The Last Sununu Standing: John Sununu's Uphill Fight to Reclaim New Hampshire's Senate Seat

There has been someone missing from John Sununu's side during his campaign to reclaim his former Senate seat: his younger brother, the popular former four-term governor of New Hampshire, Chris Sununu.

"There's really no need to campaign with anyone else," John, 62, told the New York Post when asked why he does not appear with Chris. "In New Hampshire, they want to meet the candidate. You go town to town, person to person."

"My brother's done lots of events," he added. "It's great to have him doing events that I can't attend. You can't be everywhere at the same time. So he's been supportive. He's been out on the campaign trail. He's supporting other candidates across the ticket."

With one week to go before Election Day, John Sununu is the last Sununu standing, and he is facing an uphill battle. Polls have consistently shown the Republican trailing Representative Chris Pappas, the Democrat, and the RealClearPolitics average puts Sununu behind by 6.7 percentage points. Next week's election might be the last chance for John Edward Sununu to maintain a dynasty that has dominated New Hampshire Republican politics since 1982.

A Dynasty Since 1982

The Sununu story in New Hampshire begins with the candidate's father, John Henry Sununu, who won the first of three terms as governor in 1982 and went on to become White House chief of staff under President George H.W. Bush.

That was the start of a family presence in Granite State politics that has lasted more than four decades. The elder Sununu's sons both followed him into public life: Chris Sununu served four terms as governor, and John Sununu served six years in the House of Representatives before winning a Senate seat.

The younger John Sununu defeated then-Democratic Governor Jeanne Shaheen in a bitter Senate race in 2002. Six years later, in the rematch, Shaheen rode Barack Obama's coattails to an easy win and held the seat for three terms before announcing her retirement last year. It is Shaheen's open seat that John Sununu and Pappas are now contesting.

With Chris Sununu, 51, opting against what would have been a competitive Senate race in 2022, as well as a long-shot bid for president in 2024, John is the last member of the family still seeking federal office. The Post's report frames the race as a test of whether the dynasty can survive a political environment that has grown much tougher for New Hampshire Republicans at the federal level.

The Name on the Sign

Sununu family dynamics have never been far from the surface in this race, and they have produced its most unusual controversy: the name on the yard signs.

Signs visible across the state simply read "Sununu Senator," prompting Pappas to accuse the Republican campaign of trying to trick undecided voters into thinking Chris Sununu, the popular former governor, is the one running. When the two candidates met in their first debate earlier this month, even the moderator, George Epstein, slipped up and addressed John Sununu as "Chris."

The former governor addressed the controversy on CNN on Sunday, October 25. "Look, if people thought they were voting for me, my brother would be up by 30 points," Chris Sununu said. "Come on."

The confusion played out in public on Saturday, October 24, after a Boston Globe reporter asked John Sununu how many people confuse him with his brother. The candidate abruptly greeted a young boy at a campaign stop and asked, "Who am I?" The boy answered: "John Sununu." Sununu then turned to the reporter and said, "So this is a reporter from the Boston Globe, and she thinks people are confused about who I am. Pretty ridiculous, huh?"

A Sununu supporter named Paige, who declined to give her last name, told the Post she welcomed the family connection. "I love the fact that he's running," she said, "and it keeps the Sununu name going, which I think is great because it's such an old — I remember [John H.] Sununu in the 80s, and I'm like 60."

For Pappas, the signs are a deliberate attempt to borrow the former governor's popularity. For Sununu, the family name is his own, earned in his own campaigns. For voters, the distinction between the two brothers may matter less than the policies each candidate would pursue in Washington, but in a race where one candidate trails by nearly seven points, every edge counts.

Trailing by 6.7 Points

The polling picture for Sununu is consistently difficult. The RealClearPolitics average shows him behind Pappas by 6.7 percentage points with one week to go before Election Day, and the Post reports that polls have consistently shown the Republican trailing.

That deficit is significant but not insurmountable in a state known for late movement and for voters who pride themselves on meeting candidates in person before deciding. Sununu's campaign strategy reflects that tradition: a throwback retail campaign of small events, town by town, aimed at mobilizing rural voters.

At Laconia's Pumpkin Festival on Saturday, Sununu mingled with festival-goers, shaking hands, taking selfies and making small talk, receiving many compliments about his father and brother along the way. "Hot dogs for Sununu," a group of women at one stand cheered as he took a photo of them.

One festival-goer, Nicole, who also declined to give her last name, told the Post she was backing the other candidate. "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," she said. When asked who she was backing, she answered: "Chris Pappas. I just feel like I'm aligned with his priorities."

Two Very Different Campaigns

The two campaigns could hardly look more different. While Sununu has waged a throwback retail campaign of smaller events, Pappas has campaigned with Democratic stars, including former Vice President Kamala Harris and California Governor Gavin Newsom.

The contrast reflects the two candidates' different calculations. Pappas, a sitting congressman, is leaning on national Democratic energy and high-profile surrogates to turn out the party's base. Sununu, a former senator returning after nearly two decades out of office, is betting that personal contact and the family name can overcome a difficult national environment for Republicans.

