This year’s primary election season has been marked by stunning upsets and the rise of the progressive left. On Tuesday night in New Hampshire, the old guard struck back.
Voters in the Granite State chose familiar names and low-key personalities in a pair of races that both parties view as crucial for their chances of winning control of the Senate and the House of Representatives.
Two darlings of the state’s political establishment won the chance to battle each other in the race for the Senate seat held by Jeanne Shaheen, a Democrat who is retiring after three terms. Representative Chris Pappas, 46, easily beat a progressive challenger to claim the Democratic nomination; former Senator John E. Sununu, 61, who lost re-election to Ms. Shaheen nearly two decades ago, cruised to the Republican nomination in a comeback bid. Both parties are steeling for a closely watched — and potentially tight — battle.
In a much more suspenseful race, Stefany Shaheen, a daughter of the senator, ground out a narrow win over Maura Sullivan, a former Marine to claim the Democratic nomination in the First Congressional District, with the support of some of the best known Democrats in the state. President Trump helped elevate Anthony DiLorenzo, the owner of a car dealership, in the fight for the Republican nomination.
And another pair of political fixtures will compete in the governor’s race this fall. Gov. Kelly Ayotte, a Republican who faced no serious opposition on Tuesday, will face off against Cinde Warmington, a Democrat who served several terms on the state’s Executive Council before losing a primary for governor in 2024.
Those battles will play out in one of the nation’s last genuinely purple states, where the federal delegation is all Democratic and Republicans hold a trifecta in state government.
Here are five takeaways from the night.
Steady and familiar won the day.
Over the past year, Democratic voters have rewarded several charismatic, social media savvy candidates, including Dr. Abdul El-Sayed, the Democratic Senate nominee in Michigan, James Talarico, the Democratic Senate nominee in Texas and Mayor Zohran Mamdani of New York.
Mr. Pappas, a low-key Democrat who has steadily climbed the New Hampshire political ladder, is not like that. And as polls tightened in New Hampshire, some in the national party began to worry that he was in trouble with his own party in an anti-establishment year.
On Tuesday, though, he defeated a progressive challenger, Karishma Manzur, by more than 30 points, proving his style still works for New Hampshire Democrats.
Republicans also picked a name they knew well: Sununu.
The former senator, who is both the brother and the son of former governors, handily defeated former Senator Scott Brown. Democrats have gleefully made light of voters’ tendency to mix Mr. Sununu up with his brother, the popular Chris Sununu. But Republicans believe such attacks serve only to remind voters about a family well-liked by many voters.
In New Hampshire’s Second Congressional District, incumbency paid off. Representative Maggie Goodlander, a Democrat whose mother and grandfather were Republican power players in the state, easily beat back a challenge from a progressive state lawmaker.
New Hampshire’s old guard asserted its power.
In the First District, Stefany Shaheen, a former Portsmouth city councilor and a health care entrepreneur, brought to bear one of the biggest names in New Hampshire politics — and she had an enviable lineup of the state’s Democratic power players closing ranks around her.
Her win over Ms. Sullivan mints a fresh New Hampshire dynasty and cements her mother’s political legacy — but it wasn’t a smooth coronation.
Ms. Shaheen had to play defense over her family connections. She criticized the deal her mother made to reopen the government after last year’s shutdown, and found herself fending off attacks by Ms. Sullivan that she was trading on her “fancy last name.” She went on the attack, too, criticizing Ms. Sullivan for her out-of-state donors, and for receiving money from people who had also given to to the American Israel Public Affairs Committee.
She eked out a win, but the narrow margin suggests that some Democratic voters are tired of dynastic politics in a year with a lot of them.
Two pre-Trump Republicans prepare to walk a delicate path to November.
New Hampshire has never quite bear-hugged Mr. Trump. He has never won the state in a presidential race. And the Republican Senate candidates who embraced him in 2020 and 2022 were easily defeated, first by Senator Shaheen and then by Maggie Hassan, New Hampshire’s other Democratic senator.
On Tuesday, primary voters rewarded two Republicans who came to prominence before Mr. Trump cannonballed into the GOP — and who have been artful in their attempts to to keep him at arm’s length.
Gov. Ayotte, a former state attorney general and senator, did not face a serious challenger in her bid for re-election — even though she defied the president’s wish that she support redistricting in the state.
Mr. Sununu won Mr. Trump’s endorsement, but he has made a point of disagreeing with the president on his trade war with Canada, which could have profound effects on New Hampshire’s economy.
Ms. Ayotte and Mr. Sununu are likely to spend the next eight weeks testing whether Republicans in 2026 can keep their political brand distinct from Trump’s MAGA brand and win in November.
Trump’s endorsement reigned supreme, again.
Mr. Trump notched another primary victory for one of his endorsed candidates on Tuesday night when Mr. DiLorenzo, the owner of a chain of car dealerships and collision centers, beat Hollie Noveletsky, the chief executive of her family’s ironworks.
Ms. Noveletsky had led some polls before Mr. Trump intervened, and Mr. DiLorenzo’s easy victory was a reminder of the power of a post on TruthSocial.
Scott Brown can head to the casino.
Mr. Brown had made a point of enjoying what he said would be his final campaign. He said last month that if he lost on Tuesday night, he would do a little day-drinking and gambling, then take a nap. Now, he can.
The post The Establishment Pulls Through: Five Takeaways from the New Hampshire Primaries appeared first on New York Times.
