In New Hampshire’s 1st District, DiLorenzo and Shaheen face off in a consequential race

After winning their respective primary elections last week, Republican Anthony DiLorenzo and Democrat Stefany Shaheen will face off in November’s general election to see who will represent New Hampshire’s 1st Congressional District.

Both candidates call Portsmouth home and both present themselves as centrist options within their parties.

DiLorenzo is a car dealer with over a dozen locations who self-funded much of his campaign and earned the endorsement of President Donald Trump. He tried to paint himself as a pragmatic businessman from humble beginnings who can use his business acumen and previous successes to solve problems in Congress.

“My opponents talk about what they are going to do,” DiLorenzo said to a crowd of supporters in Portsmouth immediately after The Associated Press called his victory. “I want to talk about what I’ve done: building businesses, creating jobs, and giving back to my community — something I’ve done for over 35 years.”

Shaheen, the daughter of U.S. Sen. Jeanne Shaheen, served on the Portsmouth City Council and worked as a consultant for a Manchester biotech firm. Like many Democrats this cycle, she’s sought to center Trump, who has historically low approval ratings and has lost New Hampshire in three consecutive presidential elections. At an election watch party a couple blocks away from DiLorenzo’s, Shaheen echoed that messaging in a speech to supporters as election results were trickling in in her favor.

“This race has always, from day one, been about tackling the challenges that matter most to New Hampshire families,” Shaheen said. “It has meant the need and the focus to tackle and take on Donald Trump and his disastrous corruption, his endless war, his attacks on small business with these disastrous tariffs, the skyrocketing costs families are facing in New Hampshire and across the country.”

However, she suggested that messaging must go further.

“But let’s just be clear: It’s not enough to stop Trump’s damage,” Shaheen continued. “We have to do better than that. We have to give a reason for people to feel motivated and inspired and ready to show up between now and November, and that’s what we will do.”

The district covers the eastern half of the state, including Manchester, the Seacoast, and much of the Lakes Region. Since 2018, Chris Pappas has held the seat, but the Manchester Democrat is now his party’s nominee for New Hampshire’s open U.S. Senate seat. 

DiLorenzo beat out a slew of other conservatives including Hollie Noveletsky, who owns Novel Iron Works in Greenland and was once chair of the New Hampshire Republican Party, and State Rep. Brian Cole, who represents Manchester in the State House. DiLorenzo won with 51.7% of votes (per the AP as of Tuesday when 99% of votes had been counted) compared to Noveletsky’s 26.2% and Cole’s 14.1%. Two other candidates, Melissa Bailey and Lindsey Anderson, took less than 5% each.

DiLorenzo has dismissed questions about his lack of legislative experience: “I have exceptional experience, all sorts of different ranges of experience.”

He also said he doesn’t plan on changing his campaign messaging much for the general election. During the primary, DiLorenzo weathered attacks from fellow Republicans that he wasn’t sufficiently conservative on issues such as abortion, where he opposes federal legislation on the issue, and immigration, where he’s suggested openness to pathways for citizenship.

Throughout the primary, though, the Republican candidates struggled to differentiate themselves.

“How do you break out from that field, right?” Noveletsky said in an interview. “When we’re all Republicans and we’re all really philosophically similar.”

In order to earn her spot on the general election ballot, Shaheen fought off another centrist, Marine Corps veteran Maura Sullivan, and a host of progressives led by Hampton Select Board member Carleigh Beriont. She walked away with 36.9% of the vote, narrowly edging Sullivan, who won 34.8% of the vote. Beriont took 22.5%.

Shaheen promised to fight for a single-payer Medicare for All system like many of her primary opponents. She also opposes the Trump administration’s tariff policies and, as the mother of a diabetic daughter, wants to make insulin prices a priority.

If elected, DiLorenzo would be the first Republican to represent New Hampshire in Congress in over a decade. Before Pappas first won the district in 2018, the seat had flipped between Republicans and Democrats in five consecutive elections. Political observers are now wondering whether the district soured on Republicans or if Pappas was a uniquely strong candidate. This election could provide insight into that question, but it will also have ramifications nationwide as the two parties battle for control of the House of Representatives.

“We all know the map to a Democratic Congress runs through New Hampshire,” Shaheen said. “And it runs through the 1st District, running through communities like Rochester and Merrimack and Derry.”

Shaheen is trying to extend the tenure of her politically powerful family. Her mother, Sen. Jeanne Shaheen, announced her retirement last year after 18 years in Congress. Before that, she was governor of New Hampshire for six years. If elected, the younger Shaheen will be sworn in at the same time her mother leaves office. The candidate is also the daughter of Billy Shaheen, an attorney and Democratic Party operative who was involved in helping Jimmy Carter win New Hampshire’s 1976 primary election and the White House. Since that 1976 election, he’s been a player in New Hampshire Democratic politics. With that, Stefany Shaheen has faced accusations of nepotism throughout her bid for Congress.

DiLorenzo is likely to highlight that dynamic over the next several weeks.

“Growing up in a working-class family, we often sat around the kitchen table talking about things, and I often dreamed about being successful,” DiLorenzo said. “And I never, ever imagined that I’d be up on stage talking about running for Congress. It’s a great country, America.”