As Dems Race to Pick Up Senate Seats, NH Issues a Warning

New Hampshire Democrats have a message for national party leaders eyeing Senate pickups in red states: Don't forget the seat you already hold. With Sen. Jeanne Shaheen retiring, Rep. Chris Pappas is warning that he's trailing likely GOP nominee John Sununu and that "we're losing" without more outside help. As the New York Times reports, New Hampshire looks reliably Democratic in federal races, in theory, but strategists keep repeating the same reminder: it's a purple state. A recent poll in the Granite State showed Sununu up by a point in the race for the seat he held from 2003 to 2009, reports Newsweek, and Republicans are stoked at the prospect of a pickup in a state carried by Kamala Harris in 2024.

Sununu, a former senator and member of the state's best-known Republican family, is expected to easily win Tuesday's primary and has $17 million in support lined up from the main Republican Senate super PAC. Democrats have reserved far less TV money there than in places like Ohio and Iowa, fueling fears Pappas could be buried under GOP spending even as he out-raises Sununu on the state level. Pappas also faces a primary challenge from progressive Karishma Manzur, though he's countering that with a Harris endorsement and internal polling showing him leading Manzur. The race, Democrats say, is a must-hold if they want any shot at flipping the Senate while President Trump is in office.