Congressman Chris Pappas earned a seat in the U.S. Senate after a heated race against former Republican Senator John Sununu defined by expensive and prolific attack ads from both sides.
Pappas won with 60.6% of the vote. The Associated Press called the race at 8:20 with only 20% of votes counted, after Sununu conceded early.
The Manchester native will become the first openly gay man to serve in the U.S. Senate.
Their race was one of seven tabbed key to determining control of the Senate; for Democrats to take control of the chamber in Washington away from Republicans, they needed to hold onto all of their incumbents and flip four new seats.
In the days leading up to Tuesday’s election, Pappas led Sununu in polling, with 54% of respondents indicating they would vote for him.
