Democrats Sound Alarm as New Hampshire Seat Slips
Democrats Sound Alarm as New Hampshire Seat Slips
The News
New Hampshire Democrats are warning that their party could lose the Senate seat being vacated by retiring Sen. Jeanne Shaheen — a seat in a state that has not elected a Republican senator since 2010.
The New York Times reported Sunday that "a tide of anxiety has risen among Democrats in the Granite State who are concerned that a party with big dreams of expanding its map could let the seat left open by the pending retirement of Senator Jeanne Shaheen, a Democrat, slip from its grasp." The Times published the piece under the headline "New Hampshire Democrats Sound an Alarm: 'We're Losing.'"
The complaint is about money. "Two months before the midterms, Democrats are devoting vast financial resources to red states like Ohio, Iowa and Texas, daring to hope their party can reclaim the Senate with victories in a series of states President Trump won in 2024," the Times reported. "New Hampshire would like a word."
Rep. Chris Pappas, the likely Democratic nominee, expects a hard race against former Sen. John E. Sununu, according to the Times.
Timeline
Shaheen defeats Sununu, who had held the seat for one term, the Concord Monitor reported.
The last time New Hampshire elected a Republican to the U.S. Senate, according to the Times.
Pappas leads progressive challenger Karishma Manzur, an Exeter scientist and Democratic Socialists of America member, by 43 percentage points in the Democratic primary, per University of New Hampshire Survey Center polling cited by the Concord Monitor.
Pappas leads Sununu 47% to 44% in a UNH survey and 47% to 41% in a Saint Anselm College survey, according to poll figures compiled by 270toWin.
The UNH Survey Center releases "Pappas Support Slides, CD1 Primaries Down to the Wire." Sununu leads Pappas 45% to 43% — the first time UNH has found the Republican with an edge, the Concord Monitor reported — and UNH describes the two as statistically tied. Pappas's primary lead over Manzur has narrowed to 13 points.
The Times publishes its report on Democratic alarm in the state.
New Hampshire voters in both parties cast primary ballots.
Reactions
Pappas's backers point to his four terms in Congress. "Chris has the experience and know-how to get things done," Concord Mayor Byron Champlin said in an endorsement video released last week, according to the Concord Monitor. "Chris knows how to reach across the aisle and reach consensus when it's important." UNH found 32% of Pappas's likely voters named his past experience as their most important reason for supporting him.
Manzur, who is campaigning on a populist platform, called her effort a "true grassroots effort" in a statement to the Monitor. "I am honored to have the support of people across New Hampshire," she said. Most of her supporters cited her policies (27%) or her politics and ideology (22%), UNH found.
Pappas's campaign did not respond to the Monitor's request for comment.
What's Next
Primaries in both parties are Sept. 8. Sununu leads Scott Brown 60% to 20% for the Republican nomination in the UNH poll.
The winner of the November general election could decide which party controls the Senate for the second half of President Trump's term, the Concord Monitor reported.
More
The Republican field is two former senators. Sununu, out of office since 2009, has worked in the private sector and on corporate boards, and campaigns on privacy rights and cutting taxes and regulations. Brown represented Massachusetts in the Senate from 2010 to 2013 and served as ambassador to New Zealand and Samoa during Trump's first term.
Both men live in Rye, both hold similar positions on Republican priorities including birthright citizenship and requiring proof of citizenship to vote, and both have criticized Trump and stressed their independence from him, the Monitor reported.
A note on sourcing
The Times report is behind a paywall The Frank could not read in full. The quotations above from that report are taken from the excerpt republished by Political Wire; no individual New Hampshire Democrat is quoted here because none is identified in the material available to us.
Poll
Who wins New Hampshire's open Senate seat in November?
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