LACONIA, NH — As John Sununu campaigns for a return to the U.S. Senate, one familiar face has been notably absent: his younger brother, Chris Sununu, the well-liked former four-term governor of New Hampshire.
John Sununu, 62, said there was no mystery behind the brothers’ limited joint appearances. “There’s really no need to campaign with anyone else,” he told The Post. “In New Hampshire, they want to meet the candidate. You go town to town, person to person.”
He emphasized that Chris has still been active on his behalf. “My brother’s done lots of events,” Sununu said. “It’s great to have him doing events that I can’t attend. You can’t be everywhere at the same time.” Chris, he added, has been campaigning for other Republican candidates as well.
Next week’s election could determine whether John Edward Sununu is able to extend a family legacy that has shaped New Hampshire Republican politics since 1982. That was the year his father, John Henry Sununu, began the first of three terms as governor before eventually becoming chief of staff to President George H.W. Bush.
The younger John Sununu served six years in the House before unseating Democratic Gov. Jeanne Shaheen in a contentious 2002 Senate contest. Shaheen won their 2008 rematch comfortably, aided by Barack Obama’s presidential campaign, and went on to hold the seat for three terms before announcing her retirement last year.
Chris Sununu, 51, declined to pursue what was expected to be a competitive Senate campaign in 2022 and later passed on a long-shot presidential run in 2024. That leaves John E. Sununu as the family’s remaining candidate — and he is entering the final stretch at a significant disadvantage.
Polling has consistently placed the Republican behind Democratic Rep. Chris Pappas, whose family owns Manchester’s Puritan Backroom restaurant, a business that says it created the chicken tender. With one week remaining before Election Day, the RealClearPolitics average showed Sununu trailing by 6.7 percentage points.
“I love the fact that he’s running,” said Paige, a Sununu supporter who declined to provide her last name. She said the campaign was also preserving a political name with deep roots in the state. “I remember [John H.] Sununu in the ’80s, and I’m like 60.”
The Sununu family connection has remained a recurring theme throughout the race. Campaign signs scattered around New Hampshire read simply “Sununu Senator,” leading Pappas to argue that the Republican campaign was trying to leave undecided voters with the impression that Chris — rather than John — was on the ballot.
The confusion even surfaced during the candidates’ first debate earlier this month, when moderator George Epstein mistakenly referred to John Sununu as “Chris.”
Speaking to CNN on Sunday, the former governor dismissed the controversy. “Look, if people thought they were voting for me, my brother would be up by 30 points,” Chris Sununu said. “Come on.”
The issue came up again Saturday after a Boston Globe reporter asked John Sununu how often voters mistake him for his brother. Rather than answer directly, he turned to a young boy nearby and asked, “Hey, how are you? Who am I?”
“John Sununu,” the boy replied.
MUST READ: Katie Zacharia Reflects on Her Final White House Day and Kids’ Lesson
Sununu then used the exchange to make his point. “So this is a reporter from the Boston Globe, and she thinks people are confused about who I am,” he said. “Pretty ridiculous, huh?”
Republicans have controlled New Hampshire’s legislature and governor’s office for much of the past decade, but the party has struggled in federal elections. The state has not backed a Republican for president since 2000, elected a GOP senator since 2010 or sent a Republican congressman to Washington since 2014.
Republican leaders in Washington had hoped Chris Sununu could end that losing streak in 2022, but he rejected their calls to challenge Democratic Sen. Maggie Hassan. At the time, he said he would “rather push myself 120 miles an hour delivering wins for New Hampshire than to slow down, end up on Capitol Hill debating partisan politics without results.”
His older brother, who spent years in Washington during the Iraq war buildup, the 2004 presidential election and the 2008 financial crisis, takes a more upbeat view of the Senate’s ability to function.
“It’s not easy to get things done in the Senate, but I was always able to get things done,” John Sununu said. “Times were just as partisan then as they are today.”
Although Sununu said the Senate was no less divided when he left office in 2009, New Hampshire itself has undergone substantial demographic changes. The state’s population increased by 4% between 2009 and 2025, with many newcomers settling in the southern region near the Massachusetts border and Boston’s commuter belt.
“Unfortunately, a lot of the liberal people that are from Massachusetts kind of migrated their way up here,” said Sununu supporter Steve Donaher. “They mainly live in southern New Hampshire.”
While Pappas has campaigned with Democratic stars like former Vice President Kamala Harris and California Gov. Gavin Newsom, Sununu has waged a throwback retail campaign, engaging in a series of smaller events seemingly aimed at mobilizing New Hampshire’s rural voters.
The Republican has also explicitly distanced himself from President Trump, complaining in a recent ad that while Pappas was trying to depict Sununu as the commander-in-chief’s “long-lost son,” the former senator had “never even met the man.”
“When the president’s policies are bad for New Hampshire, I’ll oppose them,” Sununu said in the same ad. “Just like I opposed the war in Iran and the trade war with Canada. That’s New Hampshire independent.”
At Laconia’s Pumpkin Festival on Saturday, Sununu mingled with festival-goers, shaking hands, taking selfies, and making small talk — receiving lots of compliments about his father and brother along the way.
“Hot dogs for Sununu,” a group of women at one stand John visited cheered as he took a photo of them.
“It’s always interesting to meet the folks that are running for political office and hear what their priorities are and how they plan to serve,” said one of the group, Nicole, who also declined to give her last name.
When asked who she was backing in the Senate race, Nicole answered: “Chris Pappas. I just feel like I’m aligned with his priorities.”
