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New Hampshire
Election Day may be a year off, but NH’s 1st Congressional District race is already lively
The 2026 elections may be more than a year away, but there is one race in New Hampshire that’s already drawing a large — and growing — field of candidates. That’s the contest for the 1st Congressional District seat, now held by Democrat Chris Pappas. NHPR’s Josh Rogers spoke with All Things Considered host Julia Furukawa to discuss why who’s running and what this race may tell us about the state of both political parties.
Below is a lightly edited transcript.
So, it’s July 2025, and there are seven candidates — five Democrats and two Republicans — in this race so far. Others are looking at it. This seems early, no? I mean, the primary is more than a year away.
It is early, and some candidates are already out there doing the kind of retail campaigning you’d normally expect to see a year from now.
For instance, I caught Stefany Shaheen, one of the Democrats in the race, in Manchester Thursday with former Gov. John Lynch, shaking hands with local business owners.
So it’s is already a lively race. Let’s start with the Democrats.
Sure. Congressman Chris Pappas is vacating this seat to run for U.S. Senate, and so far five Democrats have lined up to succeed him. It’s already clear the field covers a reasonably wide swath of the party as it’s really still working to define itself in the second Trump term.
We already heard from Stefany Shaheen. She’s a former Portsmouth city councilor, and now works as an executive at Dean Kamen’s government-backed bio-engineering effort, ARMI. But, in fact, she’s probably best known for her last name: She’s the daughter of Sen. Jeanne Shaheen. That name — and the connections that go along with it — are on display already. Her ability to secure the endorsement of somebody like Lynch, a popular former governor, like is an obvious plus. But some of her opponents are already working to make all that a liability.
Here’s part of the campaign launch video of Democrat Christian Urrutia, a lawyer who lives in Moultonborough:
“There will be many good Democrats in this race, but familiar names and the politics of yesterday aren’t enough to meet the moment. We need to do better.”
Now, that’s not exactly a veiled poke at Shaheen there.
No, it’s not. Let’s stick with the Democrats. You indicated candidates are coming from several different corners of the party in this race. One has run for this seat before, yes?
Yes. Maura Sullivan of New Castle. She was new to New Hampshire when she ran the first time, in 2016. It’s seven years later, and these days she is vice chair of the state Democratic Party — and very comfortable working within the party’s power structure.
In this race, she’s also highlighting her background as a Marine and her time working on veterans issues during the Obama administration. And she’s definitely casting herself as next in line in New Hampshire’s Democratic establishment. Here’s Sullivan speaking to WMUR in April:
“When I’m elected, I will be the first female Marine elected to Congress in this country. It’s only fitting that the first female Marine be elected from New Hampshire, as we have such a strong and proud tradition here — sending the first woman in our country to be both governor and U.S. senator, in Jeanne Shaheen.”
OK, so Sullivan name-dropping Jeanne Shaheen — and putting an emphasis on her military background. She’s not alone on that last count in this Democratic field.
You are right. Christian Urrutia, who we also heard from a moment ago, is in the New Hampshire National Guard. He now works at AirBnb but worked as a Pentagon lawyer during the Biden administration. He talked up that experience when he launched his campaign. But he also notes that his parents are both immigrants. And as far as his policies go, he’s announced some progressive ones: Medicare for All, universal daycare, and tuition free community college and trade school. But, right now, Urrutia is little known to Democrats here in New Hampshire.
So who else is there among the Democrats?
There is Carleigh Beriont — a Harvard instructor and member of the Hampton Selectboard. Beriont is the only person in this race who now holds any elected office. That’s something she’s stressed. Her husband is a public school teacher, and she’s very much playing up that she understands the pressures people face in making ends meet these days: the cost of childcare and housing for example. She’s also taking a few interesting stances, including forgoing social media.
This is what Beriont said to WMUR about this.
“I am not going to spend a single penny advertising on those websites, or use forums that are created to divide us, and to destroy our democracy to have conversations with people in this community.’
Another Democrat who appears to be embracing a less conventional approach to this campaign is Sarah Chadzynski of Lyndeborough. Tell me about her.
