The person behind the name
John E. Sununu's public career runs from an engineering education to three terms in the U.S. House and one in the Senate, then seventeen years of corporate boards and private life before a return to the ballot in 2026. [1][39][47][28]
Sununu was born in Boston on September 10, 1964, by the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress, grew up in Salem and graduated from Salem High School in 1982. His campaign biography credits his mother, Nancy, who chaired the Salem School Board, with the family's turn to public service; his father, John H. Sununu, served as governor of New Hampshire and as White House chief of staff, and his younger brother Chris Sununu served as governor. The campaign says he lives in Rye; Citizens Count, the nonpartisan New Hampshire civic organization, lists a Hampton address. [1][33][28][25][31]
Education and professional preparation
The Biographical Directory records a B.S. and an M.S. from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1987 and an M.B.A. from Harvard Graduate School of Business in 1991. The campaign describes a career in high tech, engineering, consulting and manufacturing, including several years running the operations of an electronics company in Manchester before Congress; the company is not named in the material reviewed, and degree transcripts were not part of this review. [1][33]
Six years in the House, six in the Senate
He won the First District seat in 1996 with 123,939 votes to Democrat Joe Keefe's 115,462, by the Clerk of the House's official statistics, and served from January 1997 to January 2003. In 2002 he moved to the Senate by defeating Governor Jeanne Shaheen, 227,229 votes to 207,478; six years later Shaheen won the rematch, 358,438 to 314,403. The Senate's minority-party committee resolution for the 110th Congress, S.Res. 28, agreed to January 12, 2007, placed him on the Committees on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs; Commerce, Science, and Transportation; Foreign Relations; and Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs, and on the Joint Economic Committee. The National Republican Senatorial Committee's candidate page lists the Joint Economic, Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs, Commerce and Finance committees; Finance does not appear in the 110th Congress resolution, and the rosters for his first two Senate Congresses were not retrieved for this review. [20][2][21][27][22][46][44]
Private life and the return to the ballot
After the Senate, by the campaign's account, he taught at St. Anselm College, chaired the board of the Waterville Valley Ski Resort and sat on the board of Boston Scientific; the company's 2026 proxy statement records a directorship from 2009 and his notice, given October 22, 2025, that he would not stand for re-election. He announced his Senate candidacy that same day, after Shaheen had said she would not seek re-election; President Trump endorsed him on February 1, 2026; and on September 8, 2026 he won the Republican primary over former Massachusetts senator Scott Brown with 68.4 percent of the vote as counted by NBC News. [33][39][28][29][23]
A note on the official count. The New Hampshire Secretary of State publishes the official primary tabulation, by county and in summary, on its Republican primary page. That page refused automated requests during this review, and the archived copy of September 9 predates the posting of results. The primary figures in this profile are NBC News's count with 99 percent of the expected vote reported, read on September 16, 2026; the official canvass should be substituted when it is available. [42][23]
Life & public service
From a Salem classroom to the Senate and back to the ballot, the documented milestones show how the record was built.
Born in Boston
Born September 10, 1964, in Boston, by the Biographical Directory; graduated from Salem High School in 1982. [1]
MIT and Harvard
B.S. and M.S. from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1987; M.B.A. from Harvard in 1991. [1]
Elected to the House
Won New Hampshire's First District with 123,939 votes to Joe Keefe's 115,462, per the Clerk of the House's official statistics. [20]
The first Bush tax cut
Voted Yea on the conference report of the Economic Growth and Tax Relief Reconciliation Act, roll call 149, which passed 240–154 on May 26, 2001. [19]
The Social Security bill
Introduced S. 857, the Social Security Personal Savings Guarantee and Prosperity Act, on April 20, 2005: 128 pages, two cosponsors, no vote. [6]
The PATRIOT Act stand
Voted against cloture on the PATRIOT Act conference report on December 16, 2005, when the motion failed 52–47; his S. 2271, the USA PATRIOT Act Additional Reauthorizing Amendments Act, was signed March 9, 2006, and he voted for the reauthorization on March 2, 2006, 89–10. [13][5][14]
The marriage amendment
Voted against cloture on the motion to proceed to S.J.Res. 1, the constitutional amendment on marriage, on June 7, 2006; the motion failed 49–48. [15]
The Boston Scientific board
A director of Boston Scientific from 2009; on October 22, 2025 he gave notice that he would not stand for re-election at the 2026 annual meeting, per the company's proxy statement. [39]
The announcement
Entered the Senate race on October 22, 2025 with a video on X that called Congress loud and dysfunctional; the National Republican Senatorial Committee's chairman said the committee was all in. [28]
Accomplishments, in the record
Roll calls, bill records, the Clerk's election statistics and securities filings establish the following work. Outcomes are described at the level those records support, with credit shared where a measure was another member's initiative and campaign superlatives labelled as such.
The PATRIOT Act reauthorization
On December 16, 2005 Sununu voted against cloture on the conference report reauthorizing the USA PATRIOT Act; the motion failed 52–47, short of the three-fifths required. His S. 2167, which GovTrack titles the PATRIOT Act Extension bill, was signed December 30, 2005, and his S. 2271, the USA PATRIOT Act Additional Reauthorizing Amendments Act of 2006, was signed March 9, 2006. On March 2, 2006 he voted for the conference report, which passed 89–10. [13][5][14]
The campaign says he pushed to reform surveillance laws to protect ordinary Americans; the roll calls and the two signed bills are the record behind that claim. What the amendments changed in the underlying law was not analyzed for this review. [33]
The internet-access tax ban: a bill of his, a law of someone else's
Sununu introduced S. 2128, the Permanent Internet Tax Freedom Act of 2007, on October 2, 2007, with nine cosponsors; it did not receive a vote. The extension that became law that year was H.R. 3678, the Internet Tax Freedom Act Amendments Act of 2007, sponsored by a Michigan Democrat and signed October 31, 2007. The campaign's statement that he “wrote the law to ban taxes on internet access”, repeated on the National Republican Senatorial Committee's page as having “authored legislation banning taxes on internet access”, is a campaign claim: sponsorship of the Senate bill is documented, and any role in the enacted text is not established by the records reviewed here. [7][8][33][44]
A personal-accounts bill for Social Security
On April 20, 2005 he introduced S. 857, the Social Security Personal Savings Guarantee and Prosperity Act of 2005, a 128-page bill to establish a Personal Social Security Savings Program and new limits on the federal budget. It drew two cosponsors and never received a vote; an earlier version, S. 2782, had been introduced on September 9, 2004. [6]
Asked about it on WMUR in August 2026, he said “That was 20 years ago, Adam.” and argued that had the bill passed, “the system would be solvent today, and retirees would have, most retirees would have a greater benefit than they enjoy today”, adding that solvency now has to be worked out on a bipartisan basis. [31][38]
Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac: an original cosponsor of the 2005 reform bill
He was an original cosponsor, on January 26, 2005, of S. 190, the Federal Housing Enterprise Regulatory Reform Act of 2005, Senator Chuck Hagel's 206-page bill on the regulation of the secondary-mortgage enterprises; Elizabeth Dole joined the same day and John McCain on May 25, 2006. The bill was ordered reported on July 28, 2005 and never received a floor vote. The measure was Hagel's initiative; cosponsorship is the documented role. [9][45]
Nine enacted bills, by GovTrack's count
Congress.gov counts 114 measures he sponsored and 1,026 he cosponsored across six Congresses. GovTrack counts nine of his bills as enacted under its inclusive definition, which credits companion bills; its bill records show eight signed in their own right: the Lamprey Wild and Scenic River Extension Act (2000), a post-office naming (2000), the Presidential $1 Coin Act of 2005, the two PATRIOT Act measures of 2005 and 2006, the New England Wilderness Act of 2006 and two New Hampshire post-office namings in 2007 and 2008. [2][3][5]
Defining votes in the House and Senate
In the Senate he voted Nay on the Medicare prescription-drug conference report of November 25, 2003 (agreed to 54–44), Nay on cloture for the constitutional amendment on marriage on June 7, 2006 (rejected 49–48) and Nay on cloture for the comprehensive immigration bill on June 28, 2007 (rejected 46–53). He voted Yea on the Partial-Birth Abortion Ban Act on March 13, 2003 (64–33), on the 2003 tax cut (50–50, decided by the Vice President) and on the Emergency Economic Stabilization Act of October 1, 2008 (74–25). In the House he voted Yea on the 2001 tax cut (240–154) and on the Iraq war resolution of October 10, 2002 (296–133). [12][15][16][10][11][17][19][18]
Attendance and ideology, measured
GovTrack counts 58 missed votes of 1,977 from January 1997 to December 2008, 2.9 percent, against a median of 2.3 percent among senators serving in December 2008; by its quarterly table, 24 of the 58 fall in the second half of 2002, the months of his Senate campaign, and the highest quarterly rate is the last quarter of 2004, when he missed 8 of 22 votes. Voteview's DW-NOMINATE first-dimension score for the 110th Congress is 0.473, fourteenth of 51 Senate Republicans in that Congress by this profile's computation from Voteview's member file; Voteview describes him as more conservative than 86 percent of the 110th Senate and 73 percent of its Republicans. [3][21][4][1]
Seventeen years on the Boston Scientific board
Boston Scientific's proxy statement filed March 18, 2026 records him as a director since 2009 who informed the company on October 22, 2025 that he would not stand for re-election at the 2026 annual meeting; he moved out of his committee roles on February 23, 2026 and was to continue as a director until the meeting. The same filing's director-compensation table covers his 2025 fees and stock award. A full-text search of SEC filings also returns his name in proxy statements of BlueRiver Acquisition Corp. filed between January 2023 and July 2025; the July 2025 filing, for a Cayman Islands company seeking more time to complete a business combination, lists him among the company's officers and directors. [39][40][47]
Family & community
His campaign biography identifies his wife as Kitty and says they have been married for more than thirty years and have three children; it says he grew up in Salem and lives in Rye, and credits his mother, Nancy, who chaired the Salem School Board, with the family's commitment to public service. Citizens Count lists a Hampton home address, a married status and three children. [33][31]
The family's public roles are matters of record: his father, John H. Sununu, served as governor of New Hampshire and as White House chief of staff to President George H.W. Bush, and his brother Chris Sununu served four terms as governor. The campaign biography lists his own post-Senate roles as teaching at St. Anselm College, chairing the board of the Waterville Valley Ski Resort, sitting on the Boston Scientific board and serving on the boards of charitable, educational and nonprofit organizations it does not name. [28][27][33]
Neither his campaign biography nor the Biographical Directory entry states a religious affiliation, and this profile makes no claim about one. The sources reviewed document family, residence and public roles; they do not supply a verified record of the charitable boards the campaign mentions, and none is asserted.
Mission & priorities
“As Senator, I’ll have just one job: stand up for the people of New Hampshire every single day.” {36}
The following summarizes the agenda on Sununu's campaign website, in his campaign's releases and in the debate and interview answers recorded by Citizens Count. These are proposed priorities and stated positions, not completed accomplishments. [32][33][31]
01Affordability: housing, energy and health care
The campaign says he will “oppose all middle-class tax hikes and work to make life more affordable for New Hampshire families by focusing like a laser on reducing inflation and lowering the cost of housing, healthcare, and energy”. His first paid advertisement, part of what the campaign called a nearly seven-figure streaming buy in July 2026, promised to “laser focus on the economy, jobs, our debt and making our lives more affordable”. In a 2026 debate he framed energy costs as a production and permitting problem and called for more gas pipeline capacity into central New Hampshire. [33][37][31]
02Taxes: keep the 2025 tax law
Asked at a 2026 debate about the 2025 tax and spending law known as the One Big Beautiful Bill, he said “I would have voted for it too.” and listed what he sees as its main pieces: “It kept taxes low. It cut taxes on overtime. It cut taxes on Social Security recipients. It cut taxes on tips.” The record behind the tax position is his votes for the 2001 and 2003 tax cuts. [31][19][11]
03Congressional reform: term limits, pay and health costs
On primary night he pledged to “push term limits, make Congress pay for the full cost of their healthcare, and cut Congress’ pay if they vote to shut down the government”. On Manchester Public Television he said “Let’s start with term limits. No more career politicians.” No bill text accompanies these pledges in the material reviewed. [36][31]
04Privacy and surveillance
The campaign says that with privacy again under threat from government overreach and Big Tech he will defend every American's right to be free from surveillance. The record is the PATRIOT Act episode of 2005 and 2006: a Nay on cloture in December 2005, two signed bills, and a Yea on the March 2006 reauthorization. [33][13][5][14]
05Elections: photo identification and citizenship
At a candidate debate he called for a straight up-or-down vote on requiring photo identification to vote — “We have it in New Hampshire. Chris Pappas is against it.” — and for attaching the requirement to must-pass bills. Of birthright citizenship he said “That is not what was envisioned by the 14th Amendment.” and that Congress should act if the Supreme Court does not. [31]
06Trade, tariffs, China and Iran
He has described the President's tariffs with reservations — “If you’re going to have tariffs, set them at a reasonable rate.” — while calling China “the biggest national security threat we face” and urging continued military support for Taiwan and the diversification of supply chains. NHPR reported that he offered muted criticism of the administration's tariff policy and said he disagreed with the decision to go to war with Iran; on WMUR he said of that war, “Look, if you’re asking me if I would have done this, no, no,” while arguing that keeping Iran from a nuclear weapon serves long-run security interests. [31][24]
07Social Security and Medicare
His launch statement listed protecting Medicare and Social Security among his priorities, and the campaign biography says he protected seniors in office. The record includes his Nay on the 2003 Medicare prescription-drug law and the 2005 personal-accounts bill, which he says would have left the system solvent had it passed. [28][33][12][6][31]
08Girls' sports and Title IX
In a June 30, 2026 statement on the Supreme Court's ruling on transgender athletes, which the campaign described as allowing states to ban them from girls' and women's sports, the campaign said “Title IX was designed to ensure opportunity for women and girls to compete in all levels of sports.” At a debate he put it as “Boys shouldn’t be competing in girls’ sports, of course.” [35][31]
How to assess a proposal. A campaign plan states an intention. Enactment, implementation costs, replacement revenue, and measured results are separate questions. These priorities should be read alongside the legislative and voting history above.
The fuller record
A useful profile includes policy tradeoffs, the limits of a claim, and responses to material criticism.
The Trump endorsement, the party, and the “never Trump” charge
When he entered the race on October 22, 2025, Scott Brown called him “a never Trump, corporate lobbyist who hasn’t won an election in a quarter century” and said “Senate seats are earned, not handed down,” an allusion to his father; Sununu had told WMUR he would seek the President's support, and the National Republican Senatorial Committee declared itself all in for him the same day. President Trump gave his endorsement on February 1, 2026, writing that “John is strongly supported by the most Highly Respected Leaders in New Hampshire, and many Republicans in the U.S. Senate and, as your next Senator, he will work tirelessly to advance our America First Agenda.” Emerson College's March survey then had him leading Brown 48 percent to 19 among Republican primary voters and within a point of Pappas, 44 percent to 45, among likely voters; the Portsmouth Herald reported that he had raised more than $4 million to Brown's roughly $2.1 million by the primary, and the FEC's summary for his two 2026 committees shows $4,180,251.88 in receipts and $3,070,033.12 in cash on hand for January 1, 2025 through August 19, 2026. The campaign's endorsement page lists former Senator Judd Gregg, former Governor Craig Benson, four executive councilors, the state Senate president, Americans for Prosperity Action, the Log Cabin Republicans PAC and Turning Point Action. NHPR reported that he had once been a vocal critic of the President, has largely avoided talking about the endorsement, and has since differed with him on the Iran war and on tariffs; on primary night Pappas called him the President's “handpicked candidate” and said “While New Hampshire families are struggling to make ends meet, John Sununu has thrown his lot in with Donald Trump.” Sununu's own primary-night description of Pappas, by CBS News's account, was “ineffective, partisan, and out of touch with New Hampshire.” The record shows both the endorsement and the stated disagreements. [28][29][30][27][48][34][24][25]
The 2008 defeat and the TARP vote
He lost his seat in 2008 to Jeanne Shaheen, 358,438 votes to 314,403, with the Libertarian Ken Blevens taking 21,516; the same November, by the Clerk's statistics, the Democratic presidential electors carried New Hampshire 384,826 to 316,534. Five weeks before that election he voted Yea on H.R. 1424, the Emergency Economic Stabilization Act, which passed the Senate 74–25 on October 1, 2008. His Senate committee for those years, Team Sununu, raised $8,879,307 and spent $8,868,017 between 2003 and 2008 by the FEC's summary. The vote and the loss are both in the record; any causal link between them is argument, not document. [22][17][43]
Seventeen years out of office, and the corporate record
Brown's “corporate lobbyist” label and Pappas's line on primary night that “this is not the time to turn it back to a failed politician from the past” both point at the years since 2009. The documents show a Boston Scientific directorship from 2009 until the 2026 annual meeting; a listing among the officers and directors of BlueRiver Acquisition Corp. in that company's July 2025 proxy statement; and the campaign's own account of teaching, a ski-resort chairmanship and unnamed nonprofit boards. The Senate's Lobbying Disclosure Act database, searched by surname on September 17, 2026, returns no registration for a lobbyist named John E. Sununu; the label is Brown's characterization, and no document reviewed here records a lobbying registration in his name. [28][26][39][47][33][49]
Social Security “privatization”
The 2005 bill is the basis of the privatization charge. Its title, length and fate are documented above; on WMUR in August 2026 he defended it as a plan that would have left the system solvent and said today's fix must be bipartisan. What he would now support is not specified in the material reviewed, and the Citizens Count survey questions on means-testing, the payroll-tax cap and the retirement age show no response from him. [6][31][38]
Debates declined and demanded
WMUR reported on August 31, 2026 that he had decided not to take part in its Granite State Debate with Scott Brown; the two did meet in a candidate debate in Hampton carried by C-SPAN, which Citizens Count links as the source of several of his stated positions. After the primary, by the Concord Monitor's account, he challenged Pappas to a debate in every county, and Brown said he would support him in November. [38][31][26]
The 2002 election-day phone jamming
On election day in 2002, telephone lines that the New Hampshire Democratic Party and the Manchester firefighters' union used to offer voters rides to the polls were tied up by repeated hang-up calls. In an order of February 21, 2008, the United States District Court for the District of New Hampshire summarized the case against James Tobin, then the Republican National Committee's New England regional director: a May 2005 indictment; a jury verdict of December 15, 2005 that acquitted him of conspiring to violate voters' civil rights but convicted him on two telephone-harassment counts; the First Circuit's 2007 decision vacating those convictions; and the district court's own conclusion that he was entitled to a judgment of acquittal. The court described the scheme's objective as suppressing votes for Democratic candidates. Associated Press reports carried by NBC News and CBS News placed the jamming on the day of the Senate contest between Sununu and Governor Shaheen, which Sununu won 227,229 votes to 207,478, reported guilty pleas by the state Republican Party's former executive director and a Virginia telemarketer, and reported Tobin's ten-month sentence in May 2006, before the First Circuit acted. Neither the court's order nor the reports reviewed here allege that Sununu or his campaign directed or knew of the calls, and no statement from him on the matter appears in the documents reviewed. [41][51][50][52][21]
Questions & answers
Who is John E. Sununu?
John E. Sununu's public career runs from an engineering education to three terms in the U.S. House and one in the Senate, then seventeen years of corporate boards and private life before a return to the ballot in 2026. [1][39][47][28] Sununu was born in Boston on September 10, 1964, by the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress, grew up in Salem and graduated from Salem High School in 1982. His campaign biography credits his mother, Nancy, who chaired the Salem School Board, with the family's turn to public service; his father, John H. Sununu, served as governor of New Hampshire and as White House chief of staff, and his younger brother Chris Sununu served as governor. The campaign says he lives in Rye; Citizens Count, the nonpartisan New Hampshire civic organization, lists a Hampton address. [1][33][28][25][31]
What office is John E. Sununu running for in 2026?
Who is John E. Sununu running against?
When he entered the race on October 22, 2025, Scott Brown called him “a never Trump, corporate lobbyist who hasn’t won an election in a quarter century” and said “Senate seats are earned, not handed down,” an allusion to his father; Sununu had told WMUR he would seek the President's support, and the National Republican Senatorial Committee declared itself all in for him the same day. President Trump gave his endorsement on February 1, 2026, writing that “John is strongly supported by the most Highly Respected Leaders in New Hampshire, and many Republicans in the U.S. Senate and, as your next Senator, he will work tirelessly to advance our America First Agenda.” Emerson College's March survey then had him leading Brown 48 percent to 19 among Republican primary voters and within a point of Pappas, 44 percent to 45, among likely voters; the Portsmouth Herald reported that he had raised more than $4 million to Brown's roughly $2.1 million by the primary, and the FEC's summary for his two 2026 committees shows $4,180,251.88 in receipts and $3,070,033.12 in cash on hand for January 1, 2025 through August 19, 2026. The campaign's endorsement page lists former Senator Judd Gregg, former Governor Craig Benson, four executive councilors, the state Senate president, Americans for Prosperity Action, the Log Cabin Republicans PAC and Turning Point Action. NHPR reported that he had once been a vocal critic of the President, has largely avoided talking about the endorsement, and has since differed with him on the Iran war and on tariffs; on primary night Pappas called him the President's “handpicked candidate” and said “While New Hampshire families are struggling to make ends meet, John Sununu has thrown his lot in with Donald Trump.” Sununu's own primary-night description of Pappas, by CBS News's account, was “ineffective, partisan, and out of touch with New Hampshire.” The record shows both the endorsement and the stated disagreements. [28][29][30][27][48][34][24][25]
What are John E. Sununu's stated priorities?
The following summarizes the agenda on Sununu's campaign website, in his campaign's releases and in the debate and interview answers recorded by Citizens Count. These are proposed priorities and stated positions, not completed accomplishments. [32][33][31] The campaign lists: Affordability: housing, energy and health care; Taxes: keep the 2025 tax law; Congressional reform: term limits, pay and health costs; Privacy and surveillance; Elections: photo identification and citizenship; Trade, tariffs, China and Iran; Social Security and Medicare; Girls' sports and Title IX.
What does the public record show?
Roll calls, bill records, the Clerk's election statistics and securities filings establish the following work. Outcomes are described at the level those records support, with credit shared where a measure was another member's initiative and campaign superlatives labelled as such. On December 16, 2005 Sununu voted against cloture on the conference report reauthorizing the USA PATRIOT Act; the motion failed 52–47, short of the three-fifths required. His S. 2167, which GovTrack titles the PATRIOT Act Extension bill, was signed December 30, 2005, and his S. 2271, the USA PATRIOT Act Additional Reauthorizing Amendments Act of 2006, was signed March 9, 2006. On March 2, 2006 he voted for the conference report, which passed 89–10. [13][5][14]
How was this profile researched?
Reviewed September 17, 2026. This is a documented overview of publicly available biography, major actions and stated priorities, not an exhaustive vote-by-vote record; ten roll calls were read for it and the defining ones are cited. Ballotpedia, Congress.gov's public member pages, the New Hampshire Secretary of State's results pages, the Cook Political Report, Inside Elections, The Hill's own site and the FEC's programming interface refused or throttled automated requests during the review, so the primary result rests on NBC News's count; the 2026 campaign-finance summary was read on the FEC's candidate page. Personal financial disclosures, license records, degree transcripts, the Senate committee rosters for the 108th and 109th Congresses, the First Circuit's opinions in the Tobin case and OpenSecrets were not part of this review, and the director-compensation figures in the Boston Scientific proxy statement are left to the filing. Numerical claims retain their original meaning and attribution; campaign figures are labeled as the campaign's. Historical sources do not imply current positions. Filings and campaign pages may change after this review.
Sources & methodology
Government records anchor the profile: Senate and House roll calls, the Clerk of the House's election statistics, bill and resolution records, securities filings, a federal court order, FEC summaries, the Senate's lobbying database and the Biographical Directory; independent analyses (GovTrack, Voteview, Emerson College, Citizens Count) and reporting are labeled as such; campaign and party materials are used for the candidate's own priorities and claims.
- 01Biographical Directory entry for John E. Sununu, as reproduced on his Voteview member pageVoteview (UCLA), reproducing the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress · Accessed September 17, 2026
Birth in Boston, September 10, 1964; Salem High School 1982; MIT B.S. and M.S. 1987; Harvard M.B.A. 1991; House 1997–2003; Senate 2003–2009; defeated 2008. Also Voteview's summary that he was more conservative than 86 percent of the 110th Senate.Independent analysis or rating - 02Congress.gov member record, S001078 (Congress.gov API)Library of Congress · Accessed September 17, 2026
Birth year 1964; House terms in the 105th–107th Congresses and Senate terms in the 108th–110th; 114 sponsored and 1,026 cosponsored measures. Read through the public API with its published demo key.Government record - 03Sen. John Sununu — member page, enacted legislation and missed-votes recordGovTrack.us · Accessed September 17, 2026
58 of 1,977 roll calls missed, January 1997 to December 2008 (2.9 percent; median 2.3); nine enacted bills under GovTrack's inclusive definition; quarterly absence table.Independent analysis or rating - 04DW-NOMINATE member data, 110th Senate (S110_members.csv)Voteview (UCLA) · Accessed September 17, 2026
First-dimension score 0.473 and second-dimension −0.520; the rank of fourteenth among 51 Senate Republicans was computed from this file for this profile.Independent analysis or rating - 05Bills sponsored by John Sununu (GovTrack API, 57 records)GovTrack.us (API) · Accessed September 17, 2026
Status of each sponsored measure in GovTrack's database: eight signed into law in their own right, including S. 2167 (December 30, 2005) and S. 2271 (March 9, 2006).Independent analysis or rating - 06S. 857 (109th Congress): Social Security Personal Savings Guarantee and Prosperity Act of 2005GovTrack.us · 2005; accessed September 17, 2026
Introduced April 20, 2005; 128 pages; two cosponsors; no vote; earlier version S. 2782 introduced September 9, 2004.Independent analysis or rating - 07S. 2128 (110th Congress): Permanent Internet Tax Freedom Act of 2007GovTrack.us · 2007; accessed September 17, 2026
Introduced October 2, 2007 by Sununu with nine cosponsors; no vote.Independent analysis or rating - 08H.R. 3678 (110th Congress): Internet Tax Freedom Act Amendments Act of 2007GovTrack.us · 2007; accessed September 17, 2026
The extension of the internet-tax moratorium that became law: sponsored by a Michigan Democrat, signed October 31, 2007.Independent analysis or rating - 09S. 190 (109th Congress) — cosponsors (Congress.gov API)Library of Congress · 2005–2006; accessed September 17, 2026
Sununu listed as an original cosponsor on January 26, 2005; Dole the same day; McCain May 25, 2006. Read through the public API with its published demo key.Government record - 10Senate vote 51, 108th Congress, 1st session — S. 3, Partial-Birth Abortion Ban Act of 2003, passageU.S. Senate (Legislative Information System) · March 13, 2003
Sununu recorded Yea; passed 64–33.Government record - 11Senate vote 196, 108th Congress, 1st session — H.R. 2, Jobs and Growth Tax Relief Reconciliation Act, conference reportU.S. Senate (Legislative Information System) · May 23, 2003
Sununu recorded Yea; agreed to 50–50 with the Vice President voting Yea.Government record - 12Senate vote 459, 108th Congress, 1st session — H.R. 1 (Prescription Drug and Medicare Improvement Act of 2003), conference reportU.S. Senate (Legislative Information System) · November 25, 2003
Sununu recorded Nay; agreed to 54–44.Government record - 13Senate vote 358, 109th Congress, 1st session — cloture on the conference report to accompany H.R. 3199 (USA PATRIOT Act reauthorization)U.S. Senate (Legislative Information System) · December 16, 2005
Sununu recorded Nay; cloture rejected 52–47 (three-fifths required).Government record - 14Senate vote 29, 109th Congress, 2nd session — H.R. 3199, USA PATRIOT Improvement and Reauthorization Act, conference reportU.S. Senate (Legislative Information System) · March 2, 2006
Sununu recorded Yea; agreed to 89–10.Government record - 15Senate vote 163, 109th Congress, 2nd session — cloture on the motion to proceed to S.J.Res. 1 (marriage amendment)U.S. Senate (Legislative Information System) · June 7, 2006
Sununu recorded Nay; cloture rejected 49–48.Government record - 16Senate vote 235, 110th Congress, 1st session — cloture on S. 1639 (comprehensive immigration reform)U.S. Senate (Legislative Information System) · June 28, 2007
Sununu recorded Nay; cloture rejected 46–53.Government record - 17Senate vote 213, 110th Congress, 2nd session — H.R. 1424, Emergency Economic Stabilization Act, passageU.S. Senate (Legislative Information System) · October 1, 2008
Sununu recorded Yea; passed 74–25.Government record - 18Roll call 455, 107th Congress — H.J.Res. 114, authorization for the use of force against IraqClerk of the U.S. House · October 10, 2002
Sununu recorded Yea; passed 296–133.Government record - 19Roll call 149, 107th Congress — H.R. 1836, Economic Growth and Tax Relief Reconciliation Act, conference reportClerk of the U.S. House · May 26, 2001
Sununu recorded Yea; passed 240–154.Government record - 20Statistics of the Congressional Election of November 5, 1996Clerk of the U.S. House · 1997; accessed September 17, 2026
New Hampshire, First District: Sununu 123,939; Keefe 115,462; Flanders 8,176. A scanned document, read by optical character recognition for this profile.Government record - 21Statistics of the Congressional Election of November 5, 2002Clerk of the U.S. House · 2003; accessed September 17, 2026
