Pappas Defeats Sununu to Hold New Hampshire Senate Seat

Democrat Chris Pappas won New Hampshire’s open U.S. Senate seat, defeating Republican John Sununu and keeping the seat in Democratic hands, according to election projections. Pappas will become the first openly gay man elected to the Senate. Decision Desk HQ called the race for Pappas at 8 p.m. Eastern, and the Associated Press also called it. Sununu conceded at a watch party in Manchester, saying the result was not his night, according to one report. The supplied reports do not provide certified final vote totals. At the time of the Decision Desk HQ call, 22% of votes had been counted and Pappas led 60% to 37%, according to the organization. Another report gave the same early count as 60.6% to 37.6%. Those figures describe the preliminary count, not the final result. The win preserves the seat for Democrats after Sen. Jeanne Shaheen, a Democrat, chose not to seek re-election. Pappas, a four-term U.S. representative, is due to succeed her when the new Senate term begins in January. The contest was among the races that could affect control of the chamber, where Republicans held a 53-to-47 majority going into Election Day, according to one report. Sununu, a former senator, had...