She’s a former teacher who has led international non-profits, and she’s calling herself a “movement” candidate informed by the recent “No Kings” protests. She kicked off what is clearly a pretty homespun campaign earlier this week by announcing her candidacy with remarks standing before a razor wire-topped fence at Strafford County Jail, the only location in the state where ICE detainees are held.
“Silence in the face of authoritarianism in our country or abroad is never an option. That’s why we are standing here today in front of Strafford County Corrections Center.”
So a strong human rights and democratic norms message there. It does seem like the Democrats in this race are working to harness whatever anti-Trump sentiment they think is animating people these days.
I think that’s right. They are doing so and in varying ways — informed by their backgrounds and temperaments.
What about the Republicans in this race? There are two so far. What are they saying?
There’s Chris Bright. He ran for this same seat last year, and finished fourth in the primary. Bright’s a veteran, a West Point graduate, and a businessman. He’s pointing to his leadership skills — and his experience running last year — as informing his candidacy. Here he is speaking to WMUR.
“I want to do this. I learned pretty much everything — well, I did learn absolutely everything — on the last run. And I almost feel like it’s a duty to take the lessons learned. The issues are still there.”
Now, in his last campaign, Bright initially seemed to be staking out a moderate place in the Republican Party. He’d said he supported Nikki Haley in the GOP presidential primary, and said abortion was an issue that was hurting Republicans. But eventually he described himself as a diehard Trump backer — willing to, as he put it, “crawl across broken glass” for Trump.
Intense. And the other Republican in this race so far?
That would be Melissa Bailey. She’s right now the vice chair of the Bedford Republican committee. She has a background in finance and accounting and she left the workforce to homeschool her kids about a decade ago. She told me she sees this as a good moment for Republicans, and she points to the raft of conservative policies coming out of the New Hampshire State House in recent months as proof of that:
“The political climate has changed quite a bit. And with our strong Republican legislators in our state having so much success, I think that’s going to help our party as well.”
Of course, voters won’t cast the first ballots in this race for more than a year. So who knows what the climate will look like then — for Democrats or Republicans?
Local News
Investigators partnered with a nonprofit genetic genealogy analysis organization to identify the man who the remains belonged to.
After nearly four decades, a man whose skull was discovered in the New Hampshire woods has been identified.
Warren Kuchinsky was born in 1952 and was last known to be alive in the mid-1970s, New Hampshire Attorney General John Formella and New Hampshire State Police Colonel Mark Hall said in a statement. In 1986, his skull was found in a wooded area in the town of Bristol.
At the time, investigators weren’t able to identify whose skull it was, according to officials. Last year, however, the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner partnered with the DNA Doe Project, a nonprofit organization, to solve the case using forensic genetic genealogy techniques.
Kuchinsky’s identity was confirmed through DNA testing of a surviving family member, according to officials. There is no evidence that his death was caused by foul play, according to the statement.
Founded in 2017, the DNA Doe Project partners with law enforcement, medical examiners, and volunteer genealogists to apply investigative genealogy to John and Jane Doe cases. By analyzing DNA profiles and building family trees from publicly available genetic databases and historical records, the organization has helped solve more than 250 cases nationwide.
“We are honored to have partnered with the State of New Hampshire on this case,” DNA Doe Project Team Leader Lisa Ivany said in the statement. “Through the power of investigative genetic genealogy and the dedication of our volunteer genealogists, we were able to develop a critical lead in less than 24 hours. We truly hope that this identification brings long-awaited answers to Mr. Kuchinsky’s family.”
Initial DNA testing turned up only distant matches, so the DNA Doe Project selected the case to be worked on at a virtual retreat in May 2025, according to the organization’s case profile. Over the course of a weekend, more than 40 genealogists from the U.S., Canada, England, and Scotland collaborated virtually to work on the case.
Within hours, the team discovered that the unidentified man had roots in New Hampshire and Quebec, according to the profile. They later zeroed in on Kuchinsky, who had attended school in Plymouth, N.H., but had no official proof of life past 1970.
“This identification reflects the power of partnership and scientific advancement,” Formella said in the statement. “The dedication of the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner, the investigative support of the New Hampshire State Police, and the extraordinary work of the DNA Doe Project have restored a name to an individual who had been unidentified for nearly 40 years. We are grateful for their professionalism and commitment.”
