New England’s collective delegation to the U.S. Congress has been a Democratic monolith for years, with all 21 House seats under blue control since the 2018 midterms. As a result, right-of-center voices have been drowned out in a region that was once a proud home to pragmatic Republican giants. But in New Hampshire’s 1st Congressional District (NH-1), the 2026 midterms now offer a rare opening to send a Republican to Washington.

The decision of New Hampshire Democratic Senator Jeanne Shaheen to not run for reelection in 2026 has prompted Democratic Congressman Chris Pappas to pursue a Senate run, which will leave his current seat in the U.S. House representing NH-1 open. NH-1, a nearly 700,000-person mosaic of coastal progressivism and rural conservatism, is now a battleground district. A

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