Concord
With 71 percent of towns reporting, Kuster had 57.5 percent to 40 percent for Negron.
Meanwhile, in New Hampshire’s 1st Congressional District, Chris Pappas, D-Manchester, defeated Republican Eddie Edwards, becoming the first openly gay congressman from New Hampshire.
Pappas had 53 percent support, to 45 percent for Edwards, with 71 percent of towns heard from.
Speaking from his home turf at the Puritan Backroom restaurant Manchester on Tuesday night, Pappas said he was prepared to move beyond the partisan nature of Washington to serve Granite Stater interests.
“Voters are clearly saying that it’s time to reject the division, deception, and partisanship of the past two years — and it’s time to put the focus back on making progress for Granite Staters once again,” he told a group of cheering supporters.
The victory caps off a roller-coaster of a midterm election that sparked conversations about identity politics and outside election money in the Granite State. Pappas will succeed U.S. Rep. Carol Shea-Porter, the Democrat who opted not to seek re-election.
In the 2nd Congressional District race, which represents the Upper Valley, Negron, a Nashua businessman and retired Air Force officer, was serving his first term in the state House of Representatives when he announced intentions to run for Kuster’s seat.
He beat out seven contenders for the Republican nomination during the primary in September, including Manchester VA whistleblower Stewart Levenson and veteran Lynne Blankenbeker.
During his campaign, he was an ardent supporter of small-business owners and fiscal conservatism and veterans’ programs. He stressed his Hispanic heritage — Negron’s grandfather was from Mexico and his grandmother from Puerto Rico — and the need for more comprehensive immigration reform.
Kuster, a former attorney from Hopkinton, has sponsored a number of bills on veterans’ issues and the opioid epidemic during her six years in Congress. She has been a leader supporting victims of sexual violence while being open about her personal experience as a sexual assault survivor.
Maxine Petruccelli, who was voting in Webster on Tuesday, said she moved to New Hampshire this year and was impressed when she went to hear Kuster speak at an AARP-sponsored forum in Concord this month.
“She spoke well on the issues that were important to us,” Petruccelli said. “We’re very concerned about the environment and gun legislation in particular, and she seemed to understand that.”
In her acceptance speech Tuesday night, Kuster thanked Negron for being a considerate competitor.
“I think people could see the distinction in our views and our values and the issues, but I really think they appreciated that we toned down the rhetoric and just gave them the positions straight up,” she said.
A survey of voters by AP Votecast found that health care was at the forefront of voters’ minds in the Granite State: 27 percent named it as the most important issue facing the nation in this year’s midterm elections.
Others considered immigration (19 percent), the economy (18 percent), the environment (11 percent) and gun policy (8 percent) to be the top issue.
Material from The Associated Press was used in this report.