DiLorenzo secures GOP nomination in New Hampshire’s 1st Congressional District

Portsmouth car dealer Anthony DiLorenzo won the GOP nomination for New Hampshire’s 1st Congressional District Tuesday.

The Associated Press called the race at 8 p.m. Tuesday night. DiLorenzo will try to replace Rep. Chris Pappas, who gave up the seat to run for the Senate, and become the first Republican from New Hampshire elected to Congress in over a decade. At the time his victory was called, the Democratic nominee was unclear. 

DiLorenzo, 62, beat out a crowded GOP field in which candidates often struggled to differentiate themselves. With 39% of votes counted, DiLorenzo captured roughly 51% of the electorate and 13,110 votes, per the Associated Press. He beat out Hollie Noveletsky, a Newfields businesswoman who earned 27% (7,485 votes) of the vote, and state Rep. Brian Cole, who represents Manchester in the State House and earned 14.1% of the vote (3,978 votes).

DiLorenzo earned President Donald Trump’s endorsement in the race but at times tried to balance the more conservative values of his party with centrist policy proposals. He weathered attacks from opponents who tried to cast him as insufficiently conservative throughout the race.

DiLorenzo owns over a dozen car dealerships and has cast himself as a pragmatic businessman who will use his business acumen to solve problems in Congress.

Before Pappas won the seat in 2018, it had flipped hands between Democrat Carol Shea Porter and Republican Frank Guinta four times. However, Pappas was able to hold the district through three straight elections, leading spectators to wonder whether voters in the district had soured on the GOP or whether Pappas was a uniquely strong candidate.