New Hampshire, U.S. Senator: Sununu 227,229; Shaheen 207,478; Blevens 9,835; scattering 197; Bob Smith (write-in) 2,396.Government record - 22Statistics of the Presidential and Congressional Election of November 4, 2008Clerk of the U.S. House · 2009; accessed September 17, 2026
New Hampshire, U.S. Senator: Shaheen 358,438; Sununu 314,403; Blevens 21,516; write-in 430. Presidential electors: Democratic 384,826; Republican 316,534.Government record - 23New Hampshire Senate Primary Election 2026 Live ResultsNBC News · September 8, 2026; results read September 16, 2026
Republican primary with 99 percent of the expected vote: Sununu 75,772 (68.4 percent); Brown 29,629 (26.8); Danley 1,194; Smith 964; Martin 786; Maxwell 769; Alciere 606; McMenamon 400; write-ins 588. Democratic primary: Pappas 99,959 (65.1); Manzur 50,268 (32.7). Unofficial; the Secretary of State's canvass is the official record.Independent reporting - 24Pappas, Sununu sweep to victory in U.S. Senate primariesNew Hampshire Public Radio (Josh Rogers) · September 8, 2026
The matchup, Brown's candidacy, Trump's early endorsement, Sununu's past criticism of the President and his stated differences on Iran and tariffs.Independent reporting - 25New Hampshire Senate race set between Chris Pappas and John Sununu after projected primary winsCBS News · September 8, 2026
Family background, the Trump endorsement, Pappas's “handpicked candidate” line and Sununu's victory-speech description of Pappas.Independent reporting - 26Familiar names win the primaries: Pappas to face Sununu for Senate seat in NovemberConcord Monitor · September 8, 2026 (updated September 9)
AP percentages as of Wednesday morning (Sununu 68.6, Brown 26.6); Sununu's and Pappas's election-night remarks; the county-by-county debate challenge; Brown's pledge of support.Independent reporting - 27New Hampshire Senate Primary: Sununu beats Brown, Pappas beats ManzurPortsmouth Herald (via Yahoo News) · September 8, 2026
The race calls by Decision Desk HQ and the Associated Press; fundraising of more than $4 million for Sununu and about $2.1 million for Brown per FEC filings; the father's three terms and the brother's four as governor.Independent reporting - 28John Sununu launches Senate bid in New HampshireThe Hill (via Yahoo News) · October 22, 2025
The launch video and its themes; the NRSC's “all-in” statement; Scott Brown's “never Trump, corporate lobbyist” response; the father's service as governor and White House chief of staff; the younger brother's decision not to run.Independent reporting - 29Trump backs John Sununu in New Hampshire Senate raceThe Hill (via Yahoo News) · February 1, 2026
The Truth Social endorsement, quoted; the University of New Hampshire poll of the prior month.Independent reporting - 30New Hampshire 2026: Sununu Leads GOP Nomination, Ties Pappas for SenateEmerson College Polling · March 26, 2026
Survey of March 21–23, 2026, n=1,000 likely voters, credibility interval ±2.9: Sununu 48, Brown 19 in the primary; Pappas 45, Sununu 44 in the general.Independent analysis or rating - 31John E. Sununu — profile overview and positions on issuesCitizens Count (nonpartisan New Hampshire civic nonprofit) · Accessed September 17, 2026
Campaign and social links; Hampton address; marital status and three children; verbatim debate and interview quotations on Social Security, Iran, tariffs, China, term limits, voter identification, birthright citizenship, the 2025 tax law and girls' sports; survey questions left unanswered.Independent analysis or rating - 32John Sununu for U.S. Senate — home pageSununu Senator (campaign) · Accessed September 17, 2026
The campaign's self-description and the social-media accounts linked from the site.Campaign or advocacy material - 33About John SununuSununu Senator (campaign) · Accessed September 17, 2026
Campaign biography: Salem upbringing, Rye residence, the mother's school-board service, the electronics company, the internet-tax and surveillance claims, post-Senate roles, wife Kitty and three children. Self-descriptions.Campaign or advocacy material - 34EndorsementsSununu Senator (campaign) · Accessed September 17, 2026
Endorsers as the campaign lists them, including Judd Gregg, Craig Benson, executive councilors, the state Senate president, Americans for Prosperity Action, Log Cabin Republicans PAC and Turning Point Action.Campaign or advocacy material - 35Latest News (campaign press releases, June–September 2026)Sununu Senator (campaign) · Accessed September 17, 2026
Release index, including the June 30, 2026 statement on the Supreme Court's girls'-sports ruling quoted in this profile.Campaign or advocacy material - 36John Sununu Wins Republican Primary for U.S. SenateSununu Senator (campaign) · September 8, 2026
The primary-night statement: the “one job” line, term limits, congressional health-care costs and pay.Campaign or advocacy material - 37John Sununu Launches First Ad of CampaignSununu Senator (campaign) · July 23, 2026
The first paid advertisement and the “nearly seven figure” streaming buy, in the campaign's words.Campaign or advocacy material - 38CloseUp: John E. Sununu discusses 2005 Social Security privatization planWMUR-TV (Adam Sexton) · August 31, 2026
Segment summary: the 2005 plan, tariffs and the Canada trade dispute, and his decision not to take part in WMUR's Granite State Debate with Scott Brown.Independent reporting - 39Boston Scientific Corporation, 2026 Proxy Statement (Schedule 14A)U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (EDGAR) · March 18, 2026
Director since 2009; notice of October 22, 2025 not to stand for re-election; committee roles ended February 23, 2026; the director-compensation table for 2025.Government record - 40EDGAR full-text search: proxy statements naming “John E. Sununu”, 2023–2026U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission · Accessed September 17, 2026
Nine Schedule 14A filings: Boston Scientific (2023, 2024, 2025, 2026) and BlueRiver Acquisition Corp. (January 2023 to July 2025).Government record - 41United States v. Tobin, Crim. No. 04-cr-216-1-SM, Opinion No. 2008 DNH 042 — OrderU.S. District Court for the District of New Hampshire · February 21, 2008
