New Hampshire voters head to the polls Tuesday to pick nominees for an open Senate seat the press calls crucial to Democrats' chances — but the only thing truly at stake is which wing of the uniparty gets to sit in the chair.
The race to replace retiring Sen. Jeanne Shaheen has produced a perfect distillation of what's wrong with American politics: on one side, a dynasty Republican who called Trump "a loser" but now wears his endorsement; on the other, an establishment Democrat whose family restaurant doubles as a political machine. The voters lose either way.
On the Democratic side, Rep. Chris Pappas is a four-term congressman with the full weight of the party apparatus behind him — endorsements from Shaheen, Sen. Maggie Hassan, former Gov. John Lynch, and former Vice President Kamala Harris, according to NBC10 Boston. CBS News identifies him as the first openly gay member of Congress from New Hampshire, which in today's Democratic Party counts as a qualification all its own. His family owns the Puritan Backroom, a century-old Manchester restaurant The Guardian describes as "long embedded in the state's retail-politics circuit." He's raised twice as much money as both Republican frontrunners combined, per the Associated Press.
His challenger, Dr. Karishma Manzur, is a biochemist and member of the Democratic Socialists of America with no experience holding public office. She's gained ground in polls campaigning on Medicare for All and getting money out of politics, CBS News reports. The establishment is closing ranks against her. That's how the machine works.
On the Republican side, former Sen. John Sununu — son of a former White House chief of staff and governor, brother of another former governor — is the frontrunner with Trump's backing, despite having called the president "a loser" in a 2024 op-ed backing Nikki Haley, The Guardian reported. His brother Chris once called Trump "(expletive) crazy," NBC10 Boston noted. Trump endorsed him anyway. The swamp protects its own.
Sununu's main opponent, Scott Brown, is a former Massachusetts senator who moved to New Hampshire and lost to Shaheen in 2014. He served as Trump's ambassador to New Zealand and Samoa. Now he's running again, accusing Sununu of coasting on his name — which, the AP reported, Brown said would make Sununu "beholden to the president and other special interests." Brown may be right about the dynasty, but a carpetbagger lecturing anyone on independence is its own kind of joke.
Meanwhile, the Koch network's Americans for Prosperity Action has spent at least $3.3 million supporting Sununu and opposing Pappas, NBC10 Boston reported. Follow the money: the same billionaire class funds the ecosystem on both sides. The game is rigged before the first ballot is cast.
The 1st District race to replace Pappas is even more brazen. The leading Democrats are Stefany Shaheen — the retiring senator's daughter — and Maura Sullivan, an Obama administration veteran, according to CBS News and the AP. That's not a primary; that's a succession plan.
The AP quoted Sununu telling voters: "I've been out of politics for 17 years. I'm not worried about reelection... I need to do one thing: Stand up for the people of New Hampshire." That's what they all say. Then they get to Washington and the people who sent them become an afterthought.
The press will frame Tuesday's results as a turning point for Senate control. Don't buy it. The only race that matters is the one where voters stop choosing between establishment candidates and start rejecting the whole rigged game. That election hasn't been scheduled yet.