Sununu has largely eschewed campaigning with big names during his Senate campaign, and his brother's absence from his side has been conspicuous. But Sununu insists the arrangement is practical rather than political: his brother is doing events he cannot attend, and New Hampshire voters want to meet the candidate himself.

The strategy has a logic to it. New Hampshire's first-in-the-nation primary tradition has made retail politics a point of pride, and voters in the state expect to see candidates up close. A campaign built on town halls and festival stops may not generate national headlines, but it can build the kind of personal familiarity that polls sometimes miss.

Sununu's Distance From Trump

One of the most notable features of Sununu's campaign is how explicitly he has distanced himself from President Donald Trump.

In a recent campaign ad, Sununu complained that Pappas was trying to depict him as the president's "long-lost son," and answered that he had "never even met the man." The ad continued: "When the president's policies are bad for New Hampshire, I'll oppose them. Just like I opposed the war in Iran and the trade war with Canada. That's New Hampshire independent."

The positioning is striking in a Republican primary and general election environment where Trump's endorsement has been a powerful force, and it reflects the particular politics of New Hampshire. The state has not voted for a Republican presidential candidate since 2000, and its voters have repeatedly rewarded candidates who present themselves as independent of national party leadership.

Sununu's older brother took a similar approach to national politics. When Chris Sununu rebuffed appeals from Republican leaders in Washington to challenge Senator Maggie Hassan in 2022, he said at the time that he'd "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."

John Sununu, who worked in Washington during the run-up to the Iraq war, the 2004 election and the 2008 financial crisis, has a more optimistic view of the Senate itself. "It's not easy to get things done in the Senate, but I was always able to get things done," he reflected. "Times were just as partisan then as they are today."

New Hampshire's Federal Drought and Shifting Map

The backdrop to Sununu's uphill race is a long Republican drought in New Hampshire federal elections. While Republicans have dominated the state legislature and the governorship over the past decade, they have struggled to break through in federal races.

The state has not voted for a Republican presidential candidate since 2000, has not elected a Republican to the Senate since 2010, and last returned a Republican congressman in 2014. Many Republican leaders in Washington were looking to Chris Sununu to break that streak in 2022, but he rebuffed their appeals.

The Senate may not have changed since Sununu left in 2009, but New Hampshire's demographics have. The state's population has grown by 4% between 2009 and 2025, with most of the new arrivals settling in the southern part of the state, within easy commuting range of Boston.

That shift has political consequences. Sununu supporter Steve Donaher lamented the change at the Laconia festival, saying: "Unfortunately, a lot of the liberal people that are from Massachusetts kind of migrated their way up here. They mainly live in southern New Hampshire."

The demographic trend helps explain why a state that elects Republican governors can still send Democrats to Washington: the voters who decide federal races, concentrated in the more populous south, lean differently from the voters who decide state races. For Sununu, closing a 6.7-point gap means winning over voters in exactly the part of the state where the trend is running against his party.

What Happens Next

Election Day is Tuesday, November 3, and the New Hampshire Senate race will be one of the contests watched for what it says about the national environment.

If Pappas wins, Democrats will have held an open seat in a state that has been reliably Democratic in federal races for more than a decade, and the Sununu family's federal presence will end, at least for now. If Sununu pulls off the comeback, it will be one of the surprises of the night: a former senator returning after 18 years, overcoming a polling deficit and a difficult national environment, and restoring a family name to the chamber his father never served in but his brother's generation defined.

The race is also a test of two campaign theories. Pappas is betting that national Democratic energy and star surrogates can carry a Democrat in a state where federal races have gone his party's way for years. Sununu is betting that retail politics, a famous name and an independent brand can overcome polling and partisanship.

One week out, the polls say Pappas. But New Hampshire voters have a habit of making up their minds late, and John Sununu has spent his campaign going town to town, person to person, asking them to do exactly that.

Frequently Asked Questions

Who are the candidates in the New Hampshire Senate race?

Republican John Sununu, a former senator, faces Democrat Chris Pappas, a sitting congressman. The seat is open because Democratic Senator Jeanne Shaheen retired after three terms.

How far behind is Sununu in the polls?

The RealClearPolitics average shows Sununu trailing Pappas by 6.7 percentage points, with one week to go before Election Day, according to the New York Post.

Why is the race called a dynasty story?

The Sununu family has dominated New Hampshire Republican politics since 1982, when John Henry Sununu won the first of three terms as governor before becoming White House chief of staff under George H.W. Bush. His sons Chris and John both held statewide office.

What is the yard sign controversy?

Some Sununu campaign signs read simply "Sununu Senator," and Pappas has accused the campaign of trying to trick voters into thinking the popular former governor Chris Sununu is the candidate. John Sununu and his brother have dismissed the charge.

Has Sununu distanced himself from Trump?

Yes. In a campaign ad, Sununu said Pappas depicts him as Trump's "long-lost son" but that he has "never even met the man," and said he would oppose the president's policies when they are bad for New Hampshire, citing the war in Iran and the trade war with Canada.

When is the election?

Election Day is Tuesday, November 3, 2026.

This article is based on the New York Post's October 27, 2026, report from Laconia, New Hampshire, and on the RealClearPolitics polling average cited in that report. Quotes are as reported by the Post.