After years of insisting he has no interest in serving in the U.S. Senate, former New Hampshire Gov. Chris Sununu now says he will “consider” it.
In an interview with the Washington Times on Tuesday, the popular four-term chief executive said the door isn’t entirely closed.
“I have not ruled it out completely, but folks in Washington have asked me to think about it and to consider it, and that is just kind of where I am,” Sununu said.
The Granite State’s senior U.S. senator, Democrat Jeanne Shaheen, has yet to announce if she will seek a fourth term in 2026. If Sununu chose to run, she would face formidable odds, according to the polls.
A New Hampshire Journal/Praecones Analytica poll published last week gave Sununu a 54 to 46 percent lead over the 78-year-old incumbent.
The same poll found Shaheen held a 55-45 percent lead over former ambassador and U.S. Sen. Scott Brown, the Republican most widely expected to enter the race. (Brown lost to Shaheen by just three points in 2014.)
If Sununu does choose to run, it will mark a radical reversal for a Republican who has repeatedly criticized the Senate and the Republicans who serve there. When he announced his decision not to challenge Sen. Maggie Hassan in 2022, Sununu told reporters he had no use for the do-nothing debate society.
“I like getting stuff done,” Sununu said. “I don’t think they could handle me down there. I’d be like a lion in a cage.”
In an interview with the Washington Examiner, Sununu elaborated on his view of Republicans serving in the upper chamber.
“They were all, for the most part, content with the speed at which they weren’t doing anything. It was very clear that we just have to hold the line for two years. OK, so I’m just going to be a roadblock for two years. That’s not what I do,” Sununu said.
Despite GOP success at the State House level, New Hampshire has been unfriendly territory for Republicans at the federal level since 2010. Since then, Republicans have only won one federal race. And the GOP has only carried the state’s four Electoral College votes once since 1992. (George W. Bush in 2000.)
Based on the assumption that Shaheen will decide to run again — and that Sununu stays out — the Cook Political Report ranks the race as “leans Democrat.” That all changes, political professionals say, if Sununu gets in.
“There is simply no denying the fact that Chris Sununu is the most popular Republican the state has seen in decades,” veteran GOP strategist Michael Dennehy told NHJournal. “He has been gifted with the ability to defy conventional wisdom and win against all odds.
“I’m willing to bet that if he were to announce, Sen. Shaheen would decide to retire the following week.”
Political veteran and longtime Sununu ally David Carney is even more blunt.
“Serious people understand that Chris Sununu makes this a race where Democrats are the underdogs. To paraphrase Joe Biden this would be ‘a big f-ing deal.'”
And Biden’s political legacy is likely to play a role in this race, whether Sununu gets in or not.
Shaheen was an outspoken supporter of Biden even after polls showed a majority of Democrats said he was too old to seek another term. When Biden was pushed out of the presidential race over his age-related issues last summer, he was 81 years old.
If she’s reelected, Shaheen would be just three weeks shy of 80 when she takes the oath — and with a six-year term ahead of her.
Sununu, on the other hand, is a youthful 50. And while Brown is 65, he’s also a marathon runner who fronts his own rock band — Scott Brown and the Ambassadors.
Political insider Tom Rath, a longtime Republican who endorsed Biden for president, says he believes Shaheen would “face the age issue head on,” and that a race between her and Sununu would be too close to call.
“I think the race would start off even and probably stay that way to the end,” Rath said. “Do not underestimate her skills or savvy.”
Still, noted Sununu, the polls show Shaheen is far from invulnerable.
“Anytime a senator is losing by 10 points to someone in any poll that tells you that they can be beaten and not just by one person,” Sununu said. “She is very vulnerable and very beatable and the people of New Hampshire are tired of the fact that nothing is being delivered.”
