New Hampshire Democrat Chris Pappas is telling his fellow members of Congress he’s running for U.S. Senate to fill the vacancy left when Sen. Jeanne Shaheen retires in 2026, Axios reported Wednesday night.
According to the outlet, Pappas, 44, plans to make his official announcement early next month.
“Pappas wants to put down a marker he’ll run to succeed retiring Sen. Jeanne Shaheen (D-N.H.), regardless of who jumps into the race,” it reported.
Granite State political observers have been expecting the news since Shaheen announced her retirement, an expectation that wasn’t dampened when Pappas launched his ten-county “Grounded in Granite” tour.
“Shock!” responded veteran GOP strategist Dave Carney to the report.
The Republican National Senatorial Committee (NRSC) immediately responded to the news by declaring the four-term congressman “out of touch” with the people of New Hampshire. It issued a press release listing a litany of problematic votes Pappas has cast. Among them:
- Voted twice to allow biological males to compete in women’s sports.
- Voted to raise taxes on Granite Staters making less than $400,000 per year and to hire 87,000 new IRS agents targeting middle-class taxpayers.
- Opposes basic border security measures like building a wall along the southern border.
“Chris Pappas is out of touch with the day-to-day interests of New Hampshire families,” said NRSC Regional Press Secretary Nick Puglia. “He supports biological males competing in women’s sports, voted to expand the IRS and raise taxes on hard-working New Hampshire families, and recklessly voted for a government shutdown. He’s the last person who deserves a promotion.”
Pappas has declined repeated requests for comment about the Senate race or the issues currently before the upper chamber.
Pappas was first elected in 2018 after winning a 10-way primary. He’s handily dispatched his Republican opponents in a state that rarely votes GOP in federal races. His closest contest was his five-point victory over Republican Matt Mowers in 2020. In 2022, he beat Karoline Leavitt by eight points. Leavitt went on to become President Donald Trump’s White House spokesperson earlier this year.
Given how rare it is to have an open U.S. House or Senate seat in New Hampshire, political observers say it’s unlikely Pappas will get the Democratic nomination without a primary. First-term Rep. Maggie Goodlander has acknowledged she’s considering getting into the race, despite having been in office for less than 90 days. If she doesn’t run, it’s not clear what other Democrat could mount a serious challenge to Pappas.
Shaheen told WMUR last week she “doesn’t usually endorse in Democratic primaries,” though she endorsed Pappas in the 2018 primary.
If Pappas is the nominee, he may have to face off against former Gov. Chris Sununu. A New Hampshire Journal poll taken before Shaheen announced her retirement gave Sununu a nearly 10-point margin over the incumbent Democrat. Another poll taken after Shaheen’s announcement matched Pappas and Sununu in a theoretical head-to-head race. It gave Sununu the edge, 53 to 44 percent.
Sununu has long said he’s not interested in serving in the U.S. Senate — though he insists that if he runs, he would win. Without the popular former governor in the race, the partisan tilt toward Democrats would leave Republicans with an uphill climb in New Hampshire.
NRSC Chair Sen. Tim Scott has made several public statements about the New Hampshire race in recent days, suggesting Sununu is getting closer to getting in. But he acknowledges Sununu “isn’t locked in.”
Meanwhile, UVA’s Center for Politics has shifted its rating of the 2026 race from “likely Democrat” to “leans Democrat.”