The court's summary of the 2002 election-day phone-jamming prosecution: the May 2005 indictment, the December 15, 2005 verdicts, the First Circuit's 2007 vacatur and the court's conclusion that Tobin was entitled to a judgment of acquittal. The order does not mention Sununu.Government record - 422026 Republican State Primary — results page (Internet Archive copy, captured September 9, 2026) (Internet Archive copy, captured Sep 9, 2026)New Hampshire Secretary of State (Internet Archive copy) · September 9, 2026
The official results page, listing the U.S. Senator summary and county tabulations to be linked on completion. The live page refused automated requests during this review; the capture predates the posting of results.Government record - 43SUNUNU, JOHN E — candidate overview, S0NH00201 (2002 and 2008 elections)Federal Election Commission · Accessed September 17, 2026
Team Sununu (C00370031): receipts $8,879,307 and disbursements $8,868,017, January 2003 to December 2008. The 2026 candidacy files under a separate candidate record.Government record - 44John E. Sununu (R) New Hampshire — NRSC-endorsed candidate pageNational Republican Senatorial Committee · Accessed September 17, 2026
The party committee's account of his record and committees (Joint Economic, Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs, Commerce, Finance) and its claim that he authored the legislation banning taxes on internet access.Campaign or advocacy material - 45S. 190 (109th Congress): Federal Housing Enterprise Regulatory Reform Act of 2005GovTrack.us · 2005; accessed September 17, 2026
Sponsor Chuck Hagel; 206 pages; introduced January 26, 2005; ordered reported July 28, 2005; three Republican cosponsors; no vote.Independent analysis or rating - 46S.Res. 28 (110th Congress): resolution constituting the minority party's membership on Senate committees — textU.S. Senate, text reproduced by GovTrack.us · January 12, 2007; accessed September 17, 2026
Agreed to January 12, 2007; lists Sununu on the Committees on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs; Commerce, Science, and Transportation; Foreign Relations; and Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs, and on the Joint Economic Committee.Government record - 47BlueRiver Acquisition Corp., Definitive Proxy Statement (Schedule 14A) for an extension meetingU.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (EDGAR) · July 7, 2025
A Cayman Islands company asking shareholders for more time to complete a business combination; its beneficial-ownership table lists John E. Sununu among the company's officers and directors.Government record - 48SUNUNU, JOHN E — candidate overview, S6NH00208 (2026 election)Federal Election Commission · Accessed September 17, 2026
Principal campaign committee Sununu Senator (C00924092) and the Sununu for NH Senate Republican Nominee Fund 2026 (C00892018): receipts $4,180,251.88, disbursements $1,110,715.12 and cash on hand $3,070,033.12 for January 1, 2025 to August 19, 2026.Government record - 49Lobbying Disclosure Act database — lobbyist search for the surname SununuU.S. Senate, Office of Public Records (LDA programming interface) · Accessed September 17, 2026
Four registrations for lobbyists with the surname; none for a John E. Sununu.Government record - 50Dems Target GOP Phone-Jamming SchemeCBS News (Associated Press) · April 12, 2006
The jamming of Democratic and firefighters'-union get-out-the-vote lines on Election Day 2002, the Sununu–Shaheen contest that day, the guilty pleas and the state party's civil suit.Independent reporting - 51Ex-Bush campaign official indictedNBC News (Associated Press) · December 13, 2004
Tobin's not-guilty plea; the 2002 jamming of six Democratic and union phone lines; the Senate contest between Shaheen and Sununu among the races affected.Independent reporting - 52Former GOP Official Gets PrisonCBS News (Associated Press) · May 17, 2006
Tobin's ten-month sentence, the sentences of the two who pleaded guilty, and the note that Sununu defeated Shaheen for the Senate that day.Independent reporting
No matching sources. Try “Clerk,” “Senate,” or “campaign.”
Scope & method. Reviewed September 17, 2026. This is a documented overview of publicly available biography, major actions and stated priorities, not an exhaustive vote-by-vote record; ten roll calls were read for it and the defining ones are cited. Ballotpedia, Congress.gov's public member pages, the New Hampshire Secretary of State's results pages, the Cook Political Report, Inside Elections, The Hill's own site and the FEC's programming interface refused or throttled automated requests during the review, so the primary result rests on NBC News's count; the 2026 campaign-finance summary was read on the FEC's candidate page. Personal financial disclosures, license records, degree transcripts, the Senate committee rosters for the 108th and 109th Congresses, the First Circuit's opinions in the Tobin case and OpenSecrets were not part of this review, and the director-compensation figures in the Boston Scientific proxy statement are left to the filing. Numerical claims retain their original meaning and attribution; campaign figures are labeled as the campaign's. Historical sources do not imply current positions. Filings and campaign pages may change after this review.
Images. Conservative Ledger masthead supplied by the site creator. The candidate portrait is the official photograph published in the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress, a work of the United States Government and therefore in the public domain; the directory's copy is small and has been enlarged to the Ledger's frame. No campaign-owned or otherwise copyrighted photograph is used. Inclusion does not imply campaign authorization or endorsement of this publication.
Where to find the candidate
Every link below was read from the campaign’s own website or the candidate’s official government page. A follower count is printed only where it was measured; otherwise the link is published and the number is left blank rather than guessed at.
Voting in New Hampshire: official dates, deadlines and rules
The general election is Tuesday, November 3, 2026. The dates and rules below were read from the New Hampshire Secretary of State; the authority's own page, linked beside each one, is the final word.
