Chris Sununu announces he will not run for New Hampshire’s open Senate seat in 2026

Former Republican New Hampshire Gov. Chris Sununu announced Tuesday that he will not run in New Hampshire’s 2026 Senate race.

Sununu said during a radio interview on “The Pulse of New Hampshire” with Jack Heath that he will not make a bid for the Senate seat to succeed Democratic New Hampshire Sen. Jeanne Shaheen, who announced her retirement in March. Sununu’s decision to not run in the crucial 2026 Senate race comes after Democratic New Hampshire Rep. Chris Pappas announced Thursday that he is launching a bid for the Senate seat.

“I kept the door open a little bit and and I thought about ‘is it right for me and my family,’ but for me and my family, it’s just not right for us,” Sununu said during the interview.

“Now, this is a very winnable seat by a Republican, [it] doesn’t have to be me,” the former governor added. “I think 2028 is wide open for New Hampshire to say ‘hey, we’re a bipartisan state, how about we have a bipartisan voice in [Washington] D.C.”

Notably, President Donald Trump told reporters on Sunday that he would support Sununu if the former governor decided to run for the open senate seat.

“I told him — He came to my office, came to the Oval Office, and [I] met with Chris Sununu, and I support him fully,” Trump said. “I hope he runs. He’s been very nice to me over the last year or so, but no, I hope he runs. I think he’ll win that seat.”

New Hampshire’s 2024 Senate race is expected to be extremely competitive. Other potential names being floated for the key Senate race include first-term Democratic New Hampshire Rep. Maggie Goodlander, and former Democratic New Hampshire Rep. Annie Kuster, who previously said she would consider making a bid if Pappas did not run. Meanwhile, on the Republican side, former Republican Massachusetts Sen. Scott Brown is reportedly considering running in the Senate race.

Democrats are grappling with a slate of other recent retirements ahead of the 2026 midterms, including Democratic Michigan Sen. Gary Peters and Democratic Minnesota Sen. Tina Smith. Notably, the Republican Party notched two of Florida’s House seats on April 1, with Republican candidate Randy Fine beating Democratic candidate Josh Weil in his bid for the state’s 6th Congressional District, while Republican Jimmy Patronis secured the state’s 1st Congressional District, defeating Democratic candidate Gay Valimont.

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