Chris Pappas in a 2022 U.S. House portrait. Photo by Nate Payne, U.S. House of Representatives, public domain.
5 Nov 2026

Chris Pappas is the first openly gay man elected to the US Senate

New Hampshire elected the Democratic congressman on November 3. He will succeed Senator Jeanne Shaheen, who did not seek another term.

New Hampshire elected Democrat Chris Pappas to the U.S. Senate on November 3. The Associated Press called the race for Pappas over Republican John E. Sununu, making the New Hampshire congressman the first openly gay man elected to the chamber.

Pappas will succeed Senator Jeanne Shaheen, who did not seek another term. Pappas has served in the House of Representatives and co-chairs its Congressional Equality Caucus. In a June Pride Month note, Pappas wrote that he saw few openly LGBTQ+ people in public life when he was growing up.

The Senate reached an earlier milestone in 2012, when Wisconsin elected Tammy Baldwin, the first openly gay person elected to the chamber.