Former New Hampshire Republican Sen. John E. Sununu has put together a political team and is expected to launch a bid for Senate “imminently.”
Sununu, who served in the Senate from 2003 to 2009 before losing reelection to Democratic Sen. Jeanne Shaheen, started considering a run in early September after Republican leadership urged him to do so. Shaheen announced her retirement earlier this year.
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. Sununu did not respond to a request for comment on this story.
This would set up a primary matchup between Sununu and former Massachusetts Sen. Scott Brown, who is also running for the Republican nomination in New Hampshire. Polling shows that Sununu would fare much better than Brown against Rep. Chris Pappas, who’s the frontrunner for the Democratic nomination in the state.
Sununu has already assembled a consultant team, ready to go when he does announce, multiple sources told NOTUS.
In a brief interview with NOTUS on Friday, Sununu confirmed that he would make an announcement by the end of the month and said he was still “seriously considering” a bid for Senate. However, he stopped short of saying he plans to run.
“I’ve spoken with lots of people across New Hampshire over the last month, and I’m very excited by what I’m hearing,” Sununu said. “I think that it’s incredibly important for our state to have representation that doesn’t just go to Washington, isn’t a rubber stamp or for anyone else, but speaks up for New Hampshire every single day.”
Sununu said he had not spoken with President Donald Trump about the possibility of a run.
The recruitment push began when Sununu’s brother, former New Hampshire Gov. Chris Sununu, announced that he would not be running for Senate to replace Shaheen. At that point, Senate Majority Leader John Thune placed a call to John Sununu and began gauging his interest in a potential bid. Thune, along with former Senate Leadership Fund Chairman Cory Gardner, began having conversations with Sununu about running and lobbied for him to enter the race, multiple sources told NOTUS.