--- title: Chris Pappas' Victory Speech After Becoming First Openly Gay Man Elected to U.S. Senate | TIME description: U.S. Rep. Chris Pappas defeated former U.S. Sen. John E. Sununu in New Hampshire on Tuesday, becoming the first openly gay man elected to the U.S. Senate. canonical: https://time.com/video/vbU46nNa/ og:title: Chris Pappas' Victory Speech After Becoming First Openly Gay Man Elected to U.S. Senate og:description: U.S. Rep. Chris Pappas defeated former U.S. Sen. John E. Sununu in New Hampshire on Tuesday, becoming the first openly gay man elected to the U.S. Senate. og:url: https://time.com/video/vbU46nNa/ og:image: https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/vbU46nNa/poster.jpg?width=720 og:type: video.other twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Chris Pappas' Victory Speech After Becoming First Openly Gay Man Elected to U.S. Senate twitter:description: U.S. Rep. Chris Pappas defeated former U.S. Sen. John E. Sununu in New Hampshire on Tuesday, becoming the first openly gay man elected to the U.S. Senate. twitter:image: https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/vbU46nNa/poster.jpg?width=720 video:duration: 02:52 video:published: 2026-11-04 section: politics topics: Senate election, New Hampshire, victory speech, John Sununu, cost of living, tariffs, health care cuts, corporate special interests, outside campaign spending, bipartisan appeal genre: speech, election coverage tones: triumphant, combative, grateful, defiant emotions: pride (high), gratitude (high), anger (medium), hope (medium) sentiment: positive audience: political news followers, New Hampshire voters, election watchers, general news audience people: Chris Pappas, John Sununu, Donald Trump, Elon Musk, Van organizations: U.S. Senate, Congress content_suitability: politics [00:00-02:52]; war [00:43-01:36] transcript_source: publisher captions transcript_reviewed: not applicable --- * Politics # Chris Pappas' Victory Speech After Becoming First Openly Gay Man Elected to U.S. Senate > Sponsored content. 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Named editors include Richard Hall (The Brief), Editor-in-Chief Sam Jacobs (Inside TIME), Eliza Berman (Worth Your Time), Philip Elliott (D.C. Brief), Justin Worland (Future Proof) and Harry Booth (In the Loop). Health Matters is written by TIME's health desk. #### How do I sign up for a TIME newsletter? Go to time.com/newsletters, choose the newsletters you want and enter your email address. There is no cost and no subscription requirement. ### Sources * TIME Newsletters: [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-network-2026q3/newsletters?i=d5d2b92c-f018-4e3a-af58-ec753d5e0d2a&cr=time-nl-network-2026q3-v1) ## Video: Chris Pappas' Victory Speech After Becoming First Openly Gay Man Elected to U.S. Senate [Watch (HLS stream): Chris Pappas' Victory Speech After Becoming First Openly Gay Man Elected to U.S. Senate](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/vbU46nNa.m3u8) (2:52)  _Published 2026-11-04. U.S. Rep. Chris Pappas defeated former U.S. Sen. John E. Sununu in New Hampshire on Tuesday, becoming the first openly gay man elected to the U.S. Senate._ Description, summary, key points, chapters, key quotes, questions and transcript, where present, were produced automatically from the video or its captions and were not reviewed. ## Summary Chris Pappas delivers a victory speech after winning his U.S. Senate race in New Hampshire. He says he received a gracious call from opponent John Sununu and thanks him for his public service. Pappas frames the win as a victory for Republicans, independents and Democrats over the status quo, criticizing corporate interests, Congress, tariffs, health care cuts and the president. He credits his husband Van and closes by thanking supporters and urging them to keep working. ## Key points - Pappas says John Sununu gave him a gracious call, wished his team well, and Pappas wished the same for Sununu and his family. (00:10) - Pappas says Granite State voters of every affiliation share this victory, describing it as a win for Team New Hampshire over the broken status quo. (00:27) - He calls the results a wake-up call for corporate special interests, billionaires, Congress members who enabled health care cuts, tariffs and war, and the president. (00:43) - Pappas says he will fight to deliver change on the rising cost of living, naming gas, groceries and housing. (01:13) - He criticizes tax breaks for big corporations paid for by cuts to health care, and calls the president the most corrupt in history. (01:24) - Pappas says tens of millions of dollars from Donald Trump, Elon Musk and corporate special interests poured into New Hampshire, along with attack ads and lies. (01:41) - He thanks his husband Van and says he is the luckiest guy because he is married to a man he loves. (02:04) - Pappas closes by thanking supporters and urging them to keep going, fighting and working for the people of New Hampshire. (02:39) ## Chapters - [00:00 to 00:27] Thanks and Sununu's concession call. Pappas thanks voters and describes a gracious call from John Sununu, whom he thanks for his public service. - [00:27 to 00:43] Victory for all New Hampshire voters. Pappas says the win belongs to Republicans, independents and Democrats against the status quo. - [00:43 to 01:13] A wake-up call and demand for change. He calls the results a rebuke of special interests, Congress and the president, and pledges to fight for change. - [01:13 to 01:41] Cost of living and shared grievances. Pappas lists issues including living costs, tariffs, war, corporate tax breaks and health care cuts. - [01:41 to 02:04] Outside money and a hard-fought win. He says millions in outside spending and attacks failed to stop the victory. - [02:04 to 02:52] Thanking husband Van and closing. Pappas thanks his husband Van, then thanks supporters and urges them to keep working. ## Key quotes - [00:00] Chris Pappas: "I am honored beyond words to have earned" - [00:21] Chris Pappas: "And I think we all owe John Sununu" - [00:33] Chris Pappas: "because this is a victory for" - [02:01] Chris Pappas: "But we beat them anyway, didn't we?" - [02:34] Chris Pappas: "And look, tonight, win, lose or draw," - [02:41] Chris Pappas: "and let's keep going. Let's keep going." ## Questions this video answers - How did John Sununu respond to losing the New Hampshire Senate race? [00:10] - Who does Chris Pappas say his victory belongs to? [00:27] - What issues does Pappas say voters want changed? [01:13] - What does Pappas say about outside spending in the New Hampshire race? [01:41] - Who does Pappas thank in his speech besides voters? [02:04] ## Content suitability - politics [00:00-02:52]: Partisan election victory speech with strong criticism of the president, Congress, corporate interests and outside donors. - war [00:43-01:36]: Brief references to war and endless war as political grievances, without detail. --- Nov 4, 2026 5:33 PM UTC --- ## More From This Series [All Videos](https://time.com/video/) [Meet Team USA: Adam Rippon](/video/DMSWeTS3/) ### Meet Team USA: Adam Rippon [NFL Draft: What Falling In The Draft Day Means For A Player MONEY](/video/Idf75IbE/) ### NFL Draft: What Falling In The Draft Day Means For A Player MONEY [First Openly Gay Player Takes the Court](/video/CjhYYENL/) ### First Openly Gay Player Takes the Court --- ## Transcript [00:00] I am honored beyond words to have earned [00:02] your votes to fight for you in the United States Senate. [00:10] A few minutes ago, I just got [00:12] a very gracious call from John Sununu. [00:15] He wished us. He wished us in our team well, [00:18] and I wish the same for him and his family. [00:21] And I think we all owe John Sununu [00:23] a big debt of [00:24] gratitude for his public service [00:26] for the people of New Hampshire. [00:27] So tonight, whether you're a Republican, [00:30] an independent, or a Democrat, [00:31] tonight's victory is for you [00:33] because this is a victory for [00:35] Team New Hampshire over [00:36] the broken status quo that [00:38] is hurting all of us just the same. [00:43] Tonight's results. [00:45] Tonight's results are a wake up call for [00:47] corporate special interests [00:49] and billionaires who have been [00:50] rigging the economy for the cowards [00:52] in Congress who have enabled health care cuts, [00:54] tariffs, and war, and for [00:56] the incompetent president who can't [00:58] even be bothered to care how people are being hurt. [01:01] So tonight, voters in New Hampshire [01:03] and all across the country simply have had enough. [01:06] Enough, and are demanding a change in direction. [01:09] And I am ready to fight with everything [01:11] I've got to deliver the change that we need. [01:13] Tonight, we don't celebrate a victory [01:15] for any one political party. [01:16] We celebrate a victory for anyone left, [01:19] right or center struggling [01:20] with the skyrocketing cost of living, [01:22] from gas to groceries to housing. [01:24] Anyone who's sick of the tariffs, the endless war, [01:27] the tax breaks for big corporations [01:29] paid for by cuts to your health care. [01:31] Anyone who's fed up with [01:33] the most corrupt president in our history, [01:35] who has failed in his way of governing, [01:37] and anyone who knows that we can do [01:39] so much better if we work together. [01:41] So we know this was a hard fought victory tonight. [01:44] It was made even harder by [01:45] the tens and tens of millions of dollars that [01:48] poured into New Hampshire from Donald Trump, Elon Musk, [01:50] and corporate special interests who are just fine, [01:54] who are just fine with the way [01:55] things are going right now. [01:57] They threw money, attack ads and [01:59] outright lies at us every day for months. [02:01] But we beat them anyway, didn't we? [02:04] I want to thank the guy next to me, [02:06] my amazing husband van. [02:15] How about it? [02:27] All right. The wrong person was on the ballot, [02:29] apparently, but he's always been by my side. [02:34] And look, tonight, win, lose or draw, [02:35] I'm the luckiest guy because I'm [02:37] married to a man that I love. [02:39] My words to you tonight are. Thank you. [02:41] And let's keep going. Let's keep going. [02:44] Let's keep going and fighting and [02:47] working for the people of this great state. [02:49] Thank you all for being here tonight. 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