Concord
Kuster was unopposed and won the Democratic nomination for a fourth term.
With 81 percent of the vote reporting, state Rep. Steve Negron, R-Nashua, held a narrow lead in the GOP primary, with 26.8 percent of the vote, helped by a strong showing in his hometown, the biggest city in the district.
Dr. Stewart Levenson, a Hopkinton Republican who ran as a former VA Medical Center whistleblower, was close behind with 24.7 percent, and former state Rep. Lynne Blankenbeker, R-Concord, had 23.1 percent.
Levenson was the top vote-getter in both Claremont and Lebanon in the GOP primary.
In the race to succeed U.S. Rep. Carol Shea-Porter in the 1st Congressional District, Executive Councilor Chris Pappas won an 11-way race for the Democratic nomination.
The district, which covers the eastern half of the state, once was reliably Republican but has flipped in each of the past four cycles. In 2016, it returned Shea-Porter to Congress but backed President Donald Trump.
On the crowded Democratic side, former Obama administration official Maura Sullivan raised more money than the other 10 candidates combined, but she’s faced criticism for being both new to the state and voting in general. She moved to the state last year, and acknowledged not voting in several recent elections.
With 82.5 percent of the vote in, Pappas had 42.9 percent of the vote to 29.8 percent for Sullivan. Claremont resident Levi Sanders, the son of U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., had just 1.8 percent.
Pappas is a former state lawmaker who is serving his third term on the governor’s Executive Council and runs a family restaurant in Manchester. He had the backing of the state’s two Democratic U.S. senators, and said he was proud that most of the money he raised came from within the state.
“It’s about having an effort that is home-grown, that’s about who we are as Granite Staters, to try to push back forcefully against what we’re seeing in Washington, which are destructive policies that are undermining opportunities for working people and middle-class families,” he said in an interview last week.
On the Republican side, Eddie Edwards defeated state Sen. Andy Sanborn, R-Bedford, in the Republican primary.
With 77 percent of the vote tallied, Edwards had 47.2 percent, to 41.7 percent for Sanborn.
A Dover resident, Edwards is a former chief of the New Hampshire State Division of Liquor Enforcement.
“You guys did this,” Edwards told supporters. “I can’t thank you enough for all the work that you’ve done.”
“We have an opportunity to elect a strong conservative to the U.S. Congress from New Hampshire, in a seat President (Donald) Trump won in 2016, and we must not throw away that opportunity,” GOP state Chairman Wayne MacDonald said in a statement. “The Republican Party will be united and ready to send Eddie Edwards to Congress this November.”
Sanborn, who grew up in Lebanon, pledged to support Edwards, saying, “As I promised, I will do everything in my power to support our Republican nominee and I look forward to finally sending someone to Washington that we know will represent our shared values far better than any Democrat could.”
The Associated Press and staff writer John Gregg contributed to this report.