Former U.S. Senator John Sununu defeated former U.S. Senator Scott Brown to win Tuesday’s Republican primary for New Hampshire’s open Senate seat, securing a pivotal position in the November general election against Democratic Representative Chris Pappas.
Endorsed by President Donald Trump, Sununu easily outpaced Brown, who was elected in 2010 to fill Ted Kennedy’s Massachusetts Senate seat. The contest has drawn intense national focus as it could determine which party controls the U.S. Senate following Senator Jeanne Shaheen’s retirement announcement.
Sununu and Brown had both lost Senate races to Shaheen, a Democrat who has served three terms. Shaheen defeated Sununu in 2008 and Brown in 2014 after he relocated from Massachusetts to New Hampshire. Sununu, who previously held three terms in the U.S. House of Representatives and one term in the Senate, is the brother of former New Hampshire Governor Chris Sununu and son of former governor John H. Sununu. Brown expressed frustration that some voters confused him with John E. Sununu, his brother whose eight-year term ended last year.
The primary victory positions Sununu to face Pappas, a four-term congressman from New Hampshire’s swing district, in November. Polls indicate an extremely tight race for the Senate seat, with Democrats warning that Sununu could unseat Pappas. In a post-victory statement, Sununu declared: “As senator, I’ll have just one job: stand up for the people of New Hampshire every single day.” He added, “We will keep listening, keep working, and stay laser-focused on the economy, jobs, and making life more affordable.”
Sununu received 70% support compared to Brown’s 25%, according to early polling with about one-sixth of votes counted. Pappas, first elected to the House in 2018, has long been seen as the front-runner for replacing Shaheen and launched a campaign attack against Sununu in mid-August, accusing him of “giving huge tax breaks to pharma companies and siding with the insurance industry” before working for those industries and earning $35 million. Republicans have also targeted Pappas, with One Nation—the nonprofit arm of the GOP super PAC Senate Leadership Fund—launching ads alleging he provided tax breaks to New Yorkers with million-dollar homes during his support of climate and social safety net measures in 2021.
