Republicans encourage former Sen. Sununu to jump into N.H. Senate race
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Former Sen. John Sununu, shown finishing a race in 2006, is launching a listening tour as he considers a Senate bid in New Hampshire. Photo: Tom Williams/Roll Call/Getty Images
Senate Republicans are publicly and privately enthusiastic about the prospect that former Sen. John Sununu (R-N.H.) will jump into New Hampshire's open Senate race.
Why it matters: Republicans have been hungry for some pleasant surprise on the recruitment front all cycle.
- A potential Sununu bid gives them one.
Driving the news: Sununu announced a listening tour Wednesday, confirming a report in NOTUS that he was exploring a Senate bid.
- "I'll travel across the state, I'll talk to people, listen, get their perspective, make sure we can build a really strong team & I'll make a decision by the end of next month," Sununu told a local TV station.
- The former one-term senator has spoken to Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.) about a potential bid, according to a person familiar with the matter. The two served together in the Senate.
- He has also discussed the race with former Sen. Cory Gardner (R-Colo.), who has been chair of the Senate Leadership Fund.
What they are saying: Republican leaders aren't offering any official endorsement, but they are unabashedly optimistic about Sununu's prospects.
- "I think he'd be a great candidate and be a great senator," Thune told the Washington Examiner.
- "I want to win New Hampshire," Sen. Steve Daines (R-Mont.), who ran the Republican campaign committee last cycle, told Axios.
- "I haven't made any endorsements on New Hampshire, but it seems like he would be a strong candidate, OK, with some tremendous name ID."
Zoom out: Senate Democrats are pleased with their recruiting efforts to date. They convinced former North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper to run in the open North Carolina seat and former Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio) to try to recapture his Ohio seat.
- Two popular Republican governors — former New Hampshire Gov. Chris Sununu (John's brother) and Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp — passed on Senate bids.
- But Republicans have effectively cleared the field in Michigan for former Rep. Mike Rogers, who is running for the Senate again after losing in 2024. On the Democratic side, three well-funded candidates are engaged in a contentious primary.
- In Alaska, Democrats are still courting former Rep. Mary Peltola to challenge Republican Sen. Dan Sullivan.
Zoom in: Sununu, whose father, John, also served as a governor of New Hampshire, lost to Sen. Jean Shaheen in 2008, when former President Obama's campaign helped Democrats net eight seats.
- Rep. Chris Pappas (D-N.H.), who currently represents southern New Hampshire in the House, started laying the groundwork for his campaign shortly after Sen. Jeanne Shaheen (D-N.H.) announced she would retire.
- Karishma Manzur, a first-time candidate, is also seeking the Democratic nomination.
- If he decided to jump into the race, Sununu would face former Sen. Scott Brown (R-Mass.), who ran unsuccessfully for the Senate in New Hampshire in 2014 after scoring an upset victory in neighboring Massachusetts in a special election in 2010.
