After weeks of anticipation, former New Hampshire U.S. Senator John E. Sununu made it official Wednesday morning, formally announcing his campaign to return to Washington, D.C.
In an announcement video, the 61-year-old Sununu says it’s time to “lower the temperature” in American politics.
“Maybe you’re surprised to hear that I’m running for the Senate again. I’m a bit surprised myself,” Sununu says in the video. “Why would anyone subject themselves to everything going on there right now?”
Sununu served in the U.S. Senate from 2003 to 2009 after three terms in the U.S. House. He lost his 2008 bid for reelection to Democrat Jeanne Shaheen, who announced earlier this year she isn’t seeking another term.
The son of former Gov. John H. Sununu and the older brother of former Gov. Chris Sununu, John E.’s entrance into the race has excited Republicans in Washington, D.C. who believe he can do something no Republican has done since 2010 — win a U.S. Senate race in New Hampshire. Supporters point to a recent co/efficient poll giving likely Democrat nominee U.S. Rep. Chris Pappas a narrow 45 to 42 percent lead over Sununu.
“Sununu’s addition to the US Senate race puts New Hampshire on the map,” said longtime New Hampshire GOP strategist Michael Biundo, a partner at Ascent Strategic. “The national interest level goes through the roof. He’s a proven winner, which means donors and national groups that may have stayed out of this race and put their resources somewhere else will give the race another look.”
According to multiple media reports, Sununu was encouraged to return to politics by his former U.S. House colleague Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.) Sununu has also been in touch with the Trump White House, and a meeting with the president is expected soon.
Word that Sununu was preparing to run changed the race even before he entered. Republican state Sen. Dan Innis (R-Bradford) dropped out of the Senate primary and endorsed Sununu’s prospective candidacy. And he urged Scott Brown, the other Republican in the primary, to do the same.
“I strongly encourage Sen. Scott Brown to follow my lead and get behind Sen. Sununu,” Innis said.
The former ambassador and Massachusetts U.S. senator isn’t taking Innis’s advice.
“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,” Brown said in a statement. “While John was supporting John Kasich in 2016, I was campaigning with Donald Trump. While John was fighting for special interests, I was serving in the first Trump administration. While John was wooing the D.C. establishment this summer, I have been working with grassroots activists across the Granite State.
“Senate seats are earned, not handed down,” Brown added. “I stopped one political dynasty before, and intend to do the same in 2026.”
Recent polls show Brown trails Pappas by 10 points or more in theoretical head-to-head match ups, a larger margin than Sununu’s. And some New Hampshire Republicans believe Sununu is the only candidate who can get the National Republican Senatorial Committee (NRSC) to invest significant money in the race, lifting all Granite State GOP boats.
“It’s Sununu or bust,” one Granite State GOP source familiar with the NRSC’s thinking told NHJournal.
Sources close to Sununu say they’re confident he will win the primary, and Granite State Democrats appear to agree. They’ve already launched the “Stop Sununu” website, attacking Sununu on his record in the U.S. Senate.
The Cook Political Report has rated New Hampshire’s 2026 U.S. Senate race “lean Democrat” since Shaheen announced her retirement.
“He still has a primary to win, and the dynamics of the state’s GOP electorate have changed,” Biundo said.
“However, if he assembles a smart team and employs kitchen table messaging, John E. Sununu can be the next Senator from New Hampshire. Chris Pappas can be beaten; he doesn’t have a strong resume to run on.”
