Early returns suggest that Jeanne Shaheen, the former New Hampshire governor, defeated incumbent U.S. Sen. John Sununu (R-N.H.)
Sununu had been a leading Republican backer in the U.S. Senate of greater U.S. engagement in the Middle East; in his earlier career in the U.S. House of Representatives, he often bucked initiatives backed by the American Israel Public Affairs Committee.
His father, John Sununu, had a tense relationship with pro-Israel groups when he served the first President Bush as chief of staff. Shaheen’s campaign, her second race for the Senate seat against Sununu, used Sununu’s past in a pitch for pro-Israel support, particularly in a letter from Sen. Ron Wyden (D-Ore.), who is Jewish.
Both candidates have Arab-American connections; Sununu is of Palestinian descent and Shaheen’s husband, Bill, a prominent lawyer and Democratic activist in the state, is also an Arab American.
