Democrat Chris Pappas won New Hampshire’s U.S. Senate race on Nov. 3, becoming the first openly gay person elected to the chamber, according to reported results. (Foto: Instagram)
Democrat Chris Pappas was elected to represent New Hampshire in the U.S. Senate on Tuesday, Nov. 3, during the 2026 midterm elections. With his victory, Pappas became the first openly gay person elected to the Senate, according to the reported results.
Pappas defeated Republican candidate John E. Sununu, who had the support of President Donald Trump. After the result, Pappas thanked voters on social media. No vote totals were provided in the report.
Before his Senate election, Pappas represented New Hampshire in the U.S. House. He was first elected to the House in 2018 and later won reelection. His move to the Senate marks a change in office for the state’s representative, while also making his election a milestone for LGBTQ+ representation in the chamber.
Before Pappas’s victory, two openly LGBTQ+ women had been elected to the Senate: Tammy Baldwin of Wisconsin and Kyrsten Sinema of Arizona. Laphonza Butler of California also served in the Senate, but entered the chamber through an appointment in 2023 rather than an election. The report also cited former Pennsylvania Sen. Harris Wofford, who served from 1991 to 1995. During his Senate service, Wofford was married to a woman; in 2016, he married a man.
The midterm elections took place as Trump’s administration faced a decline in approval, which the report linked to the prolonged war with Iran and rising living costs in the United States. The 2026 election cycle included 35 Senate seats, 36 governorships and all 435 seats in the House of Representatives.
Early figures indicated that Democrats were ahead in contests for both the Senate and House, but the overall results could take days or weeks to finalize. The United States has no central agency that consolidates election results nationwide; each state is responsible for counting votes and reporting results as its count progresses.