New Hampshire
New Hampshire House Advances One of The Nation’s Most Extreme Transgender Bathroom Bans
The proposal would fine transgender people up to $5,000 for using bathrooms aligned with their gender identity.
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Bathroom bans targeting transgender people have been spreading rapidly across the United States. In previous years, adult bathroom bans in public buildings were limited to a handful of states with extreme laws. This year, they have become one of the primary vehicles for anti-trans legislation nationwide. Kansas was the first to act, passing a bathroom bounty hunter system and invalidating transgender people’s IDs. Idaho and Missouri began advancing their own bills. Now, the New Hampshire House of Representatives has passed its own version — one of the most extreme in the United States, which states that a trans person using the bathroom of their gender identity is a crime under the state civil rights act, violations of which carries hefty penalties. The bill passed 181-164 on Wednesday night, just weeks after Governor Kelly Ayotte vetoed a separate bathroom ban. Republicans are now sending her something far more aggressive — raising the question of whether they are trying to move the goalposts or simply daring her to veto again.
“Notwithstanding any other provision of law, with the exception of RSA 21:3, RSA 21:54, and paragraph II below, all multi-user facilities, including bathrooms, restrooms, and locker rooms located in buildings owned, leased, or operated by any municipality shall be used based on the individual’s biological sex,” reads the new bill. This prohibition is expansive: it applies to parks, rest stops, airports, civic buildings, and more, and could leave transgender people struggling to find a public place to use the restroom across the state.
The bill contains a novel enforcement mechanism not seen in any other state. It declares that a transgender person “asserting” that their gender identity allows them to use the bathroom is against the law under the state civil rights act, turning civil rights protections that were meant to be protective of transgender people into a weapon against them. “It shall be unlawful for any person to assert that their gender identity is a sex other than that defined in RSA 21:3 for the purposes of accessing places or services restricted on the basis of sex,” reads the bill. Such violations could result in fines of up to $5,000 per incident and even jail time if a person violates a resulting court injunction by continuing to use the restroom.
The bill also contains provisions for private businesses. It permits any owner or operator of a “place of public accommodation” — a category that under New Hampshire law includes hotels, restaurants, theaters, retail stores, bars, and concert venues — to restrict bathrooms by assigned sex at birth. The bill then immunizes those businesses from discrimination claims: “Adoption or enforcement of a policy pursuant to this section shall not be deemed discrimination under RSA 354-A or any other state law,” it reads.
A separate bill, HB 1217, also passed on Wednesday. That bill permits governmental buildings and businesses to classify bathrooms and locker rooms by assigned sex at birth — similar to the bathroom bans Ayotte has already vetoed. It passed by an even wider margin, 187-163. It contains no enforcement mechanism, but rather, states that bathroom bans and sports bans are not discriminatory towards transgender people under New Hampshire law.
The bills are part of a larger movement towards bathroom bans for transgender people. Just last month, Kansas passed a bathroom ban that allows every citizen in the state to become a bounty hunter, where reporting transgender people in bathrooms can net them $1,000 per trans person caught. This law also invalidated trans people’s drivers licenses in the state. Meanwhile, Idaho and Missouri are both advancing extreme anti-trans bathroom bans of their own, with Idaho’s ban even applying to private businesses, making it against the law for a private business to allow a trans person to use the bathroom that matches their gender identity.
The bills are substantially more extreme than the one vetoed by Governor Ayotte just weeks ago. In a veto statement of a bathroom ban last month, Ayotte stated, “I believe there are important and legitimate privacy and safety concerns raised by biological males using places such as female locker rooms and being placed in female correctional facilities… At the same time, I see that House Bill 148 is overly broad and impractical to enforce, potentially creating an exclusionary environment for some of our citizens.”
It remains unclear why Republicans are pushing an even more extreme version of a bill their own governor has already vetoed three times. The bill still needs to pass the New Hampshire Senate and be signed by Ayotte to become law. One possibility is that the more extreme HB 1442 is designed as cover for HB 1217 — making that bill appear moderate by comparison and improving its chances of earning a signature. Another is that Republicans believe they can pressure Ayotte into signing, or are simply laying the groundwork for an override attempt down the line. Regardless, HB 1442 is one of the most extreme bathroom bans moving through any state legislature in the country, and transgender people across New England will be watching closely as it advances to the Senate.
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