Senator-elect Chris Pappas celebrates historic New Hampshire win beside his husband: ‘I’m the luckiest guy’

Chris Pappas had just made American history. Standing beside his husband Tuesday evening, the New Hampshire Democrat explained why he would have considered himself lucky even if he had lost.

“And look, tonight, win, lose, or draw, I’m the luckiest guy because I’m married to a man that I love,” Pappas told supporters. “And despite all the negative attacks and the lies, it’s nice to know that love and truth prevailed tonight.”

Pappas became the first out gay man elected to the U.S. Senate, defeating Republican former Sen. John E. Sununu in the race to succeed retiring Democratic Sen. Jeanne Shaheen. The victory preserved a Democratic seat and brought LGBTQ+ representation to a new threshold in a chamber that shapes federal law and decides who sits on the nation’s courts.

Yet the speech’s most personal passage concerned the man beside him, Vann Bentley.

Related: Chris Pappas makes history as the first out gay man elected to the U.S. Senate

“I want to thank the guy next to me, my amazing husband,” Pappas said.

“All right, the wrong person was on the ballot, apparently,” he joked after Bentley received rousing cheers, “but he’s always been by my side.”

The couple married in 2023, after announcing their engagement in December 2021.

Pappas also delivered a sharp rebuke of President Donald Trump’s Washington, casting his victory as a demand for economic relief and political accountability.

“You said in a resounding voice that America needs a course correction,” he said.

Pappas blamed corporate interests and congressional Republicans for policies hurting Americans. He pledged action on housing, healthcare, child care and reproductive freedom.

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Pappas has backed the Equality Act, protections for LGBTQ+ veterans and legislation prohibiting gay and transgender “panic” defenses. But he was the only out LGBTQ+ member of Congress to support the 2024 defense bill restricting gender-affirming care coverage for transgender military dependents. He said he opposed that provision while supporting the legislation’s military investments.

In a 2025 interview, Pappas also warned against dismissing threats to marriage equality, pointing to Justice Clarence Thomas’ call to revisit precedents protecting personal freedoms, including same-sex couples’ right to marry.

On Tuesday, the marriage he had discussed protecting was there for the country to see.

“Let’s remember what is possible when we join with common purpose and fight for a fairer, freer New Hampshire,” he said.