In yet more good news for Republicans who are hoping to use the 2026 midterms to snag a few swing state Senate seats, Sen. John E. Sununu (R-N.H.) is now moving to return to the nation’s upper chamber and replace Sen. Jeanne Shaheen (D-N.H.), who announced in March that she would be dropping out of the race.
As The American Tribune reported, Senator Shaheen announced her retirement in the face of a mounting red wave in the Senate. She said, “I ran for public office to make a difference for the people of New Hampshire. That purpose has never and will never change. But today, after careful consideration, I’m announcing that I have made the difficult decision not to seek reelection to the Senate in 2026.”
Concluding her remarks, the Democrat said she will continue working as a woke activist. She said, “And while I’m not seeking reelection, believe me, I am not retiring. I am determined to work every day over the next two years and beyond to continue trying to make a difference for the people of New Hampshire in this country. I hope you’ll join me in that effort.”
Ever since then, Republicans have hoped that a reasonably good candidate could run and replace Shaheen in the Granite State’s 2026 Senate race, as the state moved toward Republicans in the 2024 election and her retirement makes for an opportunity to replace the Democrat senator, who had held it since a win in 2008.
Now, it looks like that might happen, as former Sen. Sununu, who lost to Shaheen in 2008, has indicated that he will enter the race, as was reported by NOTUS on Wednesday, October 15. “Sununu is expected to announce his bid for Senate soon, with some expecting it could come as early as next week, three sources familiar with the matter told NOTUS,” the outlet reported.
Sununu, for his part, commenting on the matter in September, obliquely indicated that he might run in 2026, saying, “We need someone to represent us in New Hampshire that has our values, that’s not [going to] vote a party line, that’s willing to take risks and get things done.”
Commenting on the matter on X, one “moderate Republican” X account explained that Sununu is a relatively good candidate whose views and background make him a potential winner in New Hampshire, saying, “Now that John Sununu is a perspective candidate for Senate in New Hampshire here were some major positions he took while in the senate previously -Voted Against Federal Marriage Amendment (NH is very socially liberal so this vote will help him) -Voted Against McCains amnesty bill -Strongly opposed the Patriot Act Overall generally pretty good and he will make a good senator if he wins.” The polling appears to be bearing that out, and indicates that Sununu is within striking distance of winning.
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President Trump has indicated that he hopes Sununu runs, potentially good news for the former senator. Sununu, for his part, has been doing more media in a way that appeals to both MAGA and more moderate Republicans of the sort he’ll need to win. For example, in an appearance on CNBC, he said, “Nobody wants that administration back. It was nothing but punitive, massive regulations, take 10% of the airlines out of the sky for DEI and environmental reasons, crushing the industry, completely crippling it.” Watch him here:
Featured image credit: Office of Governor Christopher T. Sununu, CC BY-SA 4.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0>, via Wikimedia Commons