They are both from storied New Hampshire families (one best known for governing, the other for its famous Manchester restaurant). They are both veterans of Washington. They are both kind of policy nerds.
On Wednesday night, Representative Chris Pappas, a Democrat, and former Senator John E. Sununu, a Republican, clashed in a tense debate at the WMUR television studio in Manchester, fighting over Social Security and the cause of the high cost of living, and seeking to yoke each other to unpopular figures in their respective parties.
Mr. Pappas and Mr. Sununu are running for a seat currently held by the retiring Senator Jeanne Shaheen, a Democrat. Both parties view the race as crucial to their hopes of retaking the chamber. Mr. Pappas, who leads in polling, seized opportunities to attack Mr. Sununu and present him as beholden to President Trump — perhaps reflecting a degree of discomfort that Mr. Sununu has been able to keep the race competitive by presenting himself as independent of the unpopular president.
Here are five takeaways from the night.
Neither candidate is new to voters.
Sometimes, a political candidate bursts onto the scene out of nowhere. That is not the story of New Hampshire in 2026.
The Senate race pits Mr. Pappas, an understated, four-term Democrat who has spent much of his adult life in elected office, against Mr. Sununu, a former congressman and one-term senator who won this same seat in 2002 before losing it in 2008. Mr. Sununu is the son and brother of former New Hampshire governors. Mr. Pappas’s family is best known for its popular restaurant, the Puritan Backroom in Manchester.
Mr. Pappas, 46, sought to present himself as a “new generation of leadership.” Mr. Sununu, 62, insisted he could shake things up in Washington after being first elected to Congress 30 years ago.
And each nevertheless accused the other of representing the status quo.
“Chris Pappas talked about all the things he wants to do and wants to accomplish, but he’s been there for eight years, and he hasn’t gotten the job done,” Mr. Sununu said.
“This election is about Team New Hampshire versus Team Trump,” Mr. Pappas said. “Fact is, John Sununu was our senator before and, if he was as effective and as independent as he says he was, then he’d probably still be our senator today. But voters had another idea.”
Both bragged about challenging their own party …
Mr. Sununu’s candidacy depends on his ability to convince voters in New Hampshire — a state that has never really warmed to Mr. Trump — that he is independent of a president who endorsed him early in the race.
So he rattled of a list of his differences with the president: the trade war with Canada, the war in Iran, the $1.8 billion fund Mr. Trump proposed for victims of “weaponization” by the Department of Justice and his now-scuttled plan to televise a military execution.
“When Donald Trump leaves office in two years,” Mr. Sununu asked, “where does the country go?”
What was more surprising, perhaps, was how frequently Mr. Pappas made a point of spelling out his differences with national Democrats like former President Joseph R. Biden Jr.
“I called out Joe Biden when he was president because he let things get out of control on the southern border, and it created a crisis,” Mr. Pappas said. “And I’ve taken on my own party on immigration, and I’ve gotten a lot of flak for it.”
… and working with the other side.
It’s an era of deeply tribal politics, but things are split in New Hampshire. Republicans have total control over state government, while Democrats hold each seat in the federal delegation.
That might be why, in a somewhat retro twist, both candidates were eager to talk about how frequently they reach across the aisle.
Mr. Pappas talked about his support for one bipartisan measure after another: a ban on stock trading by members of Congress, a measure that would provide heating assistance to low-income people, immigration measures and more.
Mr. Sununu said that he had worked with Democrats plenty, and he praised Senator Susan Collins of Maine — another Republican who likes to talk up bipartisanship — as a “model.”
“I even wrote bipartisan legislation with Hillary Clinton to improve auto safety and protect kids,” he said.
Sununu climbed in his Wayback Machine.
Mrs. Clinton wasn’t the only reference Mr. Sununu made that seemed, well, dated.
He talked about demanding changes to the Patriot Act during the presidency of George W. Bush. He said he was the first Republican to call for the firing of Alberto Gonzales, Mr. Bush’s attorney general.
He grew visibly annoyed as he parsed an attack by Mr. Pappas over legislation privatizing Social Security during his term in the Senate.
“That wasn’t my bill, Chris,” Mr. Sununu said. “OK, you can’t ascribe every crazy bill ever introduced in Congress to me. That’s dishonest.”
He also chafed when Mr. Pappas said his net worth had grown to an “estimated” $35 million after he left the Senate.
“Goodness knows, I’m not worth $35 million,” he said, before accusing Mr. Pappas of being unable to read a financial disclosure form, the federally required filings that publish broad ranges for public officials’ assets. “Now, I blame that on the time he spent at Harvard.” (Mr. Sununu attended M.I.T.)
Pappas demurred on impeachment.
Some Democrats are hungry for candidates who want to punish Mr. Trump for what they see as the excesses of his second term — but that’s not the audience Mr. Pappas was playing to.
Asked about the prospect of impeaching Mr. Trump if the Democrats gained a majority in Congress, Mr. Pappas called instead for “focused hearings” and “oversight.”
“We need to stay focused on how we can solve problems, make lives better for Granite Staters and lower costs,” Mr. Pappas said.
Mr. Sununu nevertheless accused him of being too liberal for New Hampshire. He said Mr. Pappas voted too often with former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and knocked him for campaigning alongside former Vice President Kamala Harris and Gov. Gavin Newsom of California.
“I don’t know what Chris’s infatuation is with California, but it’s not New Hampshire, and it’s not a good model for our state,” Mr. Sununu said.
Mr. Pappas reminded him that Ms. Harris won New Hampshire in 2024, and that Mr. Trump had not.
“Here in New Hampshire,” he said, “we welcome out-of-town guests.”
