Popular former Republican governor whom Trump urged to run for NH Senate makes 2026 decision

NEWFIELDS, N.H. - Former Republican Gov. Chris Sununu is passing on a 2026 run for the Senate in the key swing state of New Hampshire for a seat that the GOP is targeting to flip from blue to red.

"I’m not going to run," Sununu said Tuesday morning in a radio interview. "For me and my family, it’s just not right for us."

Sununu, who in January completed serving four two-year terms as New Hampshire governor, had been heavily courted by national Republicans to run in the race to succeed longtime Democratic Sen. Jeanne Shaheen.

Sen. Jeanne Shaheen, the first woman in the nation's history to win election as a governor and as a U.S. senator, announced last month that she would not bid for a fourth six-year term in the Senate.

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Sununu's decision comes a week after he met at the White House with President Donald Trump.

Trump, when asked by reporters about Sununu as he flew to Washington, D.C., on Sunday night aboard Air Force One, revealed the meeting.

"I told him — he came to my office, came to the Oval Office, and [I] met with Chris Sununu, and I support him fully. I hope he runs," Trump said.

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Sununu, in an interview with host Jack Heath on "The Pulse of New Hampshire," said, "I'm honored to have his [Trump's] support. I'm honored and grateful that he would make the effort. He invited me down. We had a great conversation."

"The only reason I kept the door open was because of the president. His words and his support meant a lot," Sununu emphasized.

He added when it comes to his decision, "I'm very at peace with it."

Sununu, who left office in January with very positive approval and favorable ratings, was seen by national Republicans as the best candidate to win the seat. However, he was not the only Republican mulling a Senate bid in New Hampshire.

Former Sen. Scott Brown of Massachusetts, who later narrowly lost to Shaheen in New Hampshire in the 2014 election, is seriously considering a 2026 run.

Brown, who served four years as U.S. ambassador to New Zealand during Trump’s first administration, has been holding meetings with Republicans across New Hampshire for a couple of months and has met multiple times with GOP officials in the nation’s capital.

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Earlier this year, Brown met with top Trump administration political officials at the White House, sources told Fox News.

".@ChrisSununu and the entire Sununu family are patriots who have made our state a better place - looking forward to seeing what’s next for him and working alongside him for New Hampshire’s future." Brown wrote in a social media post following Sununu's blockbuster announcement.

In the race for the Democratic Senate nomination in New Hampshire, four-term Rep. Chris Pappas formally launched his campaign last week. 

On Monday, Pappas took aim at Sununu over his meeting with the president.

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"Chris Sununu went to the White House to nab an endorsement while Trump was destroying the economy and pushing devastating cuts to Medicaid. Apparently the cost of a Trump endorsement is selling out New Hampshire. Hope it was worth it," Pappas argued.

However, Pappas may not have the Democratic Senate primary in New Hampshire all to himself.

Sources close to Rep. Maggie Goodlander, New Hampshire's other House member, said last month that the first-term representative is considering a Senate run.

Sununu supported Trump during the 2016 general election and again when Trump unsuccessfully ran for re-election in 2020. The then-governor had a strong working relationship with the Trump White House, including close ties with then-Vice President Mike Pence.

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However, Sununu pushed back against Trump’s unproven claims that the 2020 presidential election was "rigged" and "stolen." He also started stating in early 2021 that the GOP was larger than any one person, which was perceived as a swipe at the then-former president.

Sununu amped up his criticism of the former president during numerous national interviews on cable news networks and Sunday talk shows, repeatedly arguing that Trump had too much political baggage to win back the White House. Additionally, Sununu began mulling a possible 2024 White House run of his own, which he ultimately decided against. 

He ended up backing and becoming a top surrogate of former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley in the 2024 GOP presidential primary. Haley ended up being the final rival to Trump in the nomination race.

Trump occasionally returned fire at Sununu, calling him a "spoiled brat" and a "nasty guy," among other things.

After Trump clinched the 2024 GOP nomination, however, Sununu said he would vote for his party's presidential nominee.

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Earlier this year, Sununu said in a Fox News Digital interview that "Donald Trump is the head of the party, and he's the voice of the Republican Party, and I got to say, I think he's doing a pretty darn good job in the first couple months."

On Tuesday, Sununu continued to praise Trump.

"I respect what he’s doing. I really do," Sununu said of the president. "There’s definitely a different attitude down in Washington and I thought, wow, I could really be part of this. He’s talking about the things I care about – fiscal responsibility and making tough decisions."

Four years ago, Sununu expressed interest in running for the Senate against his predecessor as governor, Democratic Sen. Maggie Hassan, who was up for re-election in 2022. The popular governor was heavily courted by national Republicans to take on Hassan, but on Nov. 9, 2021, Sununu announced that he would instead run for a fourth term as governor, upsetting many Republicans in the nation's capital. 

Additionally, he heavily criticized the Senate. "They debate and talk and nothing gets done," he said at the time.

Sununu said multiple times last year, including in two Fox News Digital interviews, that he had no interest in running for the Senate in 2026 and looked forward to returning to the private sector. However, after Shaheen announced she would not see re-election, Sununu was lobbied by National Republican Senatorial Committee Chair Sen. Tim Scott to take another look at running.

Sununu told Fox News Digital last month that while "the door’s open" to running, he emphasized "it's not open a lot, to be honest."

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Sununu, who was elected and re-elected to four straight two-year terms as governor, touted that "I have no doubt I can win."

On Tuesday, Sununu shared that "I really thought about it. I talked to the White House this morning. I talked to Tim Scott… thanked them for all their support and confidence."

He reiterated that "I'd win the race. That wasn’t the concern."

The Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee (DSCC), the Senate Democrats' re-election arm, used Sununu's announcement to fire away at the Republicans.

"Chris Sununu’s decision not to run for Senate is an embarrassing recruitment failure for Republicans as they face a building midterm backlash driven by their threats to Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid and their push to spike costs for families," the DSCC claimed in a statement.

The NRSC, meanwhile, is pointing to a potential Democratic Senate primary.

"While Democrats duke it out in a race to the left, we are excited about the number of candidates we are talking to who appreciate the privilege of representing Granite Staters in the Senate and are ready to build winning campaigns," NRSC regional press secretary Nick Puglia said.