Berk Unseats Aures in Chichester-Pittsfield House Race
Independent newcomer Becky Berk won a New Hampshire House seat in the Chichester-Pittsfield district, unseating Republican incumbent Cyril Aures.
Updated on Nov. 6, 2026 in Elections
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Independent Becky Berk defeated Republican Rep. Cyril Aures in the Chichester-Pittsfield New Hampshire House race, while Republican Rep. Clayton Wood was re-elected in the same district. The result was one of the down-ballot losses that flipped the New Hampshire House as Democrats won battleground races nationwide and in the state.
Why it matters
The loss of Aures, who had held the seat since 2022, is one of the races that shifted control of the New Hampshire House in the midterms. The split ticket in the two towns, with voters returning Wood while choosing Berk over Aures, shows how local contests can diverge from the partisan leanings of the district.
Trump won Pittsfield by 26 percentage points and Chichester by 18 percentage points two years ago, with Trump taking 62% of the Pittsfield 2024 vote. The source does not report the margins of this year's House results in the district.
The players
Becky Berk
Becky Berk is an independent candidate who won a New Hampshire House seat in the Chichester-Pittsfield district in her first campaign.
Cyril Aures
Cyril Aures is a Republican who served in the New Hampshire House from 2022 and lost his seat in the Chichester-Pittsfield district.
Clayton Wood
Clayton Wood is a Republican state representative who was re-elected in the Chichester-Pittsfield district.
The details
Chichester and Pittsfield voters split their local ticket, re-electing Republican Clayton Wood while choosing Becky Berk over Republican Cyril Aures. Both towns also chose Republican Howard Pearl of Loudon for State Senate District 17.
Timeline
November 3, 2026: Midterm election voting took place in New Hampshire and nationwide.
Political Context
Trump won Pittsfield by 26 percentage points and Chichester by 18 percentage points two years ago, margins that favored Republican candidates in both towns. The split-ticket result in which voters returned Wood while choosing Berk over Aures departs from that partisan pattern at the district level.
The change in the Chichester-Pittsfield seat affects which lawmakers represent these residents in the New Hampshire House for the coming term. Voters in both towns also chose Howard Pearl for State Senate District 17, so their local representation on that ballot line was settled in the same election.
The takeaway
Split-ticket voting in Chichester and Pittsfield shows that voters can back an incumbent Republican for one seat while choosing an independent over another Republican for a different seat on the same ballot. Watching how these local results compare across state House districts can clarify where the midterm shift occurred.
Further reading
For broader context on how these seats shifted, see Elections coverage of New Hampshire's midterm results.
Source note: This article includes information reported by Concord Monitor.
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