Former GOP senator emerges from private sector with new mission: ‘Somebody has to step up’
Former Republican Senator John E. Sununu of New Hampshire has officially announced his candidacy for the 2026 Senate race, aiming to succeed retiring Democratic Senator Jeanne Shaheen. In a campaign launch video shared with Fox News Digital, Sununu expressed his concern over the current state of Congress, describing it as “loud, dysfunctional, even angry,” and emphasized his desire to “calm the waters.” Sununu, who previously served three terms in the House and briefly held a Senate seat, is a well-known figure in New Hampshire politics, with a family legacy that includes his father, John H. Sununu, a former governor and White House chief of staff, and his brother, Chris Sununu, the current governor. Shaheen’s decision not to seek re-election has opened a competitive landscape in New Hampshire, a state known for its swing voter base.
Despite his name recognition, Sununu faces significant challenges in securing the GOP nomination. Former Massachusetts Senator Scott Brown, who narrowly lost to Shaheen in 2014, is also running and has already demonstrated fundraising prowess, raising approximately $1.2 million in just three months. Brown has criticized Sununu for his past lack of support for Donald Trump, a crucial figure in the Republican Party. Sununu’s previous endorsements of candidates like John Kasich and Nikki Haley, along with his critical comments about Trump, have left him vulnerable to attacks from Brown, who positions himself as a more aligned candidate with the current GOP base. The dynamics of the race are further complicated by the influence of Trump, whose endorsement could be pivotal; he has previously indicated support for Sununu, despite their past disagreements.
As the campaign unfolds, Republican strategists see Sununu as a strong contender capable of flipping the Senate seat back to the GOP, especially given the party’s recent successes in state elections. However, the Democratic Party is rallying behind Chris Pappas, a four-term representative who is currently the frontrunner for his party’s nomination. With New Hampshire’s unique political landscape and its history of swing elections, the upcoming race promises to be closely watched as both parties prepare for a competitive showdown in the 2026 midterms.
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EXCLUSIVE:
Former Republican Sen.
John E. Sununu
of New Hampshire wants his old job back.
And on Wednesday, Sununu took a big first step towards returning to Capitol Hill as he announced his candidacy in the 2026 race to succeed retiring Democratic Sen. Jeanne Shaheen in New England’s only swing state.
Sununu, in a campaign launch video shared first nationally with Fox News Digital, said that nowadays “Congress just seems loud, dysfunctional, even angry,” and that he wants to “return to the Senate to help calm the waters.”
Sununu is a former three-term representative who defeated then-Gov. Shaheen in
New Hampshire’s
2002 Senate election. But the senator lost to Shaheen in their 2008 rematch.
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Shaheen announced
earlier this year that she wouldn’t seek re-election in next year’s midterms and Republicans are working to flip the seat as they aim to not only defend but expand their Senate majority.
Now, after nearly two decades in the private sector, Sununu is ready to return to the Senate campaign trail in New England’s only swing state.
“Maybe you’re surprised that I’m running for the Senate again,” Sununu says to the camera
in his video.
“I’m a bit surprised myself. Why would anyone subject themselves to everything going on there right now. Well, somebody has to step up and lower the temperature. Somebody has to get things done.”
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Sununu is a brand name in New Hampshire politics. The former senator’s father, John H. Sununu, is a former governor who later served as chief of staff in then-President George H.W. Bush’s White House. And one of his younger brothers is former Gov. Chris Sununu, who won election and re-election to four two-year terms steering the Granite State.
But Sununu won’t have a glide path to the GOP nomination.
Former ambassador and former Sen.
Scott Brown
, who was elected and served three years in the Senate in neighboring Massachusetts, and who, as the 2014 GOP Senate nominee in New Hampshire, narrowly lost to Shaheen during her first re-election, jumped into the race in late June.
“Our campaign will have the necessary resources for the long haul, and allow me to campaign the only way I know how: relentless hard work and a focus on retail politics that Granite State voters expect,” Brown said after Fox News first reported that he hauled in roughly $1.2 million in fundraising the past three months.
Brown has repeatedly taken aim at Sununu the past month over the former senator’s lack of past support for President
Donald Trump
, who holds immense clout over the GOP.
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Sununu served as national co-chair on the 2016 Republican presidential campaign of then-Ohio Gov. John Kasich, who declined to support Trump as the party’s nominee.
And Sununu, along with then-Gov. Chris Sununu, endorsed former ambassador and former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley in the 2024 New Hampshire Republican presidential primary, as she battled Trump for the nomination.
And on the eve of the first-in-the-nation presidential primary, the former senator wrote an opinion piece titled “Donald Trump is a loser,” that ran in the New Hampshire Union Leader, the state’s largest daily newspaper.
Brown endorsed Trump ahead of his 2016 New Hampshire primary victory, which launched him toward the GOP presidential nomination and ultimately the White House. Brown later served as U.S. ambassador to New Zealand during Trump’s first term.
“Anyone who thinks that a never Trump, corporate lobbyist who hasn’t won an election in a quarter century will resonate with today’s GOP primary voters is living in a different universe. While John was supporting John Kasich in 2016, I was campaigning with Donald Trump,” Brown charged in a statement to Fox News.
And pointing to Sununu’s past decade and a half in the private sector, Brown argued that “while John was fighting for special interests, I was serving in the first Trump administration. While John was wooing the DC establishment this summer, I have been working with grassroots activists across the Granite State. Senate seats are earned, not handed down.”
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Trump, whose endorsement in Republican primaries is extremely influential, has remained neutral to date.
But the president may be willing to overlook Sununu’s past jabs.
Earlier this year, when Chris Sununu flirted with a Senate bid after leaving office, Trump urged him to run.
The younger Sununu, who was Haley’s top supporter and surrogate in New Hampshire, repeatedly criticized Trump during the 2024 Republican presidential primaries.
Trump told reporters in April that he had met with the former governor in the Oval Office and that he’d “support him fully.”
“He’s been very nice to me over the last year or so,” Trump added. “I hope he runs. I think he’ll win that seat.”
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And a national Republican strategist familiar with the Senate race in New Hampshire told Fox News Digital last month, “President Trump appreciates winners and understands that John E. Sununu puts this race on the map for Republicans.”
As Fox News reported, Sununu met last month with Senate Majority Leader John Thune and former Sen. Cory Gardner, who served as chair of the Senate Leadership Fund, which is the top super PAC supporting Senate Republicans. National Republicans view Sununu as the strongest candidate to win back the seat in New Hampshire.
Four-term Democratic Rep. Chris Pappas, who launched his Senate campaign in early April, is the clear frontrunner for his party’s nomination.
The New Hampshire Democratic Party quickly took aim at Sununu.
While New Hampshire has for over a century held the first-in-the-nation presidential primary, its state primary, which will be held next September, is one of the last-in-the-nation.
While Republicans have had success in state elections — they control the governor’s office and both chambers of the state legislature — the GOP hasn’t won a Senate election in New Hampshire since 2010.
Eric
Eric is a seasoned journalist covering US Politics news.
