CBS News · Caroline Linton, Caitlin Yilek, Kaia Hubbard · September 8, 2026
Caitlin Yilek is a politics reporter at CBSNews.com, based in Washington, D.C. She previously worked for the Washington Examiner and The Hill, and was a member of the 2022 Paul Miller Washington Reporting Fellowship with the National Press Foundation.
New Hampshire voters are going to the polls on Tuesday to choose Democratic and Republican nominees for retiring Sen. Jeanne Shaheen's seat, a race that could be key to both parties' efforts to control the upper chamber.
Voters in the 1st Congressional District will also be choosing nominees for an open seat, with Democratic Rep. Chris Pappas running for Senate.
Here are the races to watch today:
New Hampshire Senate race
To capture the Senate majority, Democrats need to gain four seats and defend every seat they currently control, which includes New Hampshire. While New Hampshire has not voted for a Republican for president since 2000 and has not elected a GOP senator since 2010, Republicans have controlled the governor's mansion since 2017. Former Vice President Kamala Harris won the state by just three points in 2024.
Pappas, who has represented the 1st Congressional District since 2019 and is the first openly gay member of Congress from New Hampshire, is facing off in a primary on Tuesday against Karishma Manzur, a member of the Democratic Socialists of America. Shaheen has backed Pappas.
There are stark differences between Pappas, a moderate, and Manzur, a medical scientist who has campaigned on progressive policies like Medicare for All and getting money out of politics. Manzur is hoping to pull off an upset similar to Angie Nixon, a Florida state representative and DSA member who won the state's Senate primary in August. Other democratic socialists have won upsets in congressional races in New York and Colorado.
Republicans are also choosing their nominee on Tuesday. Former Sen. John Sununu, who was defeated by Shaheen in 2008, is facing off against former Sen. Scott Brown, who represented Massachusetts in the Senate from 2010 until 2013 and lost the Senate race in 2014 against Shaheen. Sununu, who also represented the 1st District from 1997 to 2003, is the brother of popular former Gov. Chris Sununu and the son of former Gov. John Sununu.
Sununu, who has Mr. Trump's backing, is the favorite to win on Tuesday.
1st Congressional District
The National Republican Congressional Committee, House Republicans' campaign arm, considers the 1st Congressional District a top target this year. Democrats have held the southeastern New Hampshire seat since 2017, but it was highly competitive in the decade before, switching parties five times since the 2006 election.
Nine Democrats are vying for their party's nomination, with a bitter contest having opened up between frontrunners Maura Sullivan and Stefany Shaheen. Sullivan, who served at the Department of Veterans Affairs and the Pentagon during the Obama administration, lost to Pappas in the 2018 Democratic primary.
Shaheen, a former Portsmouth city councilor, is the daughter of the current retiring Democratic senator.
Sullivan outraised Shaheen by more than $1 million, according to Federal Election Commission data.
On the GOP side, five Republicans are competing for the nomination. Mr. Trump gave businessman Anthony DiLorenzo his "complete and total endorsement" in July, calling him "a very successful businessman and entrepreneur."
DiLorenzo had a significant fundraising advantage over Novel Iron Works CEO Hollie Noveletsky, who was considered another frontrunner, but the most recent polling showed the two were statistically tied in the race.
New Hampshire governor's race
Republican Kelly Ayotte, first elected in 2024, is running for a second term. She faces two primary challengers on Tuesday, but she is expected to easily win the nomination.
Democrat Cindie Warmington is running unopposed for the party's nomination.