DemDaily: This Week’s Elections: NH, RI and Missouri Update!
September 10, 2026
NEW HAMPSHIRE
US Senate: The high-profile US Senate general election in battleground New Hampshire to replace outgoing Democratic Senator Jean Shaheen is officially on -- between Democratic Congressman Chris Pappas (CD-1) and former US Senator John Sununu.
In Tuesday's election, Pappas, who has represented New Hampshire's eastern, Manchester-based First District since 2019, decisively defeated Democratic Socialist and medical scientist Karishma Manzur, 64.9%-32.8%.
Sununu handily won the Republican nomination, defeating former Massachusetts US Senator and Ambassador Scott Brown, 68.4% to 26.8%. Sununu previously held this Senate seat from 2003-2009 before losing it to Shaheen. His brother, Chris Sununu, served as Governor from 2017-2025.
In the already historically expensive contest, Pappas, who entered the race in January 2025, raised a total of $15.38 million through the August 19 pre-primary finance report, spent $11.54 million, and had $4.25 million cash on hand. Sununu, a late October 2025 entry into the race, had raised $4.12 million total, spent $1.10 million, and had $3.02 million on hand.
As both candidates were established frontrunners from the outset, the media wars started months in advance of the primary, with outside groups jumping ahead of the candidates in negative attacks. Republicans have reportedly spent $17.1 million versus Democrats' $10.2 million.
| Polling: An August 20-24 University of New Hampshire Survey Center/7News poll of likely voters showed Sununu and Pappas in a statistical dead heat, 45%-43% (MOE: ±2.3%). |
Battleground New Hampshire
This will be the first open Senate election in the moderate blue swing state since 2010. Shaheen, 78, who leaves office with a 52% approval-37% disapproval rating, first served in the New Hampshire State Senate for six years before being elected Governor in 1996. She is the first woman in American history to be elected both Governor and United States Senator.
New Hampshire has voted for the Democratic candidate in the last six presidential elections: Kamala Harris took New Hampshire in 2024 by 2.78%, and Joe Biden won the state by just over 7% in 2020.
The state's junior Senator, Democrat Maggie Hassan, was reelected in 2022 by over nine points -- and both congressional seats are held by Democrats. While Granite Staters send Democrats to Washington, however, they tend to send Republicans to the state capital.
Governor: Republican Governor Kelly Ayotte swept the Republican primary with 97.1% and will face Cinde Warmington, who ran unopposed for the Democratic nomination.
Ayotte, a former one-term US Senator who was unseated in 2016 by then-Governor Maggie Hassan by just over 1,000 votes, was elected in 2024 to succeed retiring four-term GOP Governor Chris Sununu -- defeating former Manchester Mayor Joyce Craig (D) 53.6%-44.3%.
Warmington, a former Healthcare attorney, was elected in 2020 to one of five District seats on the state's powerful Executive Council, and was safely re-elected in 2022 with 60%. She also chaired the state Democratic Party's Platform Committee and the board of the Lakes Region Mental Health Center. She ran unsuccessfully for the US Senate Democratic nomination in 2024, losing to Craig.
| Governors serve four-year terms, except for New Hampshire and Vermont, where they serve for two years, but with no term limit. Virginia is the only state that limits its governor to one four-year term. See: DemDaily: 2026 Governors Races: New Ratings! 9/3/26 |
US House
First Congressional District: In the open seat being vacated by Pappas, former Portsmouth City Councilor Stefany Shaheen, daughter of the Senator, narrowly won the Democratic nomination 37%-34.6% over retired Marine Maura Sullivan. Progressive UAW union organizer Carleigh Beriont followed with 22.6% and six other contenders came in under 1.6%.
In the general election, Shaheen faces Trump-endorsed political newcomer and car dealership owner Anthony DiLorenzo, who won the nomination with 51.7%, defeating four other contenders.
Second Congressional District: Freshman Democratic Congresswoman Maggie Goodlander easily fended off progressive challenger Paige Beauchemin with 81.7% of the vote to win renomination. She faces Lily Tang, who won the Republican primary with 65% in her third attempt for the seat, beating out three other candidates.
RHODE ISLAND
Governor: In the closely watched Democratic primary, former corporate CEO Helena Foulkes toppled incumbent Governor Dan McKee in a decisive 62.4%-37.6% victory.
McKee, 75, first elected as Lt. Governor in 2014, succeeded Governor Gina Raimondo in March 2021 when she resigned to become Joe Biden's US Commerce Secretary. He won a full term in 2022 by 19 points. The contest was a rematch of 2022, when Foulkes lost the Democratic nomination to McKee by just 3%. McKee's downfall is attributed to his handling of the closure of the Washington Bridge, a major traffic artery.
Foulkes, 62, who spent 25 years at CVS Health, including four as President of its pharmacy division, served two years as CEO of Hudson's Bay through 2020, and six years on Harvard's Board of Overseers, including as its president from 2021–2022. She outraised McKee almost three-to-one, drew younger, progressive voters, and secured early party endorsements. She is also the granddaughter of former US Senators Thomas Dodd (1959-1971) and niece of Chris Dodd (1981-2011), both Democrats from Connecticut.
Foulkes faces former state Dental Association Executive Director and 2022 Lieutenant Governor nominee Aaron Guckian, 50, who narrowly beat first-time candidate and retired business executive Elaine Pelino 50.6%-49.4%.
MISSOURI: In a win for Democrats and democracy, the US Supreme Court today blocked Missouri's attempt to use a recently redrawn Republican-favored congressional map for the 2026 election.
The "2025 map," which passed the GOP legislature last September, was the product of President Trump's mid-decade redistricting scheme to give Republicans an advantage in the midterm elections. The new map carved up a district representing Kansas City, long held by Democratic Congressman Emanuel Cleaver.
The decision follows a year of legal challenges and, more immediately, days of confusion and conflicting decisions that spanned four courts. Justice Brett Kavanaugh granted a stay of the lower federal court order that had allowed GOP Secretary of State Denny Hoskins to implement the 2025 map. The stay keeps the map on hold while the case proceeds through the Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals and effectively reinstates the existing 2022 map for use in the 2026 election.
DemList will keep you informed.
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