheen, Sen. Maggie Hassan and former Gov. John Lynch, and former Vice President Kamala Harris endorsed him on Aug. 31. He faces four rivals, including Karishma Manzur, a progressive activist and scientist who is a member of the Democratic Socialists of America. University of New Hampshire polling shows Pappas still leading but Manzur gaining ground over the summer, though he had raised more than $15 million to her $415,000 as of Aug. 19.
Figures referenced: Donald Trump. — JudgeMarket.
