Oct. 22 (UPI) — New Hampshire’s ex-U.S. Sen. John Sununu is making a bid for his former Senate seat after his past rival for the job announced her retirement more than 15 years after he left Washington.
Sununu, part of a decades-long New Hampshire GOP political dynasty, revealed Wednesday in a campaign video that he will toss his name in the 2026 Senate race to fill the seat being vacated by retiring Democratic Sen. Jeanne Shaheen.
He will face U.S. President Donald Trump’s former New Zealand and Samoa ambassador, ex-Sen. Scott Brown, R-Mass., in the state’s Republican Party primary.
“Maybe you’re surprised to hear that I’m running for the Senate again. I’m a bit surprised myself,” the past lawmaker said.
Sununu, 61, lost his 2008 re-election for a second term to Shaheen, the state’s first elected female governor.
Then-Sen. John Sununu (L) pictured January 2002 being sworn into the session by then-U.S. Vice President Richard Cheney (R) during a mock swearing-in ceremony in the Old Senate Chamber n the U.S. Capitol building in Washington, D.C. File Photo by Roger L. Wollenberg/UPI
On Monday, he said his goal is to help “lower the temperature” in the nation’s capital and “get things done” on Capitol Hill.
“Washington’s never been perfect. It’s not meant to be,” Sununu continued. “But when I was there, people with different opinions would get together, work things out and come to solutions that made a real difference. But now Congress just seems loud, dysfunctional — even angry.”
Then-Sen. John Sununu, R-N.H. (L) and the late Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., pictured at a September 2007 press conference in Washington, D.C. “Maybe you’re surprised to hear that I’m running for the Senate again. I’m a bit surprised myself,” Sununu said Wednesday in his campaign announcement. File Photo by Kevin Dietsch/UPI
Currently, Democrats hold both New Hampshire’s senate seats, both women and once New Hampshire’s leaders: Shaheen and Sen. Maggie Hassan.
Reports indicate the Granite State’s Democratic Party circled around U.S. Rep. Chris Pappas as its pick to replace Shaheen.
U.S. Sen. Jeanne Shaheen, D-N.H., is pictured September 30 as she walks to the Senate Chamber to vote on the on the Democrat’s congressional resolution and the House-passed funding bill at the U.S. Capitol in Washington, D.C. John Sununu, 61, lost his 2008 re-election for a second term to Shaheen, the state’s first elected female governor. File Photo by Bonnie Cash/UPI
Sununu is son and brother to two New Hampshire governors.
His brother, former Republican Gov. Chris Sununu, served eight years until 2025 and followed his father, John H. Sununu, as the state’s chief executive from 1983-1989 prior to entering the White House as chief of staff to then-U.S. President George H.W. Bush.
Meanwhile, the chair of the National Republican Senatorial Committee expressed excitement Wednesday morning over Sununu’s campaign launch.
The group was “all-in,” according to U.S. Sen. Tim Scott, R-S.C., in a social media post as Scott attacked Democratic Party leaders.