Dates and deadlines
- Election Day registrationAvailable. On Election Day, November 3, 2026, a person who is domiciled in a New Hampshire town or city ward, will be 18 years of age or older on election day and is a United States citizen may register to vote at the polling location for that town or city ward: complete a Voter Registration Form and show proof of identity, age, citizenship and domicile. Under state law (RSA 654:7-a), a person who is waiting to register at the polling place at the time scheduled for the closing of the polls is allowed to vote if found qualified. Read from: sos.nh.gov/elections/register-vote/polls-election-day
- Absentee ballot request deadlineThe Secretary of State's absentee page does not print a last day to apply. State law (RSA 657:15, last amended effective September 8, 2026) says the clerk mails absentee ballots for verified requests received by 12:00 p.m. (noon) on the day before the election, which is November 2, 2026, and provides an absentee ballot to any voter who asks in person at the clerk's office up until 5:00 p.m. on that day. A ballot requested that late must still reach the clerk by the return deadline. Read from: gc.nh.gov/rsa/html/LXIII/657/657-15.htm
- Absentee ballot return deadline (received by the clerk)By mail: your completed absentee ballot must reach your local clerk by 5:00 p.m. on Election Day, November 3, 2026; state law (RSA 657:17) says ballots delivered through the mail must be received by the clerk by that time, so this is a received-by deadline, not a postmark deadline. In person: the voter must return it to the clerk by 5:00 p.m. the day before the election, November 2, 2026. State law also allows a voter's delivery agent (a close family member listed in the law, a nursing home or residential care facility administrator or designee, or a person assisting a blind voter or a voter with a disability) to deliver the ballot until 5:00 p.m. on Election Day; the agent completes a form and shows government-issued photo identification or has his or her identity verified by the clerk. Read from: sos.nh.gov/elections/absentee-ballots
- Poll hoursHours differ by town and city ward on Election Day, November 3, 2026. State law (RSA 659:4) says that at all state elections the polls open not later than 11 o'clock in the morning and close not earlier than 7 o'clock in the evening; in cities, the city council sets the polling hours. Ask your town or city clerk for the opening and closing times of your polling place. A person who is waiting to register at the polling place at the scheduled closing time is still allowed to vote if found qualified (RSA 654:7-a). Read from: gc.nh.gov/rsa/html/LXIII/659/659-4.htm
Rules to know
- What to bringA voter whose name is on the checklist is asked to show photo identification before receiving a ballot. State law (RSA 659:13, last amended effective September 8, 2026) accepts only these forms of identification bearing the voter's photograph: a driver's license issued by any state or the federal government; a New Hampshire identification card issued under RSA 260:21, 260:21-a or 260:21-b, or a nondriver's identification card issued by the motor vehicle agency of any other state; a United States armed services identification card; or a United States passport or passcard. The identification must show the voter's name, substantially conforming to the name in the voter registration record, and its expiration date must not have been exceeded by more than 5 years, except that a voter 65 years of age or older may use an otherwise qualified identification without regard to its expiration date. A voter who does not have a valid photo identification is sent to the supervisor of the checklist; a moderator, clerk, supervisor or selectman who personally knows the voter may verify the voter's identity. If the supervisor decides that the voter's qualifications and identity have not been established, the voter is not allowed to vote and may appeal immediately to the superior court. A person who registers at the polling place must also show proof of identity, age, citizenship and domicile. Read from: gc.nh.gov/rsa/html/LXIII/659/659-13.htm
- Registering to voteNew Hampshire inhabitants who will be 18 years of age or older on the day of the next election and are United States citizens may register; the Secretary of State says there is no minimum period of time you must have lived in the state. There are two ways: register at your town hall before the deadline, or register at the polling place on the day of the election. Either way you complete a Voter Registration form and show proof of identity, age, citizenship and domicile. State law (RSA 654:12) lists a birth certificate, a passport and naturalization papers among the accepted proofs of citizenship. Before an election the town or city clerk stops accepting applications after the last meeting of the supervisors of the checklist, which state law (RSA 654:27) sets on a day chosen by the supervisors 6 to 13 days before the election, so the last day differs by town: ask your town or city clerk. Voters who cannot register in person because of absence, or of a disability or illness, can use the absentee voter registration affidavits described on the Secretary of State's absentee page. Read from: sos.nh.gov/elections/register-vote
- Voting absentee (by mail)In New Hampshire, voting by mail means absentee voting, and it is limited: the Secretary of State says voters may vote by absentee ballot for specific reasons. You can vote absentee if you are unable to vote in person because you will be out of town on election day; you have a religious observance; you have a physical disability or illness; you have an employment commitment or must care for an adult or child during the entire time polls are open; you are confined in a penal institution for a misdemeanor conviction or while awaiting trial; you are in the Attorney General's Address Confidentiality Program or are protected by a Domestic Violence Protective Order; or the National Weather Service has issued a winter storm, blizzard or ice storm warning for your town or ward for election day and you have concerns about traveling safely. To ask for a ballot, complete an Absentee Ballot Application and return it to your local clerk. State law (RSA 657:17-c, effective September 30, 2025) requires every applicant to verify identity in one of three ways: include a copy of a qualifying photo identification with the application, have the signature on the application form notarized, or show a qualifying photo identification in person to the town or city clerk before the ballot is issued. Military and overseas (UOCAVA) voters and voters with a print disability have separate application options listed on the same page. Read from: sos.nh.gov/elections/absentee-ballots
- Early votingThe Secretary of State's voter pages describe two ways to vote in a state election: at the polling place on Election Day, or by absentee ballot for voters who qualify for one of the listed reasons. They mention no early in-person voting period, so this guide gives no early-voting dates for New Hampshire. A voter who qualifies to vote absentee may request and return an absentee ballot in person at the town or city clerk's office up until 5:00 p.m. on the day before the election (RSA 657:15 and the Secretary of State's absentee deadlines). Read from: sos.nh.gov/elections/absentee-ballots
- Track your absentee ballotAfter you apply for an absentee ballot, the Secretary of State's Voter Information Lookup shows whether your clerk has received your request, when the absentee ballot was sent to you, and when your clerk received your completed ballot. State law (RSA 657:26) requires this public website for every state election and says it also shows whether an absentee ballot was challenged and rejected by the moderator on election day, including the reason. The Secretary of State's home page has a box titled Voter Information Lookup. Read from: sos.nh.gov/elections/absentee-ballots
Read from: New Hampshire Secretary of State (home page) · Register to Vote | New Hampshire Secretary of State · At the Polls on Election Day | New Hampshire Secretary of State · Absentee Ballots | New Hampshire Secretary of State · Voters | New Hampshire Secretary of State · Section 653:1 Elected for 2-Year Term. — Rules and dates as of Sep 17, 2026
Ideas, questions, corrections